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Effectively fishing in weed
The majority of the lakes and pits I choose to angle on have an abundance of one thing and that is weed. It is no coincidence that these weedy pits nine out of ten times are filled with crystal clear water that allow uncontrollable amounts of light to raise the weed from the lake bed all the way onto the surface film.
Small insects, snails and other forms of aquatic life use these caverns and strands of weed as a holding. With such protection from predators the natural life can thrive in high density. If there is one part of the lake that is weed ridden then more times than not that is where the highest stock of natural food will be found. But on the other end of the scale if the whole lake is weed ridden you have very little to go on in terms of areas with a larger holding of natural food as the whole lake is likely to hold similar amounts in nearly every weed bed.
For some strange reason people have a mental block in fishing in and around weed, whether that be presentation or in deed the landing of your prize. Within this article I will give my thoughts on fishing successfully in and around the weed.
Without a doubt the biggest edge on a weedy lake or indeed most lakes is the use of a boat. The boat when rules allow is a game changer, from finding spots, baiting spots, checking spots, lowering rigs, and if you get it right you can use one to make the landing process a whole lot easier!
Rules on most lakes āif your lake has rules that isā will usually restrict the use of a boat altogether, while some will only allow you to use one for weeded fish or baiting up. For the purpose of this piece I will not mention the use of a boat, but more on how to angle well on a weedy lake from the bankside.
The Finding and preparation of a spot
The majority of my angling takes place upon pre-baited spots; before I decide upon a likely area I go down the same thought process time and time again and ask myself the same old questions; where have I seen the carp regularly? Where are the favoured swims for anglers to sit? And what areas are neglected by others? Many anglers like to sit in swims with so called āformā and end up making their minds up before they even start a campaign. Personally I take very little notice of āgoing pegsā as they usually have a heavy footfall of anglers making it very hard to create a feeding situation without the intrusion of other anglers bait. How many times have you said Iād never fish that bait if it was free!?
Well that bait could be thrown into that popular swim a few days after you vacate from a baiting trip by another angler! I like to keep variables as close to controlled as possible and by sitting in a peg with heavy foot fall itās a near on impossible situation to create.
With that stated it indicates one of the many reasons I end up looking in the more unfavourable swims, and most of the time the most under fished swims are the weediest! In these quiet swims careful introduction of bait can be controlled safe in the knowledge that you know what is going into it. The only negative of fishing an under fished swim is the nature that makes them that way, so in this case and abundance of weed stretching from the margin all the way to the far side.
Turning the āweed is a nightmareā expression on its head it helps you find one thing a lot easier⦠the āgoingā area. Weed can indeed tell you where to fish, it might be a small hole the size of two bucket lids or a strip the width of an old railway sleeper but there will be spots to find. I actually find a weedy lake a lot easier to fish than a barren open sand pit type water with little or no weed. Where would you put bait in that situation when the whole lake is suitable for a bottom bait rig? Weed fishing is much more suited to small traps and that is exactly what I enjoy setting.
So with a quiet swim selected and base it on the fact fish do visit it on a fairly regular basis you have a small piece of the lake you could look at as your own for the time being.
Before any bait is introduced id be actually feeling for these small spots. Over time when feeling the lead down you will grow used to the sensation when your lead has plucked or snagged the weed on itās decent. For example in 8ft of water you want to make sure you feel the lead down 8ft, at this stage Iām not looking for a donk or even a soft thud, all I aim for is the lead descending all the way to the bottom missing the weed as it falls. Once that lead is on the bottom a small gentle sweep of the rod to feel the bottom will give me a rough idea of what the bottom is like in the hole. Sometimes it will be like glass and slip straight back without a knock (more than likely clay), on occasion it might feel like a heavy but consistent slip across the spot (dense silt), or most of the times it will lock up and pull out as you sweep the rod (strands of weed). It doesnāt matter if its weed clay or silt at the bottom of the hole then I will always apply a heavy load of small seeds like hemp or pigeon conditioner to clean the spot. No matter how clear we might think a lot of these spots are there are always bits of crap on the bottom that could ruin a presentation.
The particle serves two purposes it not only cleans it, but it will get the fish slowly feeding on the spot. With regular baiting on spots in holes in the weed I have rarely had them fail me, where do the carp feel the safest? Itās either within the confines of snags or weed so youāre creating a new larder right next to their area of sanctuary.
Itās important to mention that there is no substitute for regular baiting, and itās even more important to keep it as low key as possible. At the end of the day there are many anglers about with little or no morals and these will be quick to jump on the back of other anglers hard efforts. If you keep captures and baiting missions on the quiet you will reap the rewards for a lot longer and sit confidently whilst safe in the knowledge your hard work wonāt be undone by someone elseās greed for easy success.
With a spot hopefully encouraging a few carp to divulge into a feeding frenzy the next thing to cover is the presentation of your trap. I use the word trap because I see it as just that, the over used concept of the modern day angler flinging singles out 120 yards and claiming them as traps is utter rubbish! that is more of a chance! By a trap I mean a carefully placed rig on a spot that fish venture over or (fingers crossed) feed uponā¦
The presentation of this trap can mean the difference between a take or a refusal, or indeed a lost fish.
The concealment of your trap especially in weed is something that can easily be achieved, hopefully by now the spot itself is quite clean, so the lead and hook link will lay somewhere near the deck. I say somewhere near because it will never look as good as it does in the edge, but despite this the rig will still be fishing. On the rig camouflage side of things I usually stick to green colours and I rarely differ, there is always weed kicking about on even the clearest feeling spots. But if I can see the spot or if Iām bringing clay back on the lead I will usually opt for some light brown materials water clarity dependant. When fish are feeding with greed they will usually overlook most things, but on them odd occasions when you have a single fish feeding or a couple sparsely blowing on the spot thatās when concealment can get you them extra bites (anyone can catch a greedy fish!). Time and time again fishing is put down to percentages and if you perfect each percentage and you still donāt catch then at least you gave it your best shot!
The one thing that will let you down in a weedy environment is your line lay. Fluorocarbon this and fluorocarbon that trust me when I say all line in weed can looks flipping terrible no matter what anyone states. Even with the slackest of lines just one bit of weed can hold up the line at an acute angle and make it visible from meters away. Itās something that is impossible to avoid when the weed is growing at different gradients.
Small castable weed rakes can be a vital tool in carving small channels out of the weed; Iāve used them in the past to clear small routes through my own margin so the line stays down. That said they are not very effective at removing the actual bed of weed. If beds of weed must be removed id look towards a large garden type rake thatās weighted and thrown in by hand. Either way a small channel for your line to lie within is taking your rig concealment to another level; on super āriggyā waters this can be a huge push in your favour.
The debate on slack against tight lines in weedy situations continues to stir many different opinions; some valid and some not. Itās always entirely dictated by the scenario you are faced with. On a basic rule of thumb if the weed is low enough or if you have a small channel to aid line lay I will more often than not fish a slack or semi lack line. That is because your line actually has a chance of sinking somewhere near the bottom.
In another breath if itās not possible to clear a small track to your spot and the weed is dense between your rod and your trap I take a totally different approach and fish a much tighter line. The reason being is the line is going to held up by the weed so a slack line is giving you no advantages what so ever at all. Iām not saying fish a bow string line but a nice small drop on a light bobbin and a straight line angle going out towards the rig is what I look for. I try to lay the line over the top of thick weed beds and actually try to lift the line as high off the water as possible, fishing with your rod tips at a higher angle will help raise the line out of harmās way (in your own margin at least).
Whether I fish a slack line in weed or a semi tight one I will always try to keep my tips up at an angle, and keep my clutches screwed tight. Some peopleās idea of a tight clutch is different to my own, by tight I mean locked down, this is one of the biggest aids in actually hooking and landing a carp in a weedy scenario. By keeping the tip up all the carpās power on the take is absorbed through the rod and the stretch in the line. This leaves the carp to discharge the lead a lot quicker, and more than likely rise in the water. It imperative you are close to your rods and have decent back rests that secure your rods under any amount of pressure. Most of these takes will pull the rod tip down and then hold in that position until you pick the rod up; now the fun begins!
I dread to think how many good fish are lost due to the weed that densely populates most rich waters, but there are small things an angler can do to discourage the carp from throwing the hook.
The first thing I do when I bend into a fish is keep it under steady pressure with a healthy bend in the rod. Most of the time when fishing a really weedy peg you can feel like your bending into a brick wall, at these stages I hold the rod in full test curve trying to gently tease the fish out of the weed. I donāt use any striking motions the only thing I may do is try to change the angle. If you can walk up the up the bank to gain height over the fish this usually does the trick, if not then just hold tight. Sometimes they start to come out, but more often than not they just stay put and your left with no sensation down the blank at all just a dull weight. Itās vitally important to understand that if you canāt bring the rig in then a fish is still attached. How many times have you struggled to get leads back when you have landed in weed? Not many I guess? Thatās because there isnāt a great big weight of carp blocked against a bank of weed to contend with. If the rig is stuck solid then you are still in battle with a carp.
After holding the rod for a good 5 or so minutes with little or no line gained I tend to hope I have a good hook hold on the fish because it has been on for some time, I proceed to put the rod back on the rest whilst slackening the line off to relieve tension to the fish. Sometimes the fish will start taking line straight away, other times it might take hours but they will usually come out on their own steam. I remember many occasions Iāve put the kettle on and had several brews whilst waiting for a fish to swim free of the weed, on a few weeded carp Iāve went back to bed only to be awoken a few hours later with a freed carp. Patience is a huge virtue when it comes to bringing in weeded fish without the use of a boat.
As most would have experienced most carp once freed from the weed tend to have a bit of weed covering their heads, this can subdue them enough to tease them all the way to the waiting net. If this is not the case once you have the fish moving itās vital to keep them moving towards you. Walking back is a lot more effective than winding them in, because as you pump the rod you can lose pressure on the fish as you reel the line when the rod arches forward. This small lapse in pressure could let them find hostel in another big bed of weed and you might need to start the whole process again.
Playing fish and successfully landing them comes down to a bit of luck, skill, and hard learnt experience, that unfortunately will involve a few losses, but thatās the game we play!
There is little point in going to the effort of finding and feeding small holes in the weed if youāre going to allow your tackle to let you down. Iām not an angler who likes to over complicate an approach, or in fact try and fix things that arenāt broken. When weed is brought into the equation only small tweaks are made, this is not through media hypes but through what Iāve witnessed and learnt through hard hours on the bank.
There are a handful of important notes to take on board when fishing in weed, and one of the most important is dropping the lead. To all the people who think itās a gimmick, a waste of money or has a huge impact to the ecology underwater you really need to get over yourselves and take your blinkers off. It makes your hook to land ratio in nearly all situations increase tenfold.
In clear water when a fish shakes its head it can be cushioned directly through the line and the tip of your rod, not a big 3oz lead waving about. The lead serves absolutely no purpose once you have hooked the carp, and is actually a huge hindrance. Dropping the lead will reduce the numbers of hook pulls an angler will incur over a year.
The reason why itās even more important in weed is it allows the fish to rise up in the water layers and keep in direct contact with the pressure you apply. Itās just one less thing to knock the hook hold about or become lodged in the weed. For me I have to be confident that the lead will come off on every take.
Going off from the topic of lead ejection the next area of importance is the line you choose. I have used fluorocarbon in weedy environments and it has faired very well, especially when using chods straight on the line. The only scenario I saw fluorocarbon letting me down was when swan and pea mussels were in abundance. On occasion you will reel in and have small nicks in the line when fishing fluorocarbon and this will increase the chance of cut offs. To combat the mussels I have switched to some heavy monofilament, Iām under no illusion it doesnāt disappear or indeed sink anything like fluorocarbon but when dealing with mussels and heavy snags itās a cut above any fluorocarbon Iāve used.
No matter what the popular consensus is a chod rig is not the be all and end all in fishing in a weedy swim, there is a time and a place for the use of a chod in weed but more often than not when fishing a hole in the weed or on a pre-baited spot I favour a more conventional rig fished on a helicopter system. It doesnāt matter whether or not im fishing a chod or a bottom bait I will always tie the lead on with light line so it will snap off on the take.
The chod on the line is a devastating singles tactic and Iāve done so well fishing it on large clumps of weed in hot conditions. Imagine a perfectly presented zig just sitting an inch or two over the weed that the carp are cruising over; that is basically what you are recreating with a chod without all the fuss of light line and shortening links down. Itās so important to make sure the weed is fairly thick so the chod sits on top and doesnāt fall into small holes within it. By using it on the line with a super slow sinking chod section it will just hover over the weed with just the two beads lying on the Fromeās of weed. Itās a tactic that makes the synonymous pub chuck rig anything but.
Iām a huge fan of a big hook and I rarely fish a hook smaller than a size 5, Iāve noticed a great improvement in hook holds by using larger hooks. It doesnāt matter whether Iām fishing a weedy water or not a big hook is paramount in my approach no matter what. The only time I scale down is if Iām fishing zigs or floater fishing.
Iāve seen no evidence of big hooks spooking fish; they only give you an added grip in the fishās mouth and an increase in strength once the hook is buried.
One thing that is well worth mentioning is that bigger hooks are predominantly blunter than their smaller counterparts. I continue to hand sharpen larger hooks, that way I overcome the only problem with larger hook patterns. With a sharpened point the hook will bury a lot quicker so it really turns everything in your favour when youāre battling a weeded carp.
Like I said right at the start of the piece everything could be played out in a giant āhow toā guide but it wouldnāt make anyone a better angler overnight. There is no substitute for hard hours on the bank learning through success as well as failure. Hopefully a few bits in this piece will help out and open a few different avenues for some people to explore.
Good luck and just enjoy it!
This article was seen first on CC Mooreās Bait Blog