can be the only option.
Even the most barren lake will have somevariation in the make up of the lake bed. There may behidden weed beds, changes in depth, gravel patches andeven springs to find. All of these hidden features canhold fish. Fish certainly won’t be spread evenlyaround a water, so it is essential that you stack theodds up in your favour by having a detailed knowledgeof the features in the lake. In most cases, this iscertainly enough to make the difference betweensuccess and failure.GearPlumbing up in shallow water, close to the bank can beaccomplished with a simple float set-up. The troubleis, we often want to know the depth further from thebank. This calls for a more specialised approach,especially in weedy water.My standard plumbing set-up consists of a four poundtest curve greys carp rod and baitrunner reel. Withthis combination, I can easily reach distances of ahundred metres or more. Braided lines add a whole newdimension to plumbing and I keep a spool of 15lbbreaking strain Herculine braid in the bottom of myrucksack for just this reason. The lack of stretchinherent in braids means that depths can be judged farmore accurately, and the bed of the lake felt throughthe ledger weight. Every pebble a stone on the bottomcan be felt as a slight knocking on the rod top. Thelead can be felt pulling steadily through silt andmud, and getting caught in weed on the lake bed. Thisinformation is just as important as knowing the depth.Although fish will often pass through and over denseweed, a bait buried in it is unlikely to be picked up,and hooking fish will be impossible if the hook pointis masked. Silt also harbours concentrations ofchironomids, the natural food of many fishes. To give maximum feel, I use a four ounce ball lead. Asmost of the lakes I fish have a covering of weed andalgae on the bottom, I attatch the lead to a 30 cmlength of 30 lb monofilament. At the other end is aHutchinson swivel ring. This bomb link allows thefloat to sit above the worst of the weed, reducing thechances of the ring becoming choked with weed,stopping the float from rising to the surface. A largeaerodynamic marker float is then tied to the end ofthe braid mainline. My favourite marker floats are theMCF design and the soon to be released Hutchinson highvis-marker, which I designed.Producing a mapProducing a map of each swim can be a time consumingbusiness, but it is time well spent, as a bait placedin the right spot is much more likely to be picked up.On trial and error will tell you what sort ofconditions to look for on your lake, but once you findone such spot, it is likely that fish will be caughtin similar spots in other swims. This can be all thedifference it takes to unlock a difficult water.In each swim I first mark any far bank features on asheet of waterproof paper. These features will be myinitial casting marks, and I will ideally have four orfive spread across the width of the swim. Starting onone side, I cast as far as possible, and allow thefloat to rise to the surface. I then place the line inthe spool clip and check the depth by pulling thefloat down a 30 cm at a time until I feel the weightof the lead. Add 30 cm to take into account the bomblink and you have an accurate measurement of thedepth. The float is then wound down to the lead withthe rod tip pointing at the float. I then pull the rodto one side very gently, feeling for the compositionof the lake bed. The rod is brought round until it isat right angles to the float. With a twelve foot rodthis is a distance of approximately 4 metres. Thefloat is then allowed to resurface and the depthchecked again. This procedure is repeated until thegear is back in the margins. By making a note of thenumber of depths recorded, the distance can be workedout with surprising accuracy. The next casting mark isthen choosen and the process repeated. In this manner,a very detailed picture of the lake bed can be builtup in a surprisingly short period of time.Dealing with weedy waters.Ideally, I will plumb as many venues during the depthsof winter as possible. At this time of year, submergedweeds, the bane of any plumbers life, will have diedback, making the process easier. It’s important thoughto combine this knowledge with additional plumbingduring the period when you are fishing the water tolocate any weed beds which may have sprung up in theintervening period. It’s not always possible to getaccess to new waters before I start fishing, and soeach year there are some venues that I have to plumbin the height of summer. In very weedy water, adifferent set-up may be required to allow the float torise to the surface. The method I use is to tie thebomb onto the end of the main line with the float freerunning on the line. A stop knot is then tied somedistance up the line and the whole lot cast out. Thestop knot is then adjusted until the float sitsupright on the water surface. This technique is muchmore time consuming, but when weed is really dense it
can be the only option.