asgfabrications Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Hi people at the min ive just found a really nice lake and there is some big carp in and big bream and big tench but its full of weed al over the pond. pics below....... but there is a few open spots along the margins like below. the water is really clear all across the pond as you can see and its quite a sandy bottom not gravel or silt type. is it possible to drop a heavey weight with my bait in a pva bag with freebies to get through the weed or do i fish the margins and drop my baits on the door steps of the tunnels the fish go in and out of?? what sort of rig would you use to get through the weed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattgroves Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 mmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Canadian....... My lake is choked with it too... Start by watching and looking, walk the banks, see where the fish are. they might be in the weed, equally they may frequent deeper areas at certain times of day, you'll generally not fisn fish in the weed between midnight and 0500 as the weed is actually removing oxygen from the water during these times, so a bit placed on a clear area will do better. You'll probably find the deeper areas of the lake have less Canadian with the bottom switching to gravel/sand/silt/silkweed, which is much better for fishing IMO!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnplumb Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 We have had success fishing in weed using a method feeder ( several 20lb+ fish) with a 3" rig . I would also think about clearing some areas with a rake,if it's a water you will be fishing regularly you can keep the areas clear and baited , looking at the pictures im guessing this is not a busy water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asgfabrications Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 ive spoked to the baylif or owns a gun shop where i can get a day ticket and he says theres a good stock of fish in it and its not easy at the min because of the weed but there been some big fish pulled out recently, he says its busy at the week end so il go down and see if i can speak to a few anglers... and get some better pics of the lake... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asgfabrications Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 theres a few deep spots ive been told but i dont think i could cast out far enough to find them but the lake ranges from 2 foot to 4 foot deep in the margens and upto 30 foot from the banks but the deeper spots are 8/9 foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carefulcarping Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 If it's not too busy in the week, try going down on a Monday and drop some bait in the margin in the clear spot. Go back on Tuesday and see if a fish has being at the bait, this will help you in knowing if the fish travel over the clear patch in the margin. If not, then I am of no use to you in the weed, sorry Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m33ta Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 A friend and I have done 30 sessions on a hard and very weedy lake, we have had only one carp out of it in that time. For 29 sessions we marker floated, tried different bait, the method feeder, zig rigs with black foam, PVA stick, Solid PVA bags, different ground baits the list just goes on. On the 30th session with out any real thought I put half a dozen boilies in a spot that doesn't look dissimilar from your last photo, then promtly forgot about it. Sometime the next morning I had quick look and the boilies were gone. Only rod we had to hand was an old float rod set up for sprat bashing, so In it goes with 2 boilies on and 10 minutes later we managed pull out a 19 . So I would suggest one in a clear spot in the margins is a must. As previously mentioned bait up spots in the margin during the week and see if the bait is gone next time your there. OK, now be the weed, feel the weed, become the weed,,,,,blah, blah, blah, that may sound silly but I do mean it. You have to imagine what it's like down there and how fish will act due to the environment. The way I look at weedy lakes now is it's a road network. Why would a fish put the extra effort in that's needed to swim through the weed if it doesn't need to? Yes there are natural food sources in weed such as snails etc (which should also determine what bait you use) but I suspect they would rather swim in less confined spaces and the trick is to find these highways and intercept the carp. If you do manage to find those highways (routes) then the rig choice does not need to be complicated. A simple KD rig for instance with a critically balanced bait will do the trick, but most importantly is using a safe rig in heavy weed conditions. If you cant find the routes then there are a couple of options. Create your own clear spot with a weed rake or if you have time get the fish to do the work for you by feeding hemp in the same place on a regualr basis. Or fish a zig rig, find the height of the weed and adjust your zig to sit just on top of it, the weed does a handy job of hiding your line and leader If there is a lot of natural food source in there which there will be because of the weed then I would fish a hookbait with a natural food source boilie like bloodworm and my main feed (spod or whatever) would be hemp based. Persist and you shall catch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdevon Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 Both CC and M33ta made a valid point about baiting up some clear spots and keeping an eye on them, but before doing so and possibly wasting your time and bait be aware of the water foul on the lake as they'll be just as pleased with a free meal once you're gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m33ta Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 Both CC and M33ta made a valid point about baiting up some clear spots and keeping an eye on them, but before doing so and possibly wasting your time and bait be aware of the water foul on the lake as they'll be just as pleased with a free meal once you're gone Good point considering the feather in the top left corner on the first photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdevon Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 I would also think about clearing some areas with a rake,if it's a water you will be fishing regularly you can keep the areas clear and baited I've used a weed rake to good effect on the river and had fish to reward my efforts. I only cleared an area about 4ft or so which had to done from the very awkward non-fishable far bank so I wasn't dragging the rake back through too much weed and decimating the place, then with the aid of a long telescopic pole and bait spoon baited up directly over the cleared spot. It may have been over kill the amount I put in for the size of the area but I wanted to ensure that the fish would be feeding and rooting around in the area long enough to finish off the clearing job I'd started I returned a couple times during the week and topped it up a little with very oily hemp, maize and a mixture of whole and crushed boilies but unfortunately due to the depth I wasn't able to see the bottom and check how the baited area was being responded too but a quick feel with a feature finding lead filled my with confidence that all was going well But this is were the annoying part came in. As I'd cleared the spot from the far side and knew from there exactly where the it was I had no choice but to leave the marker in, walk about 20 mins up the river over the bridge and back down the opposite side, cast another marker out to the same spot (which did take a few attempts I must admit) then another trek back round to retrieve the original marker rod then back again to where I was going to be fishing. About an hour later the lines were marked, clipped up and I was finally fishing albeit knackered from all that walking I was oozing confidence and pleased with the effort I'd put in, now to reap the rewards Several hours past with the odd bleep now and again before the tell tell bleeps that I knew I had a bream on and a few minutes later I had an 8lb'er or so on the bank. So on goes another small bag and out she goes again smack bang on the money and happy when I felt the lead land. 15 minutes passed and it was fag and coffee time when I noticed a few little still patches over the spot as it does when there's oil on the surface so I was sure there were fish in rooting around so off went the kettle, then the lovely sound of a single toner and the line coming off the reel. I struck and it went solid so knew I was into a better fish, after 'persuading' her she was betting coming in my direction and not that of the thick weed and snags I soon had a lovely, dark common in the net that went 16lb 4oz. I happily slipped her back and chuffed with my catch the kettle was back on! I did have a few more fish from the spot during the session but nothing of any notable size but that didn't matter I'd proved to myself that all my efforts and planning had paid dividends and maybe I was getting good at this carp fishing lark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asgfabrications Posted August 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 I went back down tonight and seen a few chaps carp fishing and they had only been a few times this year but got some info from them, theres a margin where one of the boats used to come in and out off which left the area clean of weed weather its still like that now I dont know and they aim for that, one had a 8lb tench when I was there looked perfect it did, Ive also seen clear spots 35/40ft from the bank which I think is people wading out and clearing the weed as its only 3/4 foot deep in most areas of the pond, thinking about doing this my self with a rake. The lake has got a 2 swans on and about 10 coots if not more which is anoying as they do go round diving for the baits so it would be hard to tell weather it was the carp taking the bait or the bloody birds.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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