When we’re on the bank, assessing how to approach weedy area or lake it’s worth taking a long hard look at the situation, pondering your realistic chances of success…

First and foremost it’s important that we carefully consider the chances of landing the fish you hook without causing damage, and secondly, pondering how to ensure effective hookbait presentation and the application and positioning of freebies.

Obviously, if you have access to a carp safety craft then generally landing fish becomes a lot easier. It’s usually just a case of carefully following the line out to the fish, or to where the line is trapped in the weed, and taking our time to free the line, working slowly and methodically until you reach and free the weeded fish. Luckily, most the time fish can be extracted from weed fairly easily once you have a direct line and the boat is positioned above them…

If you have a carp recovery boat in your swim all is well and good, but if it’s up the other end of the lake you’ll need to factor in the time it takes to collect and return to the swim into your plan to deal with heavily weeded fish. So, maybe that should be the crux of my advice, with regards landing fish in thick weed. Always have a plan (and a life jacket)…

If you don’t have a boat to hand, or reasonable free access to use one, then the situation, in terms of landing hooked fish becomes a whole LOT more difficult. Fishing as short as practical is a major help – but even that has limits if you hook a big (or powerful) carp that goes crashing through several seemingly impenetrable weed beds. Nevertheless, any steps you can make to make landing a fish as easy as possible has got to be a good thing…

The first thing to stress is that carp generally have relatively soft mouths. We’re not sticking our hooks into a bony jaw where they will set, unmovable. Let’s not beat around the bush, excessive force whilst playing carp can and will end up with a proportion of fish (that we are supposed to adore) being horribly disfigured due to mouth damage. If the weed is so bad that you have to relentlessly bully fish in from an area, then you need to move to a swim where you can successfully land hooked fish in a safer manner with their faces intact.

Now this may be mildly controversial, but fcuk it… ‘Conventional’ shaped hooks tend to be kinder than some of the more exotic patterns sold on the carp market, so I would strongly recommend using J-shape patterns with a good heavy forged and tempered wire for strength and to create a stable (unmoving) hook hold.

Common sense dictates that fishing in heavy weed demands a similar approach to snag fishing, fishing fully locked up, and as such tackle strength must also be stepped up accordingly. It’s our responsibility to take all reasonable steps, and this would include stepping up mainline, hooklink and hooks. Reel clutches need to be screwed up tight and rod setups need to be firmly anchored (especially if you’re fishing with a nod pod). Mainline should be STRONG – this is no place for 0.35mm lines and 15lb hooklinks. Realistically we’re necessarily talking about ‘20lb’ line (0.40mm TA OGX mainline) or good strong braid where allowed.

Braids come in all sorts of diameters and ratings – and the bottom line is if it’s thin the rating is normally utter make-believe. As a guide, uncrushed braids with a diameter of at least 0.35mm is the minimum that you should contemplate. The soon to be released ‘SBX’ mainline is rated 40lb (min knot strength) and has proven to be more than up for the job as it’s been long term tested on some of the most challenging venues here in the UK. Some would say it’s suitably ‘manimal’. Similarly, hooklinks need to ‘beefed’ up too – no messing…

It will always help to eject leads, when necessary, whichever lead arrangement you choose. Leads have a nasty habit of gathering the weed, which can cause all sorts of problems in terms of maintaining direct contact and avoiding hook pulls. There are loads of info on how to achieve this online, but a C-Clip on a heli (which emulates ‘rotten bottom’) or a lead clip arrangement effectively covers most situations adequately…

Every swim is different and finding clear spots in any area for the first time can occasionally be quite easy. The lakes flat calm and the channels in the weed that look clear actually are - Make the most out of these occasions – they are normally the exception to the rule!

What is more than likely is you’ll find some fish in an area and then proceed to thrash the living shit out of the water, foaming it up big style in a futile attempt, as the combination of a chop on the water and subsurface weed combine to make finding clear spots utterly painful. If the weed is subsurface then it’s often more effective (in terms of the angling situation) to use a Choddy, rather than emptying a swim of carp. Remember the oft used phrase “location – location – location”. Well, once you have made the effort to find carp, what would be the benefit of scaring them up the other end.

Simply put, Chod arrangements and the ‘Weedanoster’ variant, give you the realistic chance of presenting a hookbait effectively in /on the weed without having to go through the rigmarole of having a monster thrash up, potentially ruining your swim. With a basic knowledge of a venue, it’s possible, in just a couple of casts to estimate the depth of water and the relative height of the weed.

Set the top bead approx. 25% higher up the leader or line than you think the depth of the weed is, and be mindful not to apply pressure to the mainline whilst gently sinking the line (if the weed allows) as pulling on mainline could very easily drag the hookbait down into the weed, rather than laying down accessibly on top of the fronds… Scattering bait enticingly around the hookbait to encourage foraging, as the freebies will normally hang up at different levels in thick weed.

Obviously, life can be very different if you fish a lake or swim regularly. In this scenario you are able to plot out clear spots, building up a catalogue of spots that you can fish conventionally, and maybe even having time to use a castable weed-rake to improve line lay and clear a usable netting area in front of the swim. Then regular baiting, in conjunction with light raking (keeping the spot relatively subtle) can really give you a great chance to establish a feeding spot that also gives good line lay and an elevated carp hooked/landed ratio.

Some fast-growing types of weed (Potamogeton) can typically grow in beds comprising separate long vertical fronds, that allow you to feel a bare lead down, but will snare an exposed hook point if you try to drop an unsheathed rig down to the lakebed. If you find yourself fishing in this situation reverting to a humble solid bag allows you to set perfect traps as the bagged rig easily falls unhindered to the lakebed, especially if you are mindful to allow the drop to be as vertical as possible… That reassuring ‘donk’, as the encapsulated rig hits bottom is a truly wonderful thing!

Jokes aside, no matter how experienced you are, fishing in weed generally requires a more focused and mindful approach. No getting utterly nutted and falling unconscious after a 12-hour lager binge – being alert and reactive are the watchwords. With the right mindset and tackle, successfully catching big carp from weed is achievable. Good job too, carp love the stuff and will often be found right in the thick of it…