Thanks barb, i will!
GD: typicaly the bait wont snag, its usually the lead system. I've fished over crazy weeds in bethnay and everytime I do snag its the lead, thats why they have designed special lead clips that pull the lead completely off in a snag to save you loosing a fish.
when you fish for carp specifically you don't want to be fishing over weed, thats why its imperative to find a swim thats either gravel or clay or something flat the rig can lay on nicley, these types of carp rigs dont lay on weed at all and you almost never bite when you do fish directly on weed.
to find a carp spot on a lake, just tie a basic heavy lead directly to your main line and cast it out, (they actually make rods specifically for this in EU called marker rods!) you can usually feel when you land directly onto weed, your looking for a thud type landing on the bottom and little to no resistance when you initially bring it in.
Whilst bringing in the heavy lead, if you do it slow enough you can feel the contours of the bottom of the lake, it takes practice but if you get it right you can find all kinds of great spots on the bottom, like shallows, silty drop offs etc. once your confident your lead isn't directly laying on the weed, clip up your line to your reel then every cast should land in roughly the same spot, away from weed and snag and you know exactly what your fishing
I'd apply this technique to any fishing personally, if you don't know whats on the bottom, how deep it is, what are the features etc your only giving yourself half a chance