When fly fishin isn't

[S-Kippy]

So, If I went fishing for trout on the river using a float and some flies underneath it in the close season and those flies were definitely more like chub flies and I "accidentally" caught some chub; would I be breaking the law? Would "I was trout fishing Your Honour"-wash?

No more than the "I was fishing for Shad" defence.

Where's Will Barnard when you need him ? As Capo Di Tutti Capi of whatever Thames Water is now & "in charge" of the trout fishing on the TW reservoirs he ought to know what the Mill Owners views are.

 

[robertroach]

I reckon if I went to my local Wessex Water reservoir with a beach rod and a set of mackerel feathers you could catch freshly stocked rainbows in about 5 minutes. Just a thought.

 

[greenie62]

I reckon if I went to my local Wessex Water reservoir with a beach rod and a set of mackerel feathers you could catch freshly stocked rainbows in about 5 minutes. Just a thought.

The write-up will make a good article - it'll be interesting to see what bye-laws the Fisheries Officers will try and ban you on - my guess would be size of fly - most mackerel feather sets are on 2 - 2/0s, many trout fisheries state max hook size as long-shank 8s or give an overall length of fly of (say) 40mm.
Might also be a rule about no weights to be below fly/lure - as in Welsh bye-laws - or even max no. of hooks per line.

I'm sure there are forum members down in Wessex (as opposed to W. Essex) who would love to come along and see, take piccies, record events, etc. Could be a fun day out!

 

[robertroach]

I guess a team of 3 small mackerel feathers would be legal if you tied them on smaller hooks, they are hardly any different from the "black lures" I used to use sometimes to catch rainbows. It would be really interesting to try it though. But I know the fishery managers quite well and they would stop it straight away.