A can of worms

  • Thread starter Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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First of all I am an all round angler. Whether I am fishing on the Trent for barbel, chucking a deabait for pike or casting a fly for trout, to me it is all the same.

Yet the discrimination between game fishing and coarse fishing still exists.

I am fortunate in that I am a reasonably good fly fisher and fly tier too. So that the change over from stick float or chucking bolt rigs to fly rod is no problem whatsoever. I just go out and do it.

But I can well imagine it can present a problem to others. The biggest hurdle to overcome is of course the casting, and if you are a lousy caster, you are hardly going to enjoy fly fishing are you?

And certainly, lure fishing with "dead budgies" can hardly be called fly fishing.

As for myself, the last thing I want to do is trot maggots or worms for trout. It just wouldn't seem right somehow and catching trout that way is certainly not as entertaining as catching them with with a bit of fur and feather that suggests something the trout are eating.
 
njb51

njb51

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I've only tried fly fishing once. I loved it, and got the hang of casting pretty quick too. I managed to catch 2 trout, which was nice. Would love to do it again.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Well why don't you?

Angling is done for pleasure.
 
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Jeff (AKA Cheeky Monkey, Spud, Jay Dubya, Woody .

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Here's something to mull over.

My mate took the family up to Scotland (it's a bit of barren wasteland above Newcastle, apparently, if my mate Graeme is reading this - hahaha!) to a lodge by the side of a loch. The loch has a good stock of trout and he fancied having the odd go, but his fly line didn't have the weight or something and he asked if he could borrow my reel with the two spools or floating and intermediate sinking lines.

He got up there and asked the locals for their advice and it was - FORGET THE FLY LINES, JIMMY!

They tie a bubble float to the end of their monofilament spinning reel lines and hang two dropper off in front of it. A long spinning rod or heavy float rod is used to propel the bubble float 70 or 80 yards out and then they carefully tweak it back in again. Saves on a hell of a lot of hassle thrashing fly lines around and it worked!

But is it fly fishing?
 
Neil Maidment

Neil Maidment

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I reckon I'm an all round angler as well, having tried just about every branch of the sport over the years (although my pike and sea fishing trips have been few and far between).

I got into "proper" fly fishing via the good old days of trying to fill in the old close season with chucking lures at the rainbows in Chew Valley, Blagdon etc. I still vividly recall catching my first rainbow on a "fly" I tied myself (albeit a tandem Black Lure).

I "progressed" to the lakes and streams and occassionally tried places like Avington and Damerham. Those clear water stalking venues taught me a lot about watercraft and visual skills which have stood me in good stead when trying to track down barbel and carp.

I've also had a couple of carp off the top on fly gear (much to the annoyance of one guy who seemed to think carp are only valid if they're caught via bolt rigs on matching rods and bite alarms).

I get a lot of satisfaction from adapting methods to conditions and hopefully catching a few more fish as a result.

There's room for all in our sport.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Absolutely Neil.

Your comment about some guy who told you that carp are only valid if caught on bolt rigs etc is quite laughable. I've lost count of the number of carp I have caught on the fly rod, including a couple of big ones.

No-one, and I repeat no-one, can ever consider themselves to be a competent angler if they can't fly fish.

I learned to do it in my early teens, even though the tackle I had was a bit crude. The first fish I ever caught on fly tackle was probably a chub of about 2 lbs from the Chesterfield canal near Worksop.
 
K

Kevin Perkins * * * * * * *

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Jeff

I was up around Fort William, and enquired about the trout fishing and was told 'help yourself laddie, any method you like'

Some old boy came and watched me hurling Toby lures halfway across a loch (well perhaps not quite that far!) and then remarked it was nice to see someone fishing for 'the salmon' Didn't have the heart to tell him I was fishing for anything that came along (nothing did, no change there)

My piece was just to highlight that fly/trout - trout/fly exclusivity still persists, and that here is a group of anglers who either will not or do not want that situation to change.

Whilst coarse fishing tackle/bait/methods
are constantly being modified and new avenues explored, that isn't going to happen to the fluff-flinging brigade, no way, and unfortunately that stubborn resistance to even contemplate other tactics will be seen as a hurdle to others
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Can you accurately define the "hurdle" Kevin?
 
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Kevin Perkins * * * * * * *

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Ron

To some outsiders, the prospect of taking up fly fishing for trout is akin to trying to join a exclusive gentlemen's club.

The cost of the equipment, day ticket prices (let alone season tickets) the mystery of casting, a basic knowledge of entomolgy, are conspire to make the sport not very user friendly.

In addition, almost every other branch of fishing has cross over disciplines, a basic understanding of the principles involved means you can easily progress from one to the other, carrying over tackle as well.

But nothing in your coarse gear will be of any use to you if you want to start flyfishing for trout, because different tackle is mandatory if you want to join the 'club'
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Right Kevin, I truly respect and like your articles but what you have just written is utter B******ks!!

"Exclusive gentleman's club" - again I say b*****ks!!

"The mystery of casting" - B*****ks B*****ks and more B******ks.

And then we get to the cost of equipment. To rig yourself out with a decent set of fly tackle will cost you far less that what you will need to do a bit pf coarse fishing. I know you can spend ?600 on a fly rod and ?300 on a reel, but you don't have to.

And we don't have "exclusive clubs", not here in the north we don't. Come to Thrybergh or Press manor or Ladybower, or even the Derbyshire streams. You will find fly fishers there who are the salt of the earth.

And the reason why many of our waters are fly only is simple. It would mean if they were not, that anglers with far less skill, using bait, would be able to get on the waters and catch lots of trout. As a result, stocking would have to be increased and the fishing would cost more.

By having a fly only rule we are only encouraging the non-fly angler to learn the art. Because we know that when he does he will have greater pleasure than chucking maggots worms and bubble floats.

And you will reach a stage in fly fishing where not only will you find it the most enjoyable way of catching trout, but also the most effective.
 
D

Deanos

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Steady on Ron?be calm! (that?s done it now Kevin!, the cheeks are puffed out and the nostrils are flared!).
In Yorkshire there is some brilliant grayling and trout fishing to be had, cheap as chips, and so is the tackle!
I am in one of the Bradford city clubs Kevin, they have a big fly fishing contingent, and do open days and teach-ins, in fact you could not meet a less elite group.
As a youth I went to local night school for casting and fly tying lessons.
Only trouble is, I am totally colour-blind, and any fish would have to have been tripping out on acid to take one of my own creations ? the orange and blue bog brush?.
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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No-one, and I repeat no-one, can ever consider themselves to be a competent angler if they can't fly fish.

That statement alone stinks of discrimination and snobbery Ron. That is Something that we don't need in angling.

I have fly fished, I can tie my own flies, I have fished for Pike, Carp, and most course fish. I have also done a fair bit of wreck fishing. So I am an all rounder. But I stick to Course fishing nowadays.
 
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Deanos

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Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight?s bout features in the red corner Basil ?the hob nail boot??vs.?Ronald ?spats and cravat?.
The contest shall last as long as the thread is active.
The rounds shall be marked by my aunty ?fat Sandra? with a sandwich board.
Gentlemen, can we have a filthy contest, spitting, biting and kneeing are aloud.
To you corners please gentlemen, and come out fighting?DING DING!!!
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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Also.
D.B. can't catch Barbel. Although it makes him a poorer angler than myself, I don't think of him that way.
 
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Deanos

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Meaner than a grizzly with piles, tougher than the meat that goes into a kebab just as the shop is closing at 3am, more dangerous than being caught in the middle of the high street whilst out shopping just as last nights vindaloo takes effect.
The FM terminator is on the prowl?you are a naughty boy Baz! :).
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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Deanos.
Please relegate yourself to $hit stirring in the Troughing Shop kitchen. The customers are waiting for their baggin.(o
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Baz - B*****ks!

Learn how to fly fish is what I say. Its just as important as learning how to trot a stick float, or fish a waggler, or wobble a sprat for pike or even chuck a boilie on a bolt rig for carp.

It's got nowt to do with snobbery or elitism.

It's one of the basic angling skills that everyone who calls himself an angler should have under his belt!
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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I wouldn't say that learning to fly fish was important. It is no more important than learning to fish for sticklebacks.
All aspects of our sport are equal to each other.
Why do you rate fly fishing as a must do?
It's just another form of angling really.
 
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BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

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And just when did fly angling first rear its ugly head?
The so called gentlemen of this sport are nothing short of Chub and Pike killers.
 
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Deanos

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Your not wrong there Baz, this ones out of my league, battle of the big boys!...I'm out of here!!!! :))))).
 
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