Weedy problems

I have started to fish a really weedy area on a big river. It is a definite fish holding area but I am getting paranoid about the combination of weed and flow messing up the presentation. Any ideas of how to tackle it ?

Carp Angler asks the same question in the Carp section. So where are you non-carp anglers going to fish this winter?

My choice is the river Ribble for chub fishing. The Ribble is now producing chub on most stretches with an average size of 4lb-plus.

Not such good news for the future if there are few smaller chub following up, but the situation now is too good to be missed.

Phil
Is it possible to roll the bait to the back of the weed to give yourself more confidence that the bait isn't covered.
Alternatively, if the flow isn't too great you can always use dissolving pop-up foam so that the bait settles after the cast.
Is the weed thick ranunculus or streamer weed? How deep is the water? How much flow? etc

Thanks for the thoughts. Its basically a big bay full of weed with depths ranging from about 6 to 12 feet. Its separated from the main flow by a really prominent bar that shallows up to about 2 feet and absolutely covered in weed...crows foot, cabbages?.basically its big bunches rather than streamer type weed. The further into the slack you get the less the flow becomes, in fact the water is almost stationary by the near bank at this time of year. Currently the catching area seems to be the back of the main bar where the flow starts to really pick up. This being at a distance of around 80 yards. I can currently hold bottom there with 3 ounces. I expect as winter moves in the fish will start to come further and further into the bay and the flow will pick up in there but the weed is the major problem. I have tried to use PVA bags and although this helps initially to ensure the hook/rig is weed free, I am concerned that any flow will then mask it or pull the hook into weed. Do you think I am being too paranoid about this? I assume the fish are used to finding food within the weed but I cannot help but think that the hook is being masked ?

I wear bifocols & small shot below No 6 causes a few problems to put on the line any easy peasy ideas?

If you are fishing in the weed then the flow could be a problem, if you are fishing clear patches in the weed then you should be OK. PVA bags, dissolving foam on the hook, and short links with pop-ups should solve any problems that you think you might have. If you fish out of the flow then a balanced bait on a longer supple hooklength will see your bait settle gently on the weed and, providing you're confident, then that will work.
Providing that the carp are easily extracted from the weed then have the confidence to fish in it.
Most people lack that confidence, but once you've gotten over those fears and landed a few, then it will pose no problems for you in the future.