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Yes and if you take that further you can see that those baby mussels that are hiding in the weed through summer, cutting us off, drop into the silt gullies in the main bowl in autumn and get feasted on, which IMO is the main food source when we struggle Sept/Oct.

A few years ago on Brackens in one of the corner and margin swims it was safer to let a fish run and away from where it was hooked. The lead staying on the line kept it down until it was clear of the overhang. Lift straight into it, and you often pulled the line into the snag yourself. Totally doesn't feel right, but it worked.

Even fine grit / sand & gravel in the weed can be more than enough to cause cut offs & water snails . Must admit to being more than happy with the line yonny put me on to , it coped with those two unexpected catfish charging through lillie beds & that was a proper test for it . I always take two lines with me fishing... a casting line & a snag line , as you never know where you might find the fish .

Yup.... you just had to look at what the fully was passing through to understand why those cut-offs were happening!

I was cut off whilst using 20lb Sensor. There's plenty of sharp mussels in that weed. Still gutted - know it was a beast!!!

You'd be surprised what i've landed on 8lb line around weed and lilies😖😉 20lb from the lilies behind my right shoulder, size 10 hook, 7lb hooklink on a dog biscuit, and yes, thats Hintelsham. A very through actioned rod that was bent to the handle at times.

Nah mate.sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, it' against you. Letting it run would just result in a load of line lost with it. We just have to accept that In weedy waters you lose the odd fish. Just got to lose them as safely as possible!!

100 % mate you need to know the water . I was doing it on a lake where you were fishing over the back of a big weed bed , pointless pulling them straight into the weed , if they were already heading away from it . So would just wait a little while before lifting into it .

Letting them run depends on the swim, closeness to snag/weed and the angle being fished from. In this case I got it wrong - knowing that is half the battle. In hindsight letting it run along the clear gulley could have given me the chance to get it up off the bottom, whereas in this case it did the opposite. Choosing the right setup for the scenario is key. I got that one wrong, was in the habit of locking up and didn't listen to my own doubts and reasoning. Better luck next time 😊

I thought 20lb sensor was snag line - tough as old boots, but still not enough, can't use snag leaders.

same as the syncro seemed to suddenly be awful.

In some cases maybe. I use a 0.40 dia. snag mono as I'm not allowed to use braid on my syndi and guys are getting cut off in the weed using even 15 lb line..... and when a forty pounder heads for the weed there's not much stopping it..... It has nowt to do with the size of the lead for me. It relates entirely to the environment and the carps ability to exploit it.

Coiling up more than usual Yonny, and spilling over the lip. Haven't loaded it any differently to usual, and not over filled. Not as supple as it usually is. My only concern with loading the Asso line is it's a bit of an "unknown" to me as far as stretch is concerned. But I've paid for it so I might as well use it!

The big question is what rods do you currently have? In UK the prices are around £40 for each of them, and the Mad Dragon are around in $ 60. While you say upgrade, that is the reason for my question as these are essentially entry level rods, as your first rods, not necessarily an upgrade. I would also personally be avoiding Nash! In America you actually have one of the best blank building companies, who also manufacture and supply some of the best rod guides in the World, (that even Shimano, Fox, Daiwa and others are now using), in Pac-Bay. You could create and custom build your own rod with their equipment for roughly double what you would pay in UK for the rods you have mentioned. Don't tell anyone, but the big name IM7 carbon blank is a Pac Bay blank, and now used by various companies for their mid range rods. UK around £130

It's not all about size of fish, how snaggy is the lake? how much weed? is there mussel beds? is there many gravel bars that could cause cut offs. I fish 15lb for most occasions because I dont know whether i'll be putting the rod in open water or next to a snag. It keeps my options open. I'd never fish anything lighter to snags because you want the abrasion resistance and extra diameter.

I fish two on tight buzz bars and my third on singles wherever it needs to be. If you're fishing tight to snags do not fish with rods pointing at the lead. You'll have a problem with fish getting straight in to the snags. I prefer to have a slight angle from rod tip to lead to increase resistance on a take. It also makes the fish have to exert more energy to pull line off the clutch. To avoid tangles, just plan what you'll do in advance. If you're fishing tight lines you can go under/over to try and untangle lines. If fishing slack you shouldn't have a problem