Another species (unexpectedly) ticked off on the fly!

[andygrey]

Trout fishing on a still water today and guess who came along...



Took a small nymph and put a damn fine bend into a 6wt.

Cheers

Andy

 

[badgeroo]

Nice fish mate!:guinness::guinness:

 

[andygrey]

Takes my tally of coarse fish on the fly to:-

Pike
Perch
Chub
Bream
Dace
Tench
And also what I was told was a Golden Bream also caught whilst fishing for trout, anyone help with what else it may have been?

Next, that elusive barbel!

Cheers

Andy

 

[Paul Boote]

Welsh sea-trout flyfishing can throw up some surprises - Eel, Flounder and, er, Crab, all taken well above the tide. I once witnessed the ultimate Grand Slam on a Hampshire chalkstream - it went as follows: my companion for the day hooked a tiny grayling on dry fly, this was taken by a rainbow of just under 4 pounds, which was duly taken by a 15-plus pike. The latter at once went to weed, so I got in and lifted the lot out, weedbed and all! I considered writing an Old Fart letter [Lieut-Col. Boote, Rtd., Mrs] to Trite & Salmon or The Field, but thought better of it.

 

[greenie62]

Takes my tally of coarse fish on the fly to:-

Pike
Perch
Chub
Bream
Dace
Tench
And also what I was told was a Golden Bream also caught whilst fishing for trout, anyone help with what else it may have been?

Next, that elusive barbel!

Nice one Andy,
So far, I've had:
GoldieXCru Hybrid, Bleak, Gudgeon, Perch, Chub, Dace, Roach, and (last evening) 3 Rudd on the fly.

Some years ago - whilst fishing a Cheshire fly fishery - on a heavy sunken line - got a vicious tug and retrieved a feebly fighting crayfish! Well - it was feeble compared to a fish's fight. Luckily I was able to retrieve the fly with forceps before it crimped the rest of the leader!

Let us know about the barbel if you are successful - what fly you thinking of?

 

[Paul Boote]

Barbel: for the first three weeks or so of the season - June 16th onwards - a SUPER heavily leaded [I tie mine with sheet roofing lead) Richard Walker Mayfly Nymph, longshank size 8 and 10 has done very well for me in the South.

Afterwards its mostly caseless caddis patterns - Czech, Polish etc - leaded again, in browns, tans and greens, on curved shank grub and caddis hooks.

Make all hooks very strong, not fine wire jobbies.

My biggest in the past decade was a 9.25-pounder that killed me on a 5-weight rod.

 

[andygrey]

Thanks for the advice.
I think my first problem is going to be finding any barbel in Oxfordshire...
Current wisdom has it that they are pretty much absent from my local rivers (mainly the Windrush and the Cherwell) both previously known for barbel.
Any pointers very greatly received!

Cheers

 

[mick b]

Barbel: My biggest in the past decade was a 9.25-pounder that killed me on a 5-weight rod.

I would have paid money to watch that struggle........


Stuff of dreams......yeh nightmares mg:


.

 

[nicepix]

Barbel are so last year dahling. What you want are these rod benders..........

 

[Paul Boote]

Barbel: for the first three weeks or so of the season - June 16th onwards - a SUPER heavily leaded [I tie mine with sheet roofing lead) Richard Walker Mayfly Nymph, longshank size 8 and 10 has done very well for me in the South.

Afterwards its mostly caseless caddis patterns - Czech, Polish etc - leaded again, in browns, tans and greens, on curved shank grub and caddis hooks.

Make all hooks very strong, not fine wire jobbies.

My biggest in the past decade was a 9.25-pounder that killed me on a 5-weight rod.

A few days later (as opposed to Ten Years After)

Plus the "Maggot Fly" beadhead in cream, white, pink, red and orange. Tied on a curved or straight-shank hook, with a black or tungsten grey or white or pink bead (NOT GOLD), with tightly twisted wool or yarn or dubbing in a loop to form a segmented effect. Two very sparse turns of short, soft, brown partridge hackle behind the bead gives the pattern a little "kick" and extra attraction. Works for has-been barbel and for life's-too-short mullet, too (a long-time Spessie Scene Angler invited me for a day's trout fishing on the lower Test about ten years ago, only to watch me take two mullet from a shoal working weed on a bend on my old Mullet Maggot Fly, tied as I first tied it in the late 1970s - in white, without bead, without partridge hackle, but with a very short "head" comprising 2 or 3 turns of bronze peacock herl and loads of wine bottle lead-foil as an underbody and ballast.

For what it's worth...........

 

[Paul Boote]

Oh yeah, and here is one more that has taken barbel (and many grayling and early season rainfed river trout) for me over the years - the Split Shot Cased Caddis in various weights with various shot sizes upfront. I tie some of mine in a way that permits different shot sizes to be used on the same fly - removed / added. Flies can be anything from half an inch in total length to nearly two inches. Here is a link to a Google photos page that will give you an idea of what I am talking about - split shot cased caddis - Google Search

 

[greenie62]

the Split Shot Cased Caddis in various weights with various shot sizes upfront

I used to use these tied on a long-shank 10 on the Upper Dee (N. Wales) in a run through a gravel bank for the Grayling late season (Jan-Feb) - the only problem was it was no good for the Grayling due to being mobbed by 6" Salmon Parr - totally suicidal on it!

 

[Paul Boote]

I had a huge, 18-plus, Welsh spring salmon attach itself one late March ten years ago. It played around with me and my 5-weight gear for a few minutes before breaking off.

 

[greenie62]

I had a huge, 18-plus, Welsh spring salmon attach itself one late March ten years ago. It played around with me and my 5-weight gear for a few minutes before breaking off.

Grrrr ....... Salmon!
Bully Fish - Game equivalent of Carp - eh?

---------- Post added at 10:32 ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 ----------

Quote:
the Split Shot Cased Caddis in various weights with various shot sizes upfront
I used to use these tied on a long-shank 10 on the Upper Dee (N. Wales) ...for the Grayling late season ....

PS: I used a larger than normal hook for Grayling on the Cased Caddis since the bulk of the dressing obscured so much of the bend & point!

 

[Paul Boote]

Grrrr ....... Salmon!
Bully Fish - Game equivalent of Carp - eh?

These elderly ladies in Canada seem to have the fish pest thing sorted -

Fish as Fertilizer - YouTube

At 1m 55secs or so, she tells the viewer how she got her hands on them.

There's mileage here in Britain, for carp, I reckon....


Hooks for cased caddis: strong, wider-gape Streamer fly hooks. I used to use a Partridge paattern, now I use a Tiemco that is very strong - 20-pound Argentine sea-trout strong.

 

[greenie62]

Hooks for cased caddis: strong, wider-gape Streamer fly hooks.

Aside: When does a long-shank, heavy wire, wide-gape hook change it's size? e.g. Should a long-shank, heavy, wide 12 be re-classed as an 8 say?

We used to class hooks by needle-wire gauge, or by bend profile or even point length from bend - how do we do it now? - is there a BS or ISO Standard for hook sizing?

Sorry - perhaps should be a separate thread!

 

[Paul Boote]

Not at all, for it is discussions, sidelines and reflections like this that make Angling Angling and not mere "Wot swim?" hookerdom.

The old Redditch Scale of hook sizing was largely abandoned many years ago. Now you need to be aware that, say, a "size 12 3x Long" hook pattern will probably have the shank length of an 8 (or even a 6), but the gape of a 12 (maybe), and that this can vary from designated hook type - e.g. Streamer or Nymph - and also from maker to maker. Very important to look at hooks first, on a rack in their packets - a good look plus some thinking before you buy; some / a good many of the hooks on which I tie flies are chosen not for "what it says on the packet". Very confusing to beginners, occasionally irritating for old hands like me.

 

[greenie62]

The old Redditch Scale of hook sizing was largely abandoned many years ago. Now you need to be aware that, say, a "size 12 3x Long" hook pattern will probably have the shank length of an 8 (or even a 6), but the gape of a 12 (maybe), and that this can vary from designated hook type - e.g. Streamer or Nymph - and also from maker to maker. Very important to look at hooks first, on a rack in their packets - a good look plus some thinking before you buy; some / a good many of the hooks on which I tie flies are chosen not for "what it says on the packet". Very confusing to beginners, occasionally irritating for old hands like me.

Agreed - very confusing/irritating for me too - for over 50yrs angling I knew how big a size 10 was - but now with many fisheries having rules like "No Hooks larger than a size 10" - with no illustration of what they mean by a 10.
Would they ban you for using a 'wide-gape 3x long shank 12'?

Many of the old Water-Boards (when they ran local fisheries) had a maximum gape specified in their bye-laws - this at least was quantified in a clear (and actionable) manner. Perhaps its time for a retro approach to such rules.

 

[Paul Boote]

Retro? No. Never go back.

Weird sizings aside, hooks today compared to when I started fishing at the age of four and a squit are more than just rocket science, they are simply brilliant - strong, small-barbed, super sharp, available in a mind-boggling variety for all species - coarse / bait / salt / fly - a variety that I am perfectly happy dealing with; in fact finding just the right hook for a fish / project is half the fun. No more penny and ha'penny dreadfuls from the local tackle shop, no more, though much-vaunted, highly variable in quality Model Perfects....