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I know how you feel Lee. I had the same issues when I first started. Near bank fishing can be difficult with the angle to keep fish out of snags. Tips you may find useful, if you are using a rod rest hold the butt of the rod rather than putting it in a back rest. This gives you an extra second or two when a fish takes as you are already holding the rod and don't have to pick it up. In one swim that I used to regularly fish that I often lost fish in I found the following helped. Rather than create a 90 degree angle between rod and bait point the rod tip at the bait. I used to use 2 or 3 swan shot about 18 inches from the hook to anchor depending on the flow. I used a front rest which had a groove in so the line was not trapped against the rod, held the butt in my right hand and hooked the line over the fingers of my left hand between the reel and bottom ring. Do not loop the line around your fingers, thats a very good way to loose them if you get a take. I found that the line formed a slight bow with the direction of flow but did not worry as you could still feel even the tiniest of plucks from small fish, the trick is to learn which are proper bites and this will only come with experience.. A barbel or good chub will give a firm steady pull and sometimes you may even get a frission of the line on your fingers as a prearning of a barbel bite. The starnge thing was that when I hooked barbel in this way not one of them headed for the snag, most went into mid river. My own theory is that when a barbel is hooked it will go in exacly the opposite direction that the rod top is set to. By fishing the method I've described I think that the fact that there is a bow in the line initially confuses the fish when it is first hooked and in particular as to where its captor is located. I don't know if this is right but all I can say is its worked for me.Hope this helps.