Gone Fishing

[QDanT]

Having just answered stone monkey in the 'other chatter' thread I thought I'd post it here as well :

• Hi stone monkey I answered your query in my last post
  http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=140183
  by signing off with --- Gone Fishing. I still take a stove and the brew/cooking kit and it's outdoors but I'm not shure how much interest there is on BCUK for fishing trips ? I was at Embsey resevoir yesterday (Wed)
  http://www.skiptonangling.co.uk/VenuesEmbsay.html
  caught a nice Tiger Trout, on a Black Spider dry fly
  

  

  
  

  

  
  which I put back, and a nice Rainbow Trout
  

  

  
  which I put in the freezer !
  ​
  
  
  Out here at the Perimeter there are no Stars
  http://teddytourteas.blogspot.com/
  ​

 

[Madriverrob]

Excellent , I'm new to fly fishing and still hoping to bag something like that , a job well done ......

 

[santaman2000]

I love ALL types of fishing but when it comes to fly fishing, I'm still a wanna be. Maybe one day I'll actually get a chance to learn properly.

 

[QDanT]

Cheers Madriverrob and santaman2000 I've only just stopped 'cracking' the fly off, but can still cast superb knots in the leader I'd done a rubish roll cast to get some line out so did another to get some of the snakey bends out and the Tiger took the Fly on the drop and hooked its self I don't know who was more surprized me or the fish, but that was my first fly rod catch the Rainbow was worm on one of my Avon floats

 

[Robson Valley]

Pause in your back cast to let the line loop unroll. Then the rod can pull everything forward again.
You may be trying to "throw" the line. Hold a paperback novel between your elbow and ribs.
Elbow only, stiff wrist, drive by turning your shoulder, if there's a big wind.

Did an evening class in casting and fly tying basics. 1973?
Best cutthroat I ever caught was on a fly that I tied myself.
Eventually even built a rod 9' x #9.

Get on with it. Flyfishing is when you need it (even streamers for pike).
There's a Zen thing to say that every day spent fishing is a day not counted in your allotted life span.
Don't cheat yourself.

 

[SoldierPalmer]

If your arms are tired after a full days casting your doing it wrong best advice is to get an instructor for a few hours or tag along with a very experienced angler. Fly fishing can be very tedious and frustrating at first. It can be the most enjoyable and rewarding way of fishing to.

 

[Robson Valley]

Any kind of top-water fishing is fun. Sure, nymphs and wets are OK but there's not much to watch.
For me "fishing the fly" takes far longer than the cast.

SoldierPalmer got it right. Casting shouldn't be exhausting. Take a lesson or three.

 

[Rod Paradise]

Keep an eye out for any Game Fairs around you, I was just volunteering at the Scone Game Fair (near Perth), and they were taking people out for a one on one introduction to fly casting all through the 3 days.

 

[Robson Valley]

I learned to cast on the varnished floor of a school gymnasium.
Good thing we cut the tips off the hooks but they still stung on the back of my ear!
Forgotten his name. 45 years ago. I am eternally grateful to him as the instructor.

Next was in a park on wet grass. Far better sense of the drag on the pick-up.
My first lake was a shock. So different again. But I caught a good fish.
I can't believe that any drugs offer a high like that day.

On-again, off-again, we have some things like your "Game Fair",
usually called "Heritage Days." The fly fishing club on the river and
the gun club for the land/shooting things.

 

[Uilleachan]

Good job QDanT, and on a nice simple spider.


There's been a lot of water under the bridge since I made the change to fly fishing, I'm not the greatest caster, yet I can cast a decent line without really thinking about it, but more importantly I've learned that casting isn't fishing, it's just part of the process.

IMO, the key to fly fishing is realising that casting and presenting a short line "well" trumps casting a long line "badly", every time and that's much easier than most people suppose.

Once a body realises that then the focus shifts readily to what's happening at the business end and where that business end is going.

Fly selection, just like fly casting really, considered a black art and bar to participation by the uninitiated, isn't as tricky or as important as it seems at first, if a fly is dropped in the right place to begin with thats most of the job done, only fish on water that's relentlessly hammered are really fly fussy and even then trout are opportunists and more often than not if a fly lands on it's nose, or within easy reach, it'll have a go.

The secret to success in trout fishing is not letting the trout know you're there, stealth. So if you don't know where they are chill and make a brew and keep an eye out, stay away from the bank, spot a likely fish (one thats approachable and within your reach, if you can't see one, wait or move ) and plan your approach to get within range undetected.

One things for sure, once you get to grips with the relatively easy process of putting yourself in the position to hook up with a fish on the fly, you've more or less cracked it.

It's almost always well within the gift of the novice fly fisher to get within range of a fish, cast a short line to it and connect. What happens after that is another story, you learn playing and landing fish by losing the fish you've hooked.

Get out and give it a go

 

[scarfell]

Lovely tiger!


Love fly fishing, dont get much chance to catch trout around here (have a few farms, but tbh you might aswell just use a net lol), i fly fish for pike at this time of year, great fun not having a heavy rod to drag it in with. Shame i dont like the taste of pike coz i much prefer fishing to eat! Still looking for my first Char, one day!