weedless for very shallow kelp beds

Hi Guys

I'm going to try concentrate my efforts on fishing very shallow water and kelp/weed beds. the water is only a 1 foot deep or less in places but i seen fish breaking the surface there a few times. Thinking soft plastics, little lobsters, slug go's and the like

My question is around weedless rigs, set ups, and technique for fishing this type of terrain. Is it possible to reel very slow through the thick of it without snagging or is it better to reel fast? is a float or sinker worth trying or just best to fish the lure on weedless without a weight. I just use a standard leader straight to a weight jig head. I’m maybe being too cautious on my approach as i already broke a rod last week so any help from other guys experience would be great. what would entice a fish away from feeding on the weed.

I have seen fish breaking the surface in very shallow water in wexford and Dublin, seen them cruising up and down weed lanes and in the very thick of it but i only have one sp (fish minnow) and they ignored it. i even passed two swimming fish with the lure between them and nothing. i'm hoping the colour or pattern just wasn't to their liking. i don't think the minnow is right for the location anyway. sinks too fast. I was wondering if they were mullet but i'm pretty sure i'd be able to recognize them myself but it’s hard to tell when they are under water. they were being slightly territorial as in kinda nipping at each other like pigeons do when they fight over food. Mullet also tend to feed like cows munching on the weed and turning their bodies over, these were cruising more predator like and ventured into the very shallowest of water within 5 feet of me.

I hope this is a sign that i'm getting closer

Tight Lines

J

The sluggos the large ones have a nice bit of weight to them so casting is not a problem with them I find.I use a weighted weedless hook and fish it over the rough stuff all the time and never have a problem.Mind you not getting many fish either

I've used the 7.5 inch Sluggo in similar scenarios. Rigged on a weedless hook and unweighted. You can cast the 7.5 inch version a decent distance if you need to. Even on a general lure rod. I mean there is no need for an especially light sp style rod.

Sent from my GT-S5369 using Tapatalk 2

Hi John,

check out my pic in this thread, thats how i avoid the snags. hope it helps.
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=43922

Tom

Thanks guys. It was a beginner mistake. All i had at first was 12g weedless minnow. they were too heavy and just got snagged immediately. I'm going to keep them for deeper water off a headland into a tidal stream. it would swim great in that i'd say.

took the advice here and now fishing an ishad unweighted and its perfect, glides over the top of the kelp and then i let it drop into the pools. For the deeper areas i added a tunsten drilled bullet which helped keep the head down.

The resounding advice on SP's is to retrieve slowly. is this true or is it like everything else and just what the fish respond too on the given day? fast retrieve it swims like a sub surface lure and slow i've been twitching it slowly along the bottom. no takes yet but the feeling on the rod tip is given me some confidence, which in itself is a welcome change since i've started learning with the lure.

I think it's been mentioned before but take a look at Henry Gilbey's video's on utube on how to fish soft plastics. Then do the opposite.

I suppose bait fish tend not to zoom around the place like they are on speed. A slow retrieve with pauses and the odd gentle twitch gives a better representation of how they behave.

Obviously it depends on the lure you use. With a jighead and, say, xlayer or SG sandeel, in deeper water, gentle sink and draw often works. With a paddletail often just a steady retrieve or letting it move down a current letting the tail work is all thats required. With an I-shad or senko type lure very slow retrieves or simply letting the sp roll down the current has worked best for me.

I found it took a long time to get comfortable with SPs. For me that was down to the fact that I started fishing with them in places where there weren't any numbers of fish and when you aren't catching on a lure (any lure!) its easy to get disillusioned and write it off. It was only when I started using them in Kerry a couple of years ago that I realised how deadly they can be and this has, of course, upped my confidence in them. As we all know, confidence in your lure is everything!!!!

There are lots of guys on here who have far more experience of SPs than me - would be good to get their take on how to fish them.

FWIW - in shallow water like you describe I tend to go weightless. As soon as you add either a jig head or a keel hook you change the presentation to the extent that some lures may not function as well. I always like to keep my SP's as horizontal as possible in shallow water < 4 feet say so it's just a Texan hook on an I Shad or Dolive stik or bass assassin pintails etc
I tend to take a looooonnnnggggg time retrieving and leave the lure stopped for significant periods whilst trying to maintain contact - followed by a sharp and low 'twitch and stop' not an upwards motion but more horizontal again if I can - casting along the shore a lot of the time .
If its a bit deeper I depend on the falling action of the lure a lot - cast fall stop on bottom - lift fall stop on bottom - no jig head. The fall is a key trigger.
The I shad for me over sand at times is super - I think bass may mistake it for juvenile flounders especially the 4.8" version.
In deeper water the lift and drop technique is super - sometimes a big lift shows fish which are closer to the bottom the lure and hence they eat it - it is essential in current to always try to fish as light as possible to heavy as current increases and then decrease the weight as current decreases, try to eliminate 'drag' a dry fly term I know and keep retrieves to a minimum when using a 'swinging and dropping' technique matched correctly to a well balanced lure it's deadly - you may need to adjust frequently

Dead drift softies mmmmmmhhhhhh

FWIW - in shallow water like you describe I tend to go weightless. As soon as you add either a jig head or a keel hook you change the presentation to the extent that some lures may not function as well. I always like to keep my SP's as horizontal as possible in shallow water < 4 feet say so it's just a Texan hook on an I Shad or Dolive stik or Bass assassin pintails etc
I tend to take a looooonnnnggggg time retrieving and leave the lure stopped for significant periods whilst trying to maintain contact - followed by a sharp and low 'twitch and stop' not an upwards motion but more horizontal again if I can - casting along the shore a lot of the time .
If its a bit deeper I depend on the falling action of the lure a lot - cast fall stop on bottom - lift fall stop on bottom - no jig head. The fall is a key trigger.
The I shad for me over sand at times is super - I think Bass may mistake it for juvenile flounders especially the 4.8" version.
In deeper water the lift and drop technique is super - sometimes a big lift shows fish which are closer to the bottom the lure and hence they eat it - it is essential in current to always try to fish as light as possible to heavy as current increases and then decrease the weight as current decreases, try to eliminate 'drag' a dry fly term I know and keep retrieves to a minimum when using a 'swinging and dropping' technique matched correctly to a well balanced lure it's deadly - you may need to adjust frequently

Dead drift softies mmmmmmhhhhhh

Quality post Jim, the man wont go wrong following that advice on the soft plastics.

Don't forget keep a few small nail weights about you as well. They really are a must for most SP's to keep them horizontal on the fall.

Oh...and a couple of acoustic barrels and split rings too!

great advice guys thanks again. put it to practice over the weekend and much happier with the lures action. just need a fish to think so too now.

Just need to find out what time the bass bus stops at the marks i choose now.

Do not forget to give some slack when fish bites if you are using weedless hooks, if not, you won't set the hook. Letting the fish go with the lure for a few seconds by lowering the rod is usually enough but it's not easy at first.