Blanking in the Weed !

[Polly]

Hi all,

Struggling to cope with the weed thats choking the lake I'm fishing. It's a mixture of Canadian pond weed and I think the other is Silk weed. I've tried leading around with a marker float but cannot locate any clear areas at all, seems the entire lake bed is strewn with the bloody stuff. Moreoften than not my marker float wont even rise to the surface because the weed is so prolific. Been fishing single Pineapple and Tutti-Frutti pop-ups (about 2-3 inches off bottom) over shed-loads of mixed pellets but with no success. Tried Snowman approach last Thursday night but again nothing except a couple of liners (which surely means there's fish in or nearby the swim). The lake in question is approx 7-8 acres and has a good head of fish with at least five known thirties with numerous doubles and twenties and should therefore it should be relatively easy to get a run or two, but no, not a sniff can I get. When I arrived last Thursday evening the bailiff told me the lake had not been touched all week and the I was the first to wet a line since the previous Sunday. I even had the whole lake to myself ALL Thursday night, a perfect scenario but still no runs/fish came my way. I've really struggled all this year, and last come to that and I'm getting very disillusioned having only banked a few tench. Can anyone offer me guidance as to how to beat the weed problem because it's almost the last straw for me. Before the weed growth "exploded" I was at least was confident that I'd get a fish sooner or later and that it was simply a waiting game before a few fish came my way but now I've been reduced to a jibbering wreck and spent most of Thursday night swearing AT the lake and cursing to myself about what a "sh!t hole" I was fishing and why was I wasting annual leave spending time here, you know the sorta thing I'm sure!!!!

Anyway to help my sanity can someone throw a few tips my way and maybe help me put a fish or two on the scales.

 

Ta Muchly!!!

[borntofish]

Hi Polly,

I have a smilar problem this side, the good rains filled most waters so we are sitting with waters ful of grass. What i have done is I take a fixed rig clip for the weight but it is at the bottom of the rig, I then put a rubber ball then a swivel with the hook link another rubber ball. with the rubber balls I can control the height of the rig if the fish runs and tit does not slip the weight for some reason, then the hook on the swivel slides down to the weight.

 

I have found the takes are slower but the hooks are good.

 

I put a ball of bait around the weight.

 

I also look for the tunnels that the carp make to get in and out of the weeds.

 

Born to fish

[pikergonecarpin]

Hi, Have you thought about raking a swim for yourself?. Spend half a day raking out a marginal area to get yourself a nice clear spot to fish. The carp will visit it very quickly once your finished (looking for all the stuff you've disturbed). Alternatively (If you're not allowed to rake) why not get yourself a cheap sack of pellets or particles of some sort and introduce a quantity to an area and let the carp clear a spot for you ( they will quickly rip up the bottom weed looking for the bait) Keep at it for a week or so and you should have a clear, productive spot to fish.

[RobStubbs]

There are always clearer spots it can just be difficult to find them. Don't bother with marker floats to start with, just tie a lead directly on the line. That should give you a much faster indication of clear spots. Make a note of the areas that seem clearer then start plumbing them normally.

 

The margins are generally less weedy so don't be afraid to fish them. As previously mentioned, try raking your swim. You can make a throwable rake or buy one and clear a good 10- 15 yards out. You can also try using lots of groundbait/hemp and bait up likely spots which the fish will clear and keep clear.

 

The real answer is just keep at it - you will get there in the end !

 

Rob.

[Polly]

Thanks guys, I've got a rake tucked away in the garage with my tench/bream gear so I'll give it a go. Also good idea on the chucking out pellets and let the carp do the work for me, could get a tad expensive though!!!

How soon does this weed die-off naturally, will it take a few frosts before the lake-bed starts to clear or is it when the Summer sun weakens (September-ish!!) ????

[pikergonecarpin]

Get yourself some Vitalin from a petshop, it's really cheap and does the job just as well.

 

Paul

[singy]

There are always clearer spots it can just be difficult to find them. Don't bother with marker floats to start with, just tie a lead directly on the line. That should give you a much faster indication of clear spots. Make a note of the areas that seem clearer then start plumbing them normally.

 

The margins are generally less weedy so don't be afraid to fish them. As previously mentioned, try raking your swim. You can make a throwable rake or buy one and clear a good 10- 15 yards out. You can also try using lots of groundbait/hemp and bait up likely spots which the fish will clear and keep clear.

 

The real answer is just keep at it - you will get there in the end !

 

Rob.

 

Great advice, I'd like to add, you can just cast a baited rig around (with the hook PVA foamed up) and feel it down until you get a nice thump, this is often all you are looking for in heavy weed. then scatter some bait around where it landed. If it get's to the bottom, that is good enough.

[RobStubbs]

How soon does this weed die-off naturally, will it take a few frosts before the lake-bed starts to clear or is it when the Summer sun weakens (September-ish!!) ????

 

Weed will not die down until winter and even then don't bank on it (depending on depths etc). Late winter may be a good time to try and find some features for the following season (and of course to fish in winter). Don't be suprised though if they get weeded over again in the summer - weed beds often move about and clear spots can change from month to month, sometimes even quicker.

 

Rob.

 

P.S. Don't waste money on pellets. Use something like hemp and/or groats - far cheaper and they keep the fish pecking around for longer in my experience.

[Julian]

Hi Polly,

 

Some great advice above.

 

You might also find this article I've just added of use: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Carp-Fishing-A...ng_in_Weed.html

 

Cheers...

 

Julian

[Dick Dastardly]

Polly there are two main reasons for not getting takes in periods of heavy weed growth in my experience.

 

Firstly as the others have said your not getting your bait where the carp can find it.Dead simple cure just search out or make an area as sugested.I find the first is the quicker way as it takes time for fish to get used to a prepared area thats not on their normal patrol/feeding route.Once established though method two can be a killer!

 

Second is that along with the explosion in weed life there will also have been an explosion in natural food.It is nigh on impossible to compete with an abundance of natural food and on some very rich waters you wont get much action untill there is a drop in the amount avaiable.Others though you can get a bit of interest by using a mass bait aproach.In case your not aware of what mass baits are they are simpley small particles such as hemp,dari seed, mung bean etc.Need to put buckets full in.Not widespread but in tight densley covered areas.Can do this in raked areas or just over the weed as it is.

 

The easiest way to decide whether you fish under/in the weed(PVA bag with rig, hook and freebies in just blasted through the weed use stones in bag if you need extra weight),fished on top of or in a cleared area is to just watch the fish! If they can move under/in the weed then put your bait there if not and they are moving over it try and get some bait sitting on it (broad beans are quite good for this) and get your hook bait there to.If it is a normal feeding area but is too dense for them to get into then rake it and bait it.

 

Lastly but not least presenting the bait to a feeding fish,getting it to take and hooking it isnt where the thinking ends.Got to look at landing the fish without causing damage that having to haul it through weed can do.

 

One of the most common reasons for people losing carp hooked from clear patchs amongst weed isnt so much the fish running into it (which it inevitably does!) but from the main line between rod and rig having sunk into all the weed in between! Very common on session carping where the baits have been in place for a long time.Ive put up a diagram of the rig before but cant find a URL for it but basicly use a floating braid line and have a 1 1/4" poly ball sliding on the main line above the rig (I find an old fashioned helicopter rig without tubing is best as you dont really want a foot or two of tubing stuck up from the rig like a sore thumb!) put a sliding float stop on the line to stop the poly ball at a foot or so over depth.When you tighten up to the rig just pull it back (poly ball not the rig as you will weed it) so its under the water but away from the weed this with the floating braid will help keep your main line from sinking into the weed.A side benifit is that when you bait up you can slacken off on the line,poly ball pops up and you have a marker.Due to the amount of weed comming up off the bottom Ive rarely found the line coming up "float fishing" style to be a problem ie spooking the fish.

 

Hope that gives you a bit of food for thought.

Edited July 25, 2006 by BUDGIE