We ask Scott Lloyd - With so many lakes currently filled with weed and resembling underwater jungles, it’s not unusual for many anglers to be a little unsure on how to approach such challenging venues. What advice would you offer to anglers targeting a weedy water this summer and what methods do you use when fishing in the thick of the green stuff to ensure good hook bait presentation and successfully landing the fish (Undamaged)?

The first piece of advice I’d give is to head over to the Thinking Anglers YouTube channel and check out my first Insights film. It is all about fishing weedy lakes, and was shot over on Swan Valley in Yateley, not only did we catch some lovely carp, but I take you through everything from finding spots to the rigs I would use… but for those that are looking for a quick read whilst at work, here goes…

A lot of what I’m going to say will lead back to this, but never settle for “that’ll do” or “I think that’s fishing”. It’s all too easy when fishing in the weed, but don’t settle for less than perfect, it’s our time and money that we’ll be wasting by doing this, nothing else, and if you’re not presented you will struggle to catch fish. Taking the necessary time and effort to find clearings amongst the weed is the best way to achieve this.

I’ll always start with a big heavy lead of between 4 and 5 ounces, I want to feel exactly what’s on the spot so it’s pointless using a light lead which will just skip across the top of everything. A mistake I see some people make is whilst leading a spot they will whip the lead back too fast. Take it nice and slow. ensuring the lead is holding bottom, rather than being pulled up in the water over any low-lying weed. When leading up always use braided main line; having no stretch means it is far more responsive, meaning you’ll have a far better idea of what is going on below the water.

Whilst we are on the subject of braid, I also use braided mainline on my fishing rods where permitted. In my opinion, if you’re leading with braid, fishing with braid and baiting with braid, then you can’t get any more accurate. As well as the leading benefits, it gives me more control when playing carp, better bite indication and it is also a much safer option when fishing heavily weedy or snaggy venues.

I will always try to find a clear area where possible, but if the weed really is that bad and I can’t find a clearing in the area the fish want to be, then there are ways I would be happy to fish on the weed. When presented with this scenario, I’ll look for a depression in the weed and try to determine how deep the weed might be by feeling the lead through the water or by measuring the length of the weed fronds which I bring back on the lead. If you’ve done your homework through the spring, you’ll know roughly how deep the water is, so will know how high or low the weed is. If it’s low-lying weed then I’d be happy to use a hinge rig on a heli set-up with that top bead set high, or I’d opt for a solid bag. Carp will dig out a nice oily bag which is packing plenty of attraction so if it’s not something you’ve tried then consider giving it a go.

"Last but by no means least, a great presentation for fishing over weed are chods; especially naked chods."

If you feel the weed is too thick to fish in, then it’s probably not safe enough to fish so therefore I wouldn’t. What I would look at doing is to try and work out the carp’s patrol routes in and out of the weed beds. They will probably be using it as a sanctuary during the day, but when night comes and oxygen levels start to fall, they will need to come out so I would try to find the closest available option, but whatever you do don’t ignore it all together!

Last but by no means least, a great presentation for fishing over weed are chods; especially naked chods. These are great for when you might not want to lead about too much and I’m looking to get a rig in on showing fish, or perhaps you’ve done your leading and there are no clearings. I’d happily fish my chods in 6-7ft of weed, using a fluorocarbon leader I will set my bottom and top bead a couple of inches apart at 8-9ft up the leader, which will allow the lead to penetrate the weed and even if the lead does make the bottom, my chod, which I will make sure is critically balanced, will be sat on top of the weed bed. It’s a method which many turn their nose up at, but one which has done me proud in the past and is the presentation that saw me land the crafty ‘Bus’ from Stoneacres.

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