Maggots or what?

[Ron Clay]

The other day whilst fishing a certain stillwater which shall be nameless and after catching and releasing about 9 trout, I was approached by the bailiff who asked to check my tackle. This was done and then I was asked to empty my pockets. No problem, I did it.

A very disgruntled bailiff then went on his way mumbling to himself.

This was a day when virtually all the other anglers had blanked. The point I want to make is this. Why is it whenever you catch particularly well you are viewed with suspicion on many trout waters of today? I would have been very willing to show others my flies and leader make up, and to explain why at the time I was fishing into the teeth of a gale and all the others stood at the other end of the lake with the wind at their backs, blanking

 

[Jon Moores]

Ron

I'm afraid the answer is, because it is not as uncommon as we might like to think. If you have a chat with a friendly fishery owner about the sort of things they find, then it may be quite a surprise. What's more difficult to answer is why people do it.

 

[Dave Johnson]

Agre John, last season while preparing to launch a boat at Gailey Reservoir I noticed bronze maggots in the bottom of the boat from the previous user.
Its just not cricket.
Also a good friend of mine at Tittesworth last year noticed rainbows rising to bits of bread from people feeding the ducks near to the staging-being an opportunist, he tied on a small white moth -and bagged up....

 

[Ron Clay]

A very good point Jon,

In my area we have seen for example the egg fly and sight indicator being banned. I'm not the sort of person who beleives in bans but there have been cases of "anglers" putting maggots on egg flies or even dipping the pattern into a trout atrracting flavour of some kind.

The problem as I see it is that there are many trout anglers who are just plain ignorant and also will not devote the time reqired to develop the necessary skils to catch trout in the proper manner. make no mistake, you can reach a level in fly fishing where you can outfish even a bait fisher on any water

 

[Mark Frame]

I personally think the price of trout fishing is to blame.
With higher than coarse angling prices it is a catch at all costs attitude (I've paid me money I'll take the limit)thats the problem.
As a newbie to fly fishing Iam enjoying the learning again Ifeel like someone who enjoys the sport again and to me its just a pleasure catching fish on flies that i have tied myself
to me that outways the cost of the fishing.

 

[Alan Roe]

Mark the answer to your issue is to join a decent river trout fishing club with an enlightened attitude.
There are quite a few of those in the North of England you will enjoy the feeling of lovingly returning trout as there is not the feeling of I've paid for them..

 

[Mark Frame]

in the north its much cheaper to fish than down ere in tne south
we argued this point on another site i go on and catch and release is much more expensive down my neck of the woods I have to pay in the region of 20 quid for 4 fish or 15 for 2 but catch and release is no cheaper so if younger anglers want to learn its an expensive way of fishing.

 

[Ron Clay]

I regularly fish several waters in Derbyshire and Yorks where the Day ticket is ?9.00 for two fish plus catch and release. Most waters in this area also charge ?6.00 to ?7.00 for a catch and release ticket. The fish is these water go up to 15 lbs. Last year my biggest was 13.5 lbs.

This often works out at cheaper than spending a day on a typical commercial coarse lake where the average day ticket is ?5.00 plus your bait.

 

[Philip Inzani]

Ron what exactly do you mean by catching trout in the "proper" manner ? Whats that and who defined it?

Forgive me being naive but whats the big deal about letting people use maggots for Trout ? I seem to remember that maintaining water quality was one of the things thrown up in the past. However I also see an increasing number of drinking water reservoirs opening their doors to coarse anglers when they realise the potential profits involved.....funny that!

I used to fish Barn Elms in London where I remember the "any method" lake was always packed while the "fly only" was always empty. Said something about what the majority of anglers actually want if you ask me. Could it be something to do with a minority who want to show off that they can cast a fly ?

 

[Ron Clay]

I'll try and explain what I mean. Many years ago I caught trout using all sorts of baits, worms, maggots even cheese. However I read many books on fly fishing by some of the leading game anglers at the time. One thing I got out of these books was how fly fishing is so much more enjoyable.

In time I aquired some fly tackle, learned how to cast and then went fishing with a dry fy down a little Derbyshire stream where all methods were practised I found the presentation of my fly on the water quite difficult to achieve and quite honestly I caught nothing that day, but I was not to be beaten. 7 days later I caught my first brown trout on a fly. I was over the moon. Two weeks later I caught my first trout on a fly I had tied myself. I became ecstatic and realised that a great deal of fly fishing was ahead of me.

Fly anglers do not create a fly only rule because they are snobbish or consider themselves superior. They rea;ise that fly fishing is the most enjoyable way of catching trout and are anxious for others who take up the sport to also enjoy it as much as they. In the short term the use of maggots would cause many anglers who were either ignorant or lazy to catch as many, if not more fish than the fly anglers. This would mean more expensive day tickets and increased stocking.

Trout, especially rainbow trout can be extremely easy to catch using bait. Also they are difficult to catch and release as they tend to swallow worms and maggots.

There is also a different philosophy involved which I may try to explain in an article in the future

 

[Philip Inzani]

I simply cannot agree with what you say. Your whole argument is based around YOUR or a LIMITED number of peoples assumption that fly fishing is the "most enjoyable" way of catching trout. If that?s not opinionated elitism I dont know what is.
How about if I disagree and say for me fishing for them with a float is more enjoyable ? If I find enough others who think the same then can I start bait only trout waters and tell the fly fishers that they are missing out on the most enjoyable way of catching trout ? See my point ?

As for Trout swallowing anything, yes this is often true, but it could also be true for say Perch for example but if people understand this they can adjust accordingly....strike early, barbless hooks etc etc.
What I think it really comes down, to is that IMHO trout are a particularly stupid fish that are so easy to catch you have to artificially add some difficulty into the fishing by using a fly, and yes, I am sure there are stories of the wily old Brown trout that lived under the bridge for many years that outwitted generations of anglers who attempted to catch it......bet that?s because none of them shown enough foresight to chuck a bloody great worm on its head and catch it in 30 seconds flat.

Anyway sorry for the rant but it does annoy me sometimes.

 

[Ron Clay]

Phillip,
You are missing one of the great philosophical concepts of the sport of angling, particularly with reference to fly fishing.

When I get the chance I will write an article about it.

 

[Philip Inzani]

Ron, I know the challenge and all that. I am not a fish at all costs angler belive me. I have also done a fair bit of fly fishing although not for a while now but enough to have a resonable idea about it. The point I think you are missing is that there is a challenge in many branches of the sport if you look for it....including bivvy bound carp fishing. I think thats where you miss the point sometimes.

Anyway I look forward to your article.

 

[Denis Goulding]

Philp,
Why fish with maggot for trout,u know they are very aggressive feeders,i enjoy all kinds of fishing and if u want to bag on trout use maggot,i love trying to imitate the natural food stuff's dry's more than anything else,but i wil not ever fish for trout with maggot,i do not need to fill a bag that much...

 

[ray bewick]

boundries are set by other and oneself, sometimes these are legal or moral. Occasionally when one is fortunate or rich enough these are overcome in diverse ways. Like all fish trout can be incredibly stupid, yet at other times infuriatingly difficult, a bit like big educated chub!. Each of us in the UK are fortunate we can set our own boundries we are not Angling to survive. Each to their own, but if I'm fly fishing I do not want to compete with other Anglers pre-occupping trout on pellet,corn or maggots its hard enough to try to compete with the naturals.

Regards