What type of weedbed should you fish over?

1 Ian Macmillan

“I always like to think about my fishing a bit more these days, and for that reason I love presenting a bait in and around the weed. I personally believe that a lot of the fish are simply not expecting to get caught in the weed, even if it’s only the light stuff next to a very blatant clear area. I mean, come on, we’ve all been pulled into fishing certain swims because there are the so-called ‘hot’ areas, well, they are only hot areas because at times people may catch a few from them. Of course they will if there is enough bait introduced on the same bloody spot! 

“I do also love fishing in the silt. I think you get much better rig concealment and there will be loads of natural food in certain kinds of silt. The one place I’m not keen on angling is directly on top of that bright, clean gravel patch. Yes, I’m not doubting that you may get bites from them at certain times, but for me they get far too hammered for my liking and I steer clear at all times.”

2 Kev Hewitt

“Gravel pits have been my quarry for most of my carp angling and it is these feature-filled lakes that I pay a special amount of importance in choosing the right spot. My favourite type of lakebed is a gravel pit where weed is in abundance and clear spots take some plumbing to search out. A clear gravel spot surrounded by weed is my favourite feature to fish to. Carp just love to feed on big beds of baits on these spots and the more regular these spots are baited and fed on, the bigger and cleaner they become. Once polished off I tend to refer to these spots as dinner plates and carp soon begin to associate these spots with food, regularly returning for a feed.”

3 Dave Levy

“I think the type of lakebed I look for as a good area to fish will always depend on the make-up of the lake. Take Walthamstow reservoirs for example: these waters are very silty so I adapt my rigs to the lake’s bed by using a helicopter rig to ensure the rig sits flush to the silt and doesn’t get buried in the black, stinky silt.

“Some of my most successful areas in the last few years have been hard smooth areas on the lakebed; I think this type of area lends itself to the carp and the way they feed as the food is easily found. When I’m fishing a new water I’ll always use a marker to get an idea of depths but I must admit I prefer to use just the lead on my fishing rods, feeling it down on to the bottom then clipping up the line when I get a good donk on the rod.

“Carp will feed just about anywhere so don’t get too wrapped up in thinking you need to be on a spot the size of a bin lid at 100yds just because it has some gravel. Remember to use the right rig in the right situation and use your eye for the location. If I had to pick my most successful lakebed I would say that the firmer parts of the lakebed have been the most successful for me.”

4 Tom Maker

“Lakebeds and fish’s feeding habits are different on every venue I fish, however over my years of carp fishing, if I had to pick one lakebed where I have had most success, I would have to go with fishing in the silt. There are many reasons for this but I would say there are a few key factors as to why fishing in the silt is the best.

“Firstly, a lot of anglers think that the place to fish is on the gravel, and for what reason I will never know, maybe it’s because it’s easy to find with the marker rod? But by doing this the fish soon associate the gravel areas with immediate danger and will often avoid them. Secondly, the silt will be a breeding ground for any natural food that is in the lake so the fish will be used to feeding in the stuff making them a lot easier to catch should you choose to fish over it.

“Lastly and probably the most important reason why I would say that fishing in silt is best, is because of the heat it holds. Now most of my fishing is done in the winter when the water temperatures are at their lowest and the carp are looking for any bit of heat they can find, whether that be off the back of the wind or nine times out of ten nestling into a deep pocket of warm silt. During the winter months, carp location is key but on whatever venue I choose to tackle during the winter months, one thing you can almost guarantee is that if you put a bait in the silt then you will not be going far wrong!”

5 Ed Betteridge

“A lot of my fishing takes part on weedy waters so in a lot of cases I’m just happy to find a clear spot. But in an ideal situation I like fishing on gravel, or a firm bottom such as clay or sand. So as long as I get the ‘thud’ down and weed-free pull back with the marker rod, then I’m happy to put a baited rig on it. I prefer this type of bottom because it gives a good rig presentation and these firm spots are generally firm and weed-free for a reason – they are normally areas the fish have fed on and on busy waters it’s usually an area that is fished regularly and receives a continuous supply of bait. I believe the fish will return to spots where they know the food is ‘freely’ available.”

6 Nigel Sharp

“The areas I tend to favour are usually firm silt butted up against the edge of a feature i.e. a gravel bar, margin or island. The reason why I prefer to position baits on this kind of bottom is because they are usually at the bases of a sloping edge and are where both natural and introduced foods (baits) collect.

“Other good reasons why I prefer to fish on firm silt areas are because they are usually areas that fish have cleaned off and tend to be flat thus enabling my rigs to lay out flat against the bottom, which in this day and age of fishing for ever wary fish can only be an edge. Obviously at certain times of year these areas can also be rich in natural food sources so it’s a no-brainer really.

“Now, if you’d asked me whether I’ve noticed that I’d caught better from silt than say gravel, my answer would be that I’ve caught most of my big fish from this kind of spot and for one reason or another I’ve also noticed that I tend to catch more mirrors than I do commons from firm silty areas.”

7 Rob Hughes

“My preference is a good old firm clay/silt bottom in muddyish water with no weed. There’s nothing to trouble you down there, no weed to trip you up and a big bed of bait is the feature that will draw the fish in. Standard rigs, ideally bottom baits are perfect in this situation, and areas like this are usually pretty featureless so you can make your own features. It sounds boring I know, but having seen underwater all the pitfalls of weed snags and other things first hand, if I have got the choice, it’s open water clay bottoms every day of the week! Easy life… by far the best!”