Rule of thumb closer you are to weeds shorter the leader should be. Leads sink in to the mud and your leader and bait will be caught up in it as well. Fishing on the bottom you lose the ability to keep your bait above the crap that is on the bottom which can be anywhere on a lake. So unless a fish takes you in closer which does happen and your float disappears altogether (most annoying) your normally good to go and can fish without any hassle. The reason is simple your float fishing rig is hovering just above the weed line and snags, branches,logs plant roots etc.

If i am casting 20+ metters,it doesnt stuck and not snagging,but 14-18m snagging,i might have to go back on kayak fishing,first time i been on kayak 79 days on MI but if i had 2 unique daily i was lucky,there is always + and - on bottom. well i am just mad because i have 3 unique spots and daily taking out on same 4 rod casts 4 uniques same time.Well i lost like 200 shiners but from other side,on bottom daily on sunny days got 8 unique and 8 trophy + pikes and mix/cloudy 6 uniques minimum on pikes but those snags :(ĭid you find new unique spot on other place then the one everyone using close to reeds?

I get virtually no snags and even in my snagging spots it was only 1 of 10 at worst.

IMO, you are losing entirely too many bait to this and it makes me wonder if you're doing something wrong.

Originally posted by Geauxboy:A few of my pike spots in MI are not usable with bottom fishing because of snagging, so I had to go through all my spots until I found a few places that don't have so much snagging problems.

Fishing planet michigan pike setup