Fishing "the Bung"

I wondered what anyone might feel about fishing "The Bung" or basically float fishing with Flys?
I have had a couple of sessions at Rutland this weekend and it certainly seems to work. Results were nine trout and two cracking pound and a half Perch.
Certainly makes you realise how many pulls you might be missing?

Colin

Fishing that way is sure to upset some of the purists. Isn't this the same as fishing with a sight bob?

Yes it is a bit like a sight bob, but I am not retrieving. Just cast out and let the wind and the currents do it for you, very relaxing, well it would be if you didn't get so many bites.
Colin

Ok, I've been doing this for years, but without the float. Many fisheries have banned the float, strike indicator or sught bob. I like to do this sort of fishing with a side wind over your left shoulder. Put the rod down, roll a fag or have a drink from your flask and away screams the reel.

I works best using buzzers.

"Put the rod down, roll a fag or have a drink from your flask and away screams the reel.
It works best using buzzers."

Is that an Optonic or a Delkim Ron )

Only stating facts. Lot's of us catch many trout doing this. It's not truly the done thing of course what?

Hmm... bearing in mind I've never fly-fished before (though I intend doing so for coarse fish (sacrilege?) this coming season), so I may be wrong here... but, wouldn't watching the (hooklength/trace/leader/whatever...) end of a floating line be just like watching a float? I only ask this because, as I said, I intend fly-fishing for coarse fish, notably chub, this coming season, on dries... and if my fly is ever out of sight (under a tree or something), I'll be watching the end of the fly-line for a take... and you can placate the ''purists'' by saying that you're doing a re-e-e-e-ally slow retrieve! Just a thought...!

Whilst I risk being called a purist I do not approve of floats when fly fishing what next fixed pegs?? ground bait, feeders??
Sorry.... if folk are too lazy to learn to utillise the normal techniques available to them then its a poor state of affairs and those people are the loosers. If you want to coarse fish for trout be honest about it and turn up with maggots and wagglers....
Fly fishing is an art form in its own right and a beautiful pastime and it is worth spending the time to learn its skills properly.

Alan,
I must agree to some of your thoughts and after 30 years I do have a reasonable grasp of the skills required, BUT I am getting older and the eyesight isn't what it was, so I suppose I will just have to wait for the pulls instead of striking when the line [or float] moves. See James Bradshaw's reply.
Colin

I too am getting older (nearly 60) and I don't generally miss detecting takes. The reason for this is that I keep the line fairly tight to the fly even when fishing a nearly static fly. Most of the time of course the fly isn't static as the breeze oftem bows out the line in a sideways drift. When fishing these tactics you retrieve just enough to maintain contact with your fly. If you do this you will FEEL the take and most times hook the trout.

Please forgive my tongue in cheek comments about rolling fags etc. I don't deliberately fish like this.

One thing I will say is that I have fishing with floating lines and nymphs/buzzers on still waters for over 40 years and the number of trout I have caught using such methods is in the many thousands. I only remember a minority of these fish that I did not feel the take and those were taken on the dry fly.

You don't need the eyesight of a falcon to help you detect takes.

To a certain extent I agree [re. Falcon vision], but I always remember Arthur Cove standing next to Les Beecroft and telling him when to strike. Les asked why and Arthur told him he had missed 3 takes on 1 retrieve, so next cast Les struck when Arthur told him to and lo and behold, trout hooked! Les never felt a thing.
Colin

Ah - Arthur Cove - one of my heros is Arthur. I learned a great deal from his book "My way with trout" **** Walker described him as a master angler who very few people could ever aspire to. The other great still water fly fisher was Cyril Inwood. What a great shame Cyril was never able to write a book.

The last thing I possess is the eyes of a Falcon. These days, if I spend too much time concentrating on the tip of my line I get terrible head aches (I have suffered from migraines all my life). Because of this I have had to work out a way of retrieving my flys so tha I can feel, where possible, a take.

I use the figure of eight and drop for 90% of the time, the line being held and run over the second finger of my right hand. This I believe is the most sensitive part of the human anatomy. With a little practice you can learn to sense the most delicate of changes to the tension on the line.

Both Arthur and Cyril used the figure of eight bunching method and did not run the line over a finger. I could be wrong in this assumption but people who I have met who have fished with these two great anglers tell me this is so.

In any event the sensing of takes in still water fly fishing is worthy of debate at any time. How do you fish Colin?

Basically the same as yourself, but I have long since given up trying to watch the end of the line. I now watch the line from rod tip to the water, much like a swing tip. Retrieve is figure of eight over the second finger, except when they want it fast, and then depending on how fast, the retrieve is from slow pulls to rod under arm and double hand it back as fast as possible. I can only do this for a short period as it soon gets mind boggling boring, plus I get knackered to quickly!
So it's buzzers and nypmhs at present and shortly it will be dries or greased up hares ears and shipmans.

Colin

The roly poly retrieve is as boring as watching paint dry. If you want a fairly fast constant retrieve with no jerks try this.

When you pull down with your left hand, push the rod forward with your right hand. Then hold the line with your right finger and pul the rod backwards. With a bit of practice you can get a fairly fast steady retreive with no jerks.