Solar Tackle "Weed Effect" Advanced Rig Gear

It has been drummed into anglers for years that they should remove all traces of weed from their tackle before recasting out. This may make perfect sense in theory, but with anglers being more concerned about camouflaging their end tackle to hide it from the fish, anglers are unwittingly removing the most natural camouflage available - what is on the bottom of the venue they are fishing!

Anglers have been playing around with numerous materials to create an artificial camouflage using materials such as wool wrapped around leadcore leaders, real twigs attached with wire ties to hooklinks and even to the extent of using plastic aquarium plants attached to their rigs (which it is very unusual to see Amazon Sword plants in a UK water!).

With this in mind, Martin Locke and his intrepid team at Solar Tackle have bought out a range of end tackle products that offer the most "natural" camouflage available without having to replace the "weed" everytime the angler is on the bank (something that would be required if real weed was used as it would rapidly decompose).

Enter the Weed Effect.

The "Weed Effect" range comes in two colours (green and brown), which blend in with virtual invisibility ,depending on the type of weed present in the venue that you are fishing. Solar have thought about the construction of the material thoroughly before releasing it to the public. The material has been made so that there are no loops in the loose material which minimises the risk of hooks catching up in it. To be 100% certain of no rig hook-ups, simply place a piece of soluable foam over the hook point (which is something that most anglers will do regardless). The material used in the construction of the range is super soft and when wet does feel exactly like the real item it is emulating. If a fish brushes against the material, there is far less chance that it will spook as it will think that it has touched a piece of real weed.

Using the complete range will ensure that 95% of your end tackle in the "danger zone" is completely hidden even though it may be in plain view. Fish are not scared of weed and even it you are angling over clean gravel, using "Weed Effect" may allow the end tackle to stand out to the angler, but to the fish, it is just a piece of weed on the deck!

The "Weed Effect" range may not be the largest available, but there is no need for hundreds of components to be made specifically for the task that Solar have developed this range for.

The products in the range comsist of "Weed Effect" leadcore leaders, "Weed Effect" spliceable WeedLink, "Weed Effect" leads and pre-tied "Weed Effect" hooklinks. All of the range are available in both the colours that Solar have made the "Weed Effect" material in.

"Weed Effect" Leadcore Leaders

The "Weed Effect" leadcore leaders are 1 metre in length which is more than ample for the situations that they have been developed for. These leadcore leaders are a little different to the standard style leaders that are commonly made available, in that the "Weed Effect" material is placed along 99.9% of the length of the leader but Solar have increased the size of the loop at the end where the rig or lead is attached and left it uncovered. At the join where the "Weed Effect" material and the loop meet, Solar have placed a small piece of shrink tube over the joins to keep everything neat and tidy as well to stop the "Weed Effect" material from coming off.

The leaders have been constructed using Solar's own 35lb leadcore which has the "Weed Effect" material spliced to it every few centimetres, rather than sliding a complete sleeve over the leadcore.

Attaching the leader is simplicity itself, and can be joined to the mainline by either a loop-to-loop connection or a Palomar knot. The mainline should always be connected to the small loop.

The larger loop makes it childs play to attach a lead clip or if used in a helicoptor style, leads up to 4oz simply by pushing the loop through the lead swivel and passing the lead back through the loop.

To attach a leadclip to the leader all that is needed is a stringer or stick needle (one with a gate latch end makes it much easier), and to thread the clip and tail rubber onto the needle and to then pull the large loop of the leader back through both components. Once the clip and tail rubber are on the loop, attach a size 8 swivel to the loop by passing the loop through the eye of the swivel, and then dropping the swivel through the loop. The large loop also allows hooklinks with swivels already attached to be dropped through the loop with ease - even with 20mm baits or small PVA sticks attached.

Although Solar do state that you can use these leaders in a helicoptor rig situation, I personally would have reservations over how easily the beads would move along the leader with the loose material along it. This is not to say that you could not use them for this task, but the element of doubt would always be at the back of my mind (and if in any doubt at all, I don't use something). If you are going to use the "Weed Effect" leaders in this fashion, please ensure that the upper bead and the swivel can both easily pass over the material and shrink tube at the smaller loop end. I would suggest that the upper and lower beads are placed on the shrink tube that covers the end of the material at either end of the leader. This means that the upper bead can easily come off without problems should a crack off occur.

"Weed Effect" Spliceable Weedlink Material

Solar have also thought about the anglers that like to construct their own camouflaged pieces of equipment. The Weedlink material at first glance looks like the loose outer sheath of leadcore with pieces of material added to it to break up the straight line effect. Essentially this is exactly what it is but to use it is slightly different to the way that anglers would usually use leadcore outer sheath.

The Weedlink is designed to be spliced along the hooklink material itself, and at first thoughts you would be excused for thinking that you would splice a loop at each end then attach a short piece of hooklink material attached to the hook to the spliced end. This is where everyone I have asked about this material who have not seen it or the instructions is wrong.

At first looks at the instructions for use, it seems complicated but in reality it is less complicated than creating your own leadcore leaders!

To use the Weedlink material on hooklinks, you simply tie your rig as you would normally but do not tie a swivel to the end. Place a piece of silicone tube or shrink tube (both supplied) onto the hooklink and slide down to the hook. Next pull off a piece of the Weedlink material shorter than the length of the hooklink. Simply push the splicing needle (also supplied) through the centre core of the Weedlink every 15mm or so creating a zig-zag of the material on the splicing needle leaving approximately half an inch to one inch of material free of the needle at each end. Once the length of Weedlink is on the splicing needle, simply pull the loose end of the hooklink through the Weedlink. Straighten out the Weedlink along the hooklink and tuck the end nearest the hook into the shrink tube or silicone to secure. You could use glue to make it totally secure but it is not needed once you have done this step a number of times. Place a second piece of shrink tube on to the other end of the hooklink (which is big enough to go over the eye of the swivel) and then tie the hooklink material to the swivel as per normal. Place the shrink tube over the eye of the swivel and then pull the remainder of the Weedlink through the tube so that it is tight to the hooklink material itself. It is then a simple task of placing the pieces of shrink tube into freshly boiled water to shrink down (please do not steam the tube as it can damage the actual material itself) and trim off the excess material as close to the shrink tube as possible. The Weedlink is then locked into place and your hooklink is camouflaged.

The way that the material is constructed means that it is suitable for use with all hooklink materials. I have made hooklinks up with coated braids, braids, mono, fluorocarbon and stiff bristle material and all have been no problem at all to cover. As the material is not tied to anything and trapped with the tubing, the mechanics of the rigs are not affected at all. Stiff rig booms covered in Weedlink both look and perform fantastically and will give an additional confidence on waters where the fish have seen everything before. You could even use the Weedlink on Chod hooklinks so all the fish see's in the water is a boilie stuck on top of a piece of weed - how much more natural can you get?

"Weed Effect" Leads

No end tackle camouflage would be complete if the lead still stood out like a sore thumb near to your hookbait. Solar have taken their leads to another dimension in giving them the "Weed Effect". The "Weed Effect" leads are currently available in only one type which is a distance casting swivel style. The leads themselves have been coated with a sandy coating that is the same colour as the weed material that is affixed to the lead as well. The shape of the lead is similar to the cult "Roger & Kerry" style that allows it to be cast long distances and also give a good bolt effect due to the weight concentrated towards the nose of the lead. Solar have also put thought into the swivel end of the lead. The swivel itself is not fitted to a brass loop like most commercially made leads of this type, but have had a large "eye" fitted into the end of the lead instead. This allows for a neat secure connection to the swivel without any excess lead forming around it. The size of the swivel fitted to the "eye" is also larger than normal and is sleeved with a piece of silicone tube to prevent tangles when used with soft braided hooklinks. The eye of the swivel is also large enough to eject the lead from a clip easily if required.

When placed in the water, you would not know that it was a lead at first glances and you would only know this if you could see the swivel. The camouflage effect is that good!

As the "Weed Effect" fibres are porous, you can use these leads with single hookbaits and dip them into a liquid attractant to give added food signals in the area of the hookbait.

One small detail that Solar have thought of is that because the leads are coated, it would be almost impossible for the angler to know what size they were picking up in the shop. Rather than to indivdually package each lead (whch would put the cost price of the lead up), Solar have decided to add a small plastic tag to the swivel which is colour coded to the weight of lead. These little tabs are easily removed and can be reused so you know when you put them away after a session which size is which. The Red tab is for 2oz, Yellow tab for 3oz and Green tab for 4oz.

"Weed Effect" Pre-Tied Hooklinks

There are anglers out there that have problems in tying rigs be it through a disability or that they cannot justify spending a significant amount of money out in one go to purchase the components to try a rig out. Solar have put together some pre-tied rigs using the "Weed Effect" material and they are very well tied indeed.

I am not a lover of pre-tied rigs myself, preferring to construct them myself so if one fails me, I am the one to blame. The "Weed Effect" rgs though have certainly had a lot of thought go into them and are not just another basic knotless knotted hair rig. The main part of the hooklink is constructed using a 25lb sinking braid that is abrasion resistant. This has been spliced to the "Weed Effect" Weedlink material and shrink tubed at either end of the material to secure it. The major part to the rigs is that the hook arrangement is the much-read-about-but-rarely-used-by-most Multi-Rig setup. Solar Longshank hooks have been fitted as standard, along with a hair tied to a rig ring that slides on to the loop at the end of the hooklink. This setup allows for the hook to be changed quickly and easily without having to purchase lots of different rigs with differing sized hooks making these very cost effective.

To change the hook it is a simple task of sliding the silicone tube off the eye of the hook, unlooping the hookilink from under the point of the hook and sliding the ring & hair off. Pull the loop off the hook and reverse the procedure with the new hook (put loop through eye, place ring on loop, put loop over the point and slide silicone over the eye to secure).

The rigs have been constructed at a length of approximately 10 inches (give or take a few millimetres) and are the perfect length for most situations. The size 8 swivel that the rigs are tied to will fit the majority of popular lead clips on the market.

Final Thoughts

At first when I heard about the "Weed Effect", I immediately thought "Gimmick". Boy was I wrong! I had a sneak preview of the stuff back in February upon speaking to Martin Locke on the bank, and my exact words were "let us know please when the range is available so we can get our hands on it!". It does exactly what it has been designed to do without looking fake when in the water. I can see myself using a lot of the range on waters where the fish are very wary of anything in the water. A lot of the "purist" anglers will snort when the range is mentioned or in the media, but I cannot help but know that they are potentially missing out on fish by not using at least one item from the range.

I know that I cannot wait to really put the range through its paces on a hard little water near to me that they fish are mega spooky.

For further information on any of the Solar Tackle products, please visit the website by clicking the image below.