Jonny Old – Autumn Weed Fishing

Through the late autumn, and into winter, I still like to target the weedy areas of the lake, zones where the summer weed is still yet to die back. These areas offer the carp warmth, safety and plenty of natural food. As we progress further into autumn and into the winter, the cold weather is likely to kill off a lot of the weed, meaning line lay to these areas becomes more manageable.

Taking time to locate the clean patches up against the weed beds is how I like to attack these zones, leading for a positive donk, before baiting with a tight spread of bait. I use the Korda Marker mainline for direct contact, with a pronge lead, helping to learn what’s on the spot and establish just how clean it really is. I always make sure that when I am leading around, it’s not in bite time and the fish have moved off the area. Usually, this is in the late morning, meaning I can spend a good hour or so to identify spots, get the rods wrapped and clipped and then have rigs in the water for the last few hours of light, so they are prime for the hours of dark.

Fishing low lying pop ups and Heli Safes will help your rig present should there be any stray weed or debris on the spot, something that’s quite common at this time of year, with leaf litter and branches often finding their way to the lakebed.

Big size 4 Kurv Shanks on stiff 25lb Boom set up on conventional spinner rigs my go to, fished over boilie and the odd fleck of corn, something I’ve done really well on at this time of year.

I think people often associate weed with summer fishing, but personally, I’ve found it even more effective at this time of year and will actively seek out the weedy areas to target.