Weed

This is probably a stupid question (my forté!) but I'll ask it anyway.

We were out last night at Shankill and the weed was brutal. I tried a few short lobs but every time the line dipped into the water it filled with weed and eventually the rig ended back up on the shore with a gripper weight. I tried a full cast getting reasonable distance. I just about managed to get the 1st cast back, spent ages getting all the weed of the line and re-cast. Next time I wasn't so lucky, there was so much weed on the line I couldn't drag it back in and it eventually snapped.

We then gave up and headed for Bray harbour and although the weed wasn't as bad the rigs were coming back covered in it, so there was no way a fish would even be able to get near the hooks.

Is there anything you can do when it's like this (apart from give up)?

The stuff nightmares are made of.

Nothing much you can do when the weed is really bad.
The only thing you could do is to fish with 30lb. line straight through this will give you a better chance of getting your gear back.

Thanks. It's as I suspected.

The high tides and winds this week are a killer. Not much you can do about it but try work through it. Adds to the fun though

Most weed tends to congregate in the first 5yds of the shore and can catch your line when it drops into this area, if you can put your rod as high as you can get it in the tripod so it's less likely to fall in this area and there is less line in the water. I would use a shock leader and maybe heavy line or braid which has a smaller diameter than the mono and cut through the water easier and doesn't seem to pick up as much weed. The shock leader knot will gather the weed and stop it sliding down your leader and covering your trace it will give your bait a chance to fish okay! it can be a pain in the arse to get off but a least you are giving your baits a chance to fish
Another trick matchmen use when things get really bad is to hold your rod no double patting reel in bait up and cast out again you have more control over your line and you can keep tension on it.
If all this fails then pack up and go to the pub

Great, thanks for that Paul. Will try it next time.

was on killiney the same day i think...was horrible there too