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Fishing in heavy weed

Paul Monaghan

Paul Monaghan

Senior Member
Over the last couple of seasons i've struggled to fish swims that contain a large amount of streamer weed. I always seem to get snagged up in it or at least I thought I did. This season i'm determined to master the art of fishing such swims confidently.
One thing i've learnt is to not pull the lead after casting as that's when you are likely to snag the roots. Also to bury the hook bait in a PVA bag to stop the hook catching the streamer on the way down to the river bed.
I'd be interested and gratefull to hear how other anglers approach such swims.
Thanks
Paul
 
Paul,
Your spot on mate. Burying the hook inside the bag makes sure it stays snag free.
I also bury the lead in mine that way it sinks straight through the weed.

Paul
 
Weed???

Its hard work in such conditions and very frustrating..... Just have to perservere but its in the back of your mind all the time.
 
Paul,

as Paul Hayes said, the best approach is to roll up the hook length and place it together with the lead in a pva bag, that way it "bombs" to lot through the weed and the flow will straighten out the hooklink.......

If the river is not too deep you can also get in and clear small channels manually and then fish into them.
 
Barbel will happily take hookbaits resting in weed, in fact, sometimes it pays to let a longer hooklength come to rest in the weed when they're not taking it off the bottom.

Don't worry about it. :)
 
If you can, fish upstream into the channels in the weed. Presuming your PVA bagged rig touched down OK you will find it much easier to draw a fish out of streamer weed from a downstream position.i
 
I fish in heavy streamer weed all the time mainly because during sunny hot days thats where the fish will be...Take a pair of old trainers and shorts and be prepared to go in after the fish or you can simply wade out in the weed and part it where you want your bait and simply place it there..Believe it or not wading out in the weed doesent spook the fish and imo is by far the best option because all the other methods are abit hit or miss..;)
 
I'm not convinced that the current always straightens out hooklinks if they are in a pva bag.

I use the pva funnel mesh stuff and make sausages that I pull the hooklength through with a stringer needle. tangle free and you know the hookpoint is clear if you pull it back in the sausage. keeps the hook link straight.

thats my preference, but its what you have confidence in that counts.
 
Simon,

I tend to do the same normally!! And always use snagsafe lead clips if fishing in weed.........

However, if you wish to get through the weed and fish the river bed, you do generally need to include your lead in the pva, otherwise the hooklength with the pva bag/stocking will settle on top, if the weed is deep and your hooklength not long enough it may well still snag on the way through....

If fishing with everything inside the pva, I generally fish a short hooklength of 5 to 7 inches, with coated braid and no rig weight/putty I am pretty sure it will straighten..........it does when I have tried it in the side.

Craig,

It is good to get in the river where safe, many of the bits we are fishing, i.e. Paul, Simon and myself, the water would be over your head..........:eek:
 
Very true David,

If I had a bottle, I could attach my BCD and Regs and go clear the weed :)
 
I would be more worried about being attacked by the thousands of dog otters which are in our river stretches now ;)
 
I find using a paste to shield the hook point whilst fishing in heavy weed certainly gives a confidence boost in the knowledge that the hook is not caught up in it .It must be a quick desolving paste so the hook point is soon ready for action.Upsteaming into weed is a deff. advantage when it comes to playing and landing the fish once hooked not always possible i know .Whats the situation on clearing spots of heavy weeded areas by hand?Is it a viable option ? I,ve not seen or heard of anyone doing this I know some swims on my river seem unfishable due to dense weed and clearing a small spot would allow them to be fished, I guess these swims give the fish the sanctury they need from angling pressure and make the swims either side productive due to this
 
Ed,

There is a good section in one of the Guy Rob and Stu Morgan "Barbel Up Close/Even Closer" DVDs where they show themselves cutting a weed channel and catching a fish out of it - worth a look.
 
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