Fished the swim this morning and it soon became apparent the fish had moved to a more accessible area (barbel rolling across from me.) All was going well and after an hour had landed 3 good chub biggest a 5lb 2oz clonker then the river started to rise and I hooked and lost a fish possibly barbel but not sure cause I thought the big chub was a barbel till I got it to the net. After a while loads of weed and rubbish started coming down, dragging my feeders away out of the swim with a few seconds so clipped some 4oz feeders and tied on some powergum to try and hold the bottom. Tried casting up and downstream but still my feeders were being dislodged. I'm planning on going again tomorrow armed with some heavier leads, any other tips on combating weed. thanks.

Originally Posted by Barbel Seeker

Have to disagree with you there JayZS - an upstream presentation is ideal when lots of crap is coming down the river as instead of it sliding down the line and collecting around the lead/hook it slides up the line and more often than not falls away on reaching the surface leaving your baited rig in position for longer.

I wish it had been falling away off my upstream line yesterday. It wasn't. The weed does gather away from the hook though. Although the upstream rod took as many fish as my downstream one, the bite indication differences were major. So it will remain upstream, only if really necessary, for me.

Agreed the weed is a problem and tends to hang on! In a few weeks time when the leaves are the major issue you'll appreciate the benefits i'm sure! With regards to bite indication, i see a 'drop back' just as positive an indication as a 3' twitch.

The only problem with upstream presentation is the fact that you sometimes have to reel like mad to get contact with the fish once you get a big drop back!
I find it a very effective way to fish, and as someone said earlier in the thread, it will let you use a lighter lead/feeder to hold position than when fishing across or downstream.