Casting into weed beds( kelp?)

[southwales]

Down here in south wales a lot of the marks are flat sloping rocks onto huge seaweed growth( prehaps you call it kelp?) which have grown on the ledges

at dead low water they are flat all around you but obviously as the tide rises these will "wake up" and I am sure they stand up at least a foot or so in the flow , obviously great for the fish but difficult for them to find your bait

now whats the best rig for fishing ground like this ?

I was thinking of a paternoster, rig body about 6 foot, about 3 foot up have a snood coming off so its fluttering above the weed ?

or a pulley with similar dimensions?

[sless]

pulley for me mate

[alan]

Pulley rig with a rotten bottom weak link

[southwales]

Short snoods ?

to keep tangles down

[alan]

I vary my snood lenghs mate,from 12" up,you still get snagged up from time to time but the pulley seems to work best around here

[southwales]

Thaks alan

will give it a go

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

I agree a pulley rig with a snood between 18 inches down to six for really snaggy stuff and always use a rotten bottom.

[fishfinder]

just a case of keeping it simple the less on your rig the less there is to snag rottern botts allways

[peter.m]

Mainly a blood loop paternoster, 50lb b/s with a rotter on the bottom. Lead weak link of 20lb.

Use loop to loop for the hook snood again 50lb or maybe drop to 40lb depending where I am. Vary the length of the snood but usually 3ft.

Use a loop at the top and an oval on the main line to clip into. Very little in the way of components to snag up and cheap as chips if you're losing them. Probably costs about 50p including the hook so can afford to stand a big loss in rig numbers.

[willywetegg]

I am going through a spell of not using rotten bottoms and am finding that I am not losing as much gear as I was. A mate of mine showed me a way of getting the weight back out of a snag and although it does'nt work every time I don't seem to do badly with weight or rig losses.

Got to say though it depends what sort of rig you are using to whether it works or not. No good using a Pulley rig (one of my favourites) as it won't work with them. I tend to use them more on clean ground now.

Got to agree with Peter.m and fishfinder on keeping it as simple as possible. The less to get caught up the better.

Over the last couple of months I have been fishing the rock marks more and more with plain leads instead of grippers and believe that is a help too. Not sure why as I always thought that the plain leads would be more likely to roll into a snag and be lost. It hasn't been the case though. I fished Rocky Island last night in the Whitley Bay evening comp and only lost one weight, it was a gripper. Fished close to that mark the night before with the same result just one lost. I will wait untill the really rough seas kick in before I make my mind up though lol.

Jim.

[southwales]

Thanks lads

will let you know how I get on

[CHUKKA]

This is my favourite heavy groung rig.

Try a small splitring at top of a 60lb rig body then tie in 6 inches below a blood loop then 2ft down where the lead will be tie in another loop at the bottom, tie to trace body above the loop two 6 inch lengths of 15lb nylon and tie on the other end your sinker (normally a spider). When casting out insert a panel pin between the loop and the sinker eye. If you put a small amount of foam on the pin it will float out and release the rotten bottom. I find this the best and cheapest rig for very heavy ground with very little to snag (except your hook or the split ring). The two lengths of light nylon mean you can still snap the sinker off if its snagged but you dont lose half as many sinkers as using one length of light nylon when bumping them off on rocks.

Ps you will generally catch more fish with a bottom (ie trailing) hook about 1 ft below your lead. (wrasse fishing excluded when a top hook rules!)

Forget your swivels and gemini breakouts these are just a snag waiting to happen!

[peter.m]

Your rig dimensions sound the same as mine Chukka as I described. The only difference is I use the rotters. They are so small they hardly cause any trouble.

[southwales]

Cheers again

I like those rotters, dont like casting with them but these ledges are deep close in anyway

[Hiram.A.Biff]

I like those rotters, dont like casting with them but these ledges are deep close in anyway

Ooh... you dont wanna use rotters... you wanna use Cannylinks!