How to fish horseshoe....how to cope with the weed?!

[fingy]

Hi all,

 

my first post so be kind

 

I have got back into carp fishing after a long break enforced by pesky kids (!) and have been fishing mostly local "runs" waters (south birmingham) for the past 2 seasons to get me back up to speed with marking, spodding etc etc.

 

These local waters are all pretty similar - fairly featureless with a clay/silt bottom and pretty much uniform depth (even though the owners all say there is a channel here and there - get the marker rod out and its all the same!).

 

Now, i made my first trip to the gorgeous Horseshoe lake (carp society) at the start of April, and even though i loved every second of being there (24 hours mid-week) I blanked with only a couple half-hearted pick ups which were probably tench.

 

As it happened there was only 1 fish caught over that 24 hour period and it was to a zig - which me and my fishing buddy had coincidentally been using: I had tried a lod of the new avid zig lites (black,white,yellow+black) and obviously tried various depths etc but to no avail.

 

My biggest concern was how to introduce bait to attract the fish: I understand a lot of people advocate spodding sloopy mix over the zigs but I was too concerned about scaring all the fish out of the swim to do that and thus left my hookbaits sat by themselves in various likely looking spots.

 

I am going back to Horseshoe in a couple weeks for another 24 hours and wanted advice on fishing solid PVA bags on TOP of the silk weed which seems to blanket everywhere on Horseshoe. I have a huge amount of confidence in using solid pva bags and sticks: last night i had to remove my rods from the water at 1am cause i needed to get to sleep for work early this morning and was getting a run every half hour! biggest was a very welcome 15lb ghostie all caught on sticky baits bloodworm 12mm and dumbells, first time i used them and got my first fish, low double mirror, within 10mins of using em, so talk about having confidence in them lol!).

 

Before I attempt to use a new method (such as solid pva bags on the silk weed) I always make sure i fully understand the mechanics else i will have no confidence in what i am doing and will keep swapping about, not to mention fish welfare etc.

 

So, with my normal solid pva bag i use a flat pear in-line lead with a 15lb braid hooklink around 4 inches long,a couple of small Korda sinkers and normally with a size 10 curved "fang" style hook which sits out at a really nice angle (no rig tubing as i find this hook pattern doesnt need it and I have a very high bite-to-landed carp ratio...just rolling the rig over my hand it always turns and catches).

 

But with the thick silk weed at horseshoe I dont have the confidence with chucking my solid pva bag on the silkweed - surely the lead will just drop through the weed once the pva has melted and pull my hookbait with it? What about the pellets/boilie base-mix in the bag?

 

I have scoured the net and i can see the Ian Poole uses this tactic at Horseshoe, but I need help with understanding what is happening under the water - does the silkweed act almost like a solid and everything just sits on top of it?

 

I did try last time to use a long fluro hooklink (30") with a very critically balanced cell boilie/imitation floating corn with a load of boilies using a throwing-stick but got no joy...but again i was worried that all the boilies were under the weed and mine above it so if the fish did find the boilies they would most likely ignore mine sat above their heads?

 

Any advice is most welcome

[fingy]

bump?