John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
July 7th 2010
Coping with Weed
The recent warm weather has seen the weed growth at Kingfishers really explode the last couple of weeks. On the big lake, a lot of the bars are now coated with the result that there are forty odd swans attracted to the water for the lush grazing.
Lily and Willow remain fairly unaffected but the Lobster Pot, as most years, is beginning to look well-weeded. Not choked exactly but the type of water that could on face value, cause a problem.
My advice is not to be frightened of weed. Remember that fish love it. It harbours all manner of invertebrate life that they need as well as protection from predators. Fish in a weeded water are generally less stressed than fish in a water without weed and as a result easier to catch. Another reason we are reluctant to move the weed at Kingfisher is the fact that the carp spawned in Lobster and we don't want to harm the survival rate of any possible juveniles. The hot weather might just produce for us a bonanza of small carp.
So how do you go about fishing a water like the Lobster that is well-weeded? Here are tips that I've picked up over the years.
- Try floating baits. Both floating crust and banded dog biscuits or floating pellets work very well on all our waters at Kingfishers. Remember, though, not to strike prematurely but wait till the line moves off.
- Try a bait that sinks very slowly through the water column so that it settles above the weed and not beneath it. A perfect example of this is bread flake squeezed on the hook so gently that it sinks very, very slowly indeed. Practice in the margins until you get the sink rate right. You can fish a piece of flake like this either free-lined without any weights whatsoever, or under a float without any shot.
- Alternatively, look for the many weed-free patches in the water. You'll often find areas the size of a dining table or larger that are pretty well devoid of weed. If you bait these heavily, you'll pull the carp out of the weed onto the clear gravel. Float fishing is a great method of attack.
- Look to fish the weed-free margins. This is particularly a technique early and late and if you're staying in the apartments you should be able to get out on the water before sunrise or stay until dusk falls. A lot of the fish - the carp especially - will come into the shallow margins to feed once the light goes and they feel confident.
- If you hook a fish and it gets into the weed keep a steady pressure on it and you'll often find that it gradually comes free. If this doesn't work, hand line. All you do is point the rod directly at the fish in the weed and hold the line between the reel and the bottom ring. It's almost like wielding a saw. Pull the line backwards and forwards until you work the fish slowly loose. Don't be in a rush. Don't out too much force on the line. And always remember to use barbless hooks in heavy weed so that a fish can shed the hook if the line does break.