Weed and bait presentation

How do you tackle bait presentation on a weedy venue. Do you try to avoid it or let the bait land in the middle? Does weed bother you at all?

Andy

head down feeding Paddy! Never thought of that. I've not had much on popped up baits but always had heads up. Thanks for the tip.

am with paddy the head down thing when using popped up baits.

I try to critically balance my baits like you would a carp bait i.e. with the deadbait JUST sinking...usually on a longer trace and longer lead link too. This means you can pretty much chuck it wherever you want knowing that once the lead hits the deck the bait then very slowly sinks down and rests on top of the weed/debris/silt etc

can be a pain to get that balance right but i have found that messing around with wine corks (rigged like a normal pop up ball) that you can trim easily works well.

I fish a river which can be weedy most of the year round nowadays, even after all that snow and ice last year. I must say that I can get runs whilst the deadbait is in a formidable amount of weed. As Im sure some of us will find out in the next month or two. But the long trace and the slow sinking dead resting on top of the weed technique would get a big thumbs up from me.

I used to worry about the bait getting lost in weed, but nowadays I am not worried, it seems not to have a detrimental effect, and for the most will lie on top of weed, its only when you move the bait that the problems may arise, I like the idea of head down pop ups though

i fish in the weed, its where the pike would normally find dead fish.

I'll use a popped up bait if the weed is too bad or try to find a clearer area and put a bait in there, I don't care that the bait is head up and neither do the Pike, I certainly don't think they think a bait popped up so that its presented head down is a feeding fish!

I might fishing a 12"+ buoyant leger stem with a popped-up bait but the weed itself doesn't concern me. I often actively cast into weed but that said, the tackle must be up to it.

No 12lb line in there. 50lb braid or 18lb mono all the way.