I wrote this for another forum but hope this serves useful for someone here too.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
There's seems to be quite a bit of interest in fishing, so I thought I'd write a few tips in instalments on how to bag yourself a fish without touching too much into the realms of sport fishing. I spent most of my youth adopting simple techniques and using the bare minimum of tackle on trout streams in Exmoor and rivers/streams and coastal areas of Somerset and Dorset, which nowadays could be construed as bushcraft/survival fishing.
This topic will be based around the skills you need for catching a trout from a river. Just remember that it doesn't only apply for trout, most skills are interchangeable for other species.
I've chosen not to get into the realms of coarse fish since it's something I'd only consider eating in a survival situation - I've eaten carp, bream & roach (not in UK I hasten to add) and they don't taste the best and certainly nobody is going to have a tin bath set-up, as demonstrated once by Hugh Fearlessly Eatsitall to leach the bowels of the fish whilst they're out camping.
This first part, for the time being, is based on watercraft for a trout river - Trout prefer clean, highly oxygenated water, so trout rivers tend to be clear and fast flowing, although there can be exceptions to the rule.
Watercraft is just as important as the tackle you use, if not more so. You can have the most expensive gear on the planet and you still won’t catch if you’re not doing it right.
At the other end of the scale, which is the area we want to be looking at, you can approach it with just simple techniques/equipment and bag up. In this instance, it is a guide for approaching bushcraft fishing using a hand line or hobo set up.
A lot of people expect to turn up at a stretch of river, chuck a line out and catch a fish. First mistake, you may get lucky but 9 times out of 10, without some degree of watercraft, you won’t.
Remember that you can't always see the fish but, with consideration, can take an educated guess at where they'll be.
Your initial approach is important.
Fish have great peripheral vision and will spot your silhouette against the skyline. Remember that fish are predated upon, so have natural wariness.
Keep low, use trees, bushes or whatever as cover where possible.
Be quiet - Stomping around on the bank will do you no favours. The vibrations you cause are easily transmitted through the water and will spook the fish.
Avoid sudden movements. Think Heron.
Choosing your spot.
You should look for areas of slack water or deep pools that are preceded by a ‘race’ (fast moving section). Fish do not want to be expending energy by maintaining position in fast water. They will hang around in slack water near a race waiting for bits of food to get washed down past them where they can dart out and intercept it.
Likewise, sunken features such as; logs or boulders provide cover from the main current and fish will lie in wait behind these for food to wash down past them.
Your chosen spot should ideally be upstream from the features, somewhere where it’s fairly easy to cast and, ideally, have a place nearby where you can easily land the fish. If you don’t have very strong line, you don’t want to be hauling a flapping trout up a steep bank, you could snap your line and lose your end tackle not to mention your dinner.
I'm 3/4 the way through penning the next bit - tackle selection - and hope to get it done soon if anyone's interested.
Thinking about it, this could get long. I can see 3 subjects before a line has even been cast!
Any feedback would be appreciated.
There's seems to be quite a bit of interest in fishing, so I thought I'd write a few tips in instalments on how to bag yourself a fish without touching too much into the realms of sport fishing. I spent most of my youth adopting simple techniques and using the bare minimum of tackle on trout streams in Exmoor and rivers/streams and coastal areas of Somerset and Dorset, which nowadays could be construed as bushcraft/survival fishing.
This topic will be based around the skills you need for catching a trout from a river. Just remember that it doesn't only apply for trout, most skills are interchangeable for other species.
I've chosen not to get into the realms of coarse fish since it's something I'd only consider eating in a survival situation - I've eaten carp, bream & roach (not in UK I hasten to add) and they don't taste the best and certainly nobody is going to have a tin bath set-up, as demonstrated once by Hugh Fearlessly Eatsitall to leach the bowels of the fish whilst they're out camping.
This first part, for the time being, is based on watercraft for a trout river - Trout prefer clean, highly oxygenated water, so trout rivers tend to be clear and fast flowing, although there can be exceptions to the rule.
Watercraft is just as important as the tackle you use, if not more so. You can have the most expensive gear on the planet and you still won’t catch if you’re not doing it right.
At the other end of the scale, which is the area we want to be looking at, you can approach it with just simple techniques/equipment and bag up. In this instance, it is a guide for approaching bushcraft fishing using a hand line or hobo set up.
A lot of people expect to turn up at a stretch of river, chuck a line out and catch a fish. First mistake, you may get lucky but 9 times out of 10, without some degree of watercraft, you won’t.
Remember that you can't always see the fish but, with consideration, can take an educated guess at where they'll be.
Your initial approach is important.
Fish have great peripheral vision and will spot your silhouette against the skyline. Remember that fish are predated upon, so have natural wariness.
Keep low, use trees, bushes or whatever as cover where possible.
Be quiet - Stomping around on the bank will do you no favours. The vibrations you cause are easily transmitted through the water and will spook the fish.
Avoid sudden movements. Think Heron.
Choosing your spot.
You should look for areas of slack water or deep pools that are preceded by a ‘race’ (fast moving section). Fish do not want to be expending energy by maintaining position in fast water. They will hang around in slack water near a race waiting for bits of food to get washed down past them where they can dart out and intercept it.
Likewise, sunken features such as; logs or boulders provide cover from the main current and fish will lie in wait behind these for food to wash down past them.
Your chosen spot should ideally be upstream from the features, somewhere where it’s fairly easy to cast and, ideally, have a place nearby where you can easily land the fish. If you don’t have very strong line, you don’t want to be hauling a flapping trout up a steep bank, you could snap your line and lose your end tackle not to mention your dinner.
I'm 3/4 the way through penning the next bit - tackle selection - and hope to get it done soon if anyone's interested.
Thinking about it, this could get long. I can see 3 subjects before a line has even been cast!
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