Bluemoon Angling Thread

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Wow, brilliant. How did you catch the minnows/tiny roach ? How are you presenting them ? Would like to try this.

On 30th December I fished the River Avon near Warwick. Ideal conditions but didn't catch much. A few small roach.

Last Sunday fished the Trent & Misery for 9 hours. 5 gudgeon, 3 small roach and 2 small bream (not big enough to qualify as skimmers). Hard going.

That reminds me of when I used to spend hours in winter on the pole, fine bristle tip float dotted right down, nipping dust shot on the line with numb fingers. Hoping to catch a few bits on a 24/26s hook to a single squat down the middle. Then hoping to catch an odd bonus roach on caster on the far shelf.

Thank fuck i don't have the patience to sit there freezing my bollocks off on a half frozen canal anymore; )

 

[KnaresboroughBlue]

That reminds me of when I used to spend hours in winter on the pole, fine bristle tip float dotted right down, nipping dust shot on the line with numb fingers. Hoping to catch a few bits on a 24/26s hook to a single squat down the middle. Then hoping to catch an odd bonus roach on caster on the far shelf.

Thank fuck i don't have the patience to sit there freezing my bollocks off on a half frozen canal anymore; )

For some reason I have always enjoyed that type of fishing. I've tried fishing commercials but it bores me to be honest. I'd take a hard day's fishing on a canal or river any day of the week. I used to really enjoy the old days match fishing on the Witham, Welland, Nene and Trent.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

For some reason I have always enjoyed that type of fishing. I've tried fishing commercials but it bores me to be honest. I'd take a hard day's fishing on a canal or river any day of the week. I used to really enjoy the old days match fishing on the Witham, Welland, Nene and Trent.

Of those rivers I've only fished the Trent, fairly regularly In the late 70s early 80s(when trent was prolific with silverfish) we would regularly go from crown point Denton on an old clapped out charabanc. Holdhalls across the luggage shelves, decorators buckets in the aisle with 6/8 pints of maggots in. hold full of whicker baskets. If you had a Riva/Shakespeare box you were posh. Two hours or so later we'd draw pegs on the bank and I'd eagerly trudge up to a mile walk fully laden with all my gear. Mitchell reels and a carbon fibre rod if you could afford one at the time. Otherwise a wrist aching glass fibre rod. Most were stood in a line trotting a float through their swim, except my old fella who would most often be on the tip lobbing a maggot feeder out to soon be cursing hooking a small eel(snig) that almost always swallowed the hook.

Some really good days back then when the Trent was a fair match venue.

 

[Newman Noggs]

For some reason I have always enjoyed that type of fishing. I've tried fishing commercials but it bores me to be honest. I'd take a hard day's fishing on a canal or river any day of the week. I used to really enjoy the old days match fishing on the Witham, Welland, Nene and Trent.

Never fished matches as I don't have a competitive edge when it comes to fishing and haven't honed my craft accordingly. But I agree about comnercials. Absolutely fair play to the hundreds of thousands who enjoy them but not my cup of tea. I like to think the fish I catch are wild. Livid, in fact.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Have spent the morning checking my fly lines for the new season, looking for damage, cleaning and renewing the loops that you connect the leaders to. 18 bloody lines. 1 for every circumstance you are likely to come across on a loch or reservoir:

3 floaters, 1 Orvis peach my 'go to' WF7, floater, 1 scientific angler WF5 for light dry fly, I Snowbee XLS as a reserve
2 midge tip 18" for buzzer fishing high in the water and general washing line tactics, 1 Snowbee (favourite) 1 Airflow which fishes slightly deeper
1 Sink tip 7' for fishing over weed beds (invaluable on some of the larger reservoirs and lochs later in the season. This ones an Orvis.
2 slow intermediates - one Snowbee, one Airflow Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense lines from Airflow have very little stretch so on the plus side you feel every single knock, the Snowbee is my best 'hover' line for fishing buzzers. Both these lines sink at 1" or less per second
2 medium intermediates, one Orvis blue - a real classic which is decades old but I still love it. The other is an airflow sixth sense. These sink at 1.5" - 2" per second
1 Fast glass - airflow sixth sense - brilliant for stripping lures - sinks at just over 2" per sec.
2 Di 3's - both airflow sixth sense - one density compensated, which sinks tip first, the other is a sweep which sinks belly first so your flies are retrieved in a flat U shape and you explore different depths depending on how fast you retrieve. Both lines sink at 3" per second
2 Di 5's - Both AF Sixth Sense, one density compensated, one sweep. 5" per second sink rate
2 Di 7's - Both 6th sense, one dc one sweep. 7" per sec sink rate
1 Di 8 - Super fast sinker

When fishing for trout, finding the depth they are feeding is to me, the biggest single factor in catching them. Fish too deep and you will be below them. Fish too shallow and generally they wont be interested. To catch well and consistently, you really need to get your fly on the same level as where they are feeding (and keep it there) or at the worst, no more than a couple of feet above where they are patrolling. In a typical season, the faster sinking lines get used a lot less than the floaters/midge tips and intermediates. You need to prepare for all circumstances though - last season during the high temperatures, we were catching fish 30 - 40 feet down. In match fishing, getting the right depth and keeping your fly in the killing zone longer than your opponent is the difference between winning and losing. Hence 18 lines.

If you managed to the end, well done. I even bored myself re-reading that.

Bloody close season.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Have spent the morning checking my fly lines for the new season, looking for damage, cleaning and renewing the loops that you connect the leaders to. 18 bloody lines. 1 for every circumstance you are likely to come across on a loch or reservoir:

3 floaters, 1 Orvis peach my 'go to' WF7, floater, 1 scientific angler WF5 for light dry fly, I Snowbee XLS as a reserve
2 midge tip 18" for buzzer fishing high in the water and general washing line tactics, 1 Snowbee (favourite) 1 Airflow which fishes slightly deeper
1 Sink tip 7' for fishing over weed beds (invaluable on some of the larger reservoirs and lochs later in the season. This ones an Orvis.
2 slow intermediates - one Snowbee, one Airflow Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense lines from Airflow have very little stretch so on the plus side you feel every single knock, the Snowbee is my best 'hover' line for fishing buzzers. Both these lines sink at 1" or less per second
2 medium intermediates, one Orvis blue - a real classic which is decades old but I still love it. The other is an airflow sixth sense. These sink at 1.5" - 2" per second
1 Fast glass - airflow sixth sense - brilliant for stripping lures - sinks at just over 2" per sec.
2 Di 3's - both airflow sixth sense - one density compensated, which sinks tip first, the other is a sweep which sinks belly first so your flies are retrieved in a flat U shape and you explore different depths depending on how fast you retrieve. Both lines sink at 3" per second
2 Di 5's - Both AF Sixth Sense, one density compensated, one sweep. 5" per second sink rate
2 Di 7's - Both 6th sense, one dc one sweep. 7" per sec sink rate
1 Di 8 - Super fast sinker

When fishing for trout, finding the depth they are feeding is to me, the biggest single factor in catching them. Fish too deep and you will be below them. Fish too shallow and generally they wont be interested. To catch well and consistently, you really need to get your fly on the same level as where they are feeding (and keep it there) or at the worst, no more than a couple of feet above where they are patrolling. In a typical season, the faster sinking lines get used a lot less than the floaters/midge tips and intermediates. You need to prepare for all circumstances though - last season during the high temperatures, we were catching fish 30 - 40 feet down. In match fishing, getting the right depth and keeping your fly in the killing zone longer than your opponent is the difference between winning and losing. Hence 18 lines.

If you managed to the end, well done. I even bored myself re-reading that.

Bloody close season.

You may of well been writing in Swahili mate, I'd have understood about the same; )... Never done any 'fluff chucking'. @snorky bores me shitless when he thinks I understand what the fuck he's on about: /

Each to their own though, as they say.

 

[Saddleworth2]

You may of well been writing in Swahili mate, I'd have understood about the same; )... Never done any 'fluff chucking'. @snorky bores me shitless when he thinks I understand what the fuck he's on about: /

Each to their own though, as they say.

I often think the same when reading about carp fishing - some of the terminology round the rigs - I wouldn't have a clue where to start.
Each branch of angling has its own language and the tackle manufacturers make sure its all nice and complicated and expensive.
Better fun than chucking a stick of dynamite into the loch though.

 

[Daz_Blue]

That's dinner for our family of 6 sorted ....

 

[Newman Noggs]

Have spent the morning checking my fly lines for the new season, looking for damage, cleaning and renewing the loops that you connect the leaders to. 18 bloody lines. 1 for every circumstance you are likely to come across on a loch or reservoir:

3 floaters, 1 Orvis peach my 'go to' WF7, floater, 1 scientific angler WF5 for light dry fly, I Snowbee XLS as a reserve
2 midge tip 18" for buzzer fishing high in the water and general washing line tactics, 1 Snowbee (favourite) 1 Airflow which fishes slightly deeper
1 Sink tip 7' for fishing over weed beds (invaluable on some of the larger reservoirs and lochs later in the season. This ones an Orvis.
2 slow intermediates - one Snowbee, one Airflow Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense lines from Airflow have very little stretch so on the plus side you feel every single knock, the Snowbee is my best 'hover' line for fishing buzzers. Both these lines sink at 1" or less per second
2 medium intermediates, one Orvis blue - a real classic which is decades old but I still love it. The other is an airflow sixth sense. These sink at 1.5" - 2" per second
1 Fast glass - airflow sixth sense - brilliant for stripping lures - sinks at just over 2" per sec.
2 Di 3's - both airflow sixth sense - one density compensated, which sinks tip first, the other is a sweep which sinks belly first so your flies are retrieved in a flat U shape and you explore different depths depending on how fast you retrieve. Both lines sink at 3" per second
2 Di 5's - Both AF Sixth Sense, one density compensated, one sweep. 5" per second sink rate
2 Di 7's - Both 6th sense, one dc one sweep. 7" per sec sink rate
1 Di 8 - Super fast sinker

When fishing for trout, finding the depth they are feeding is to me, the biggest single factor in catching them. Fish too deep and you will be below them. Fish too shallow and generally they wont be interested. To catch well and consistently, you really need to get your fly on the same level as where they are feeding (and keep it there) or at the worst, no more than a couple of feet above where they are patrolling. In a typical season, the faster sinking lines get used a lot less than the floaters/midge tips and intermediates. You need to prepare for all circumstances though - last season during the high temperatures, we were catching fish 30 - 40 feet down. In match fishing, getting the right depth and keeping your fly in the killing zone longer than your opponent is the difference between winning and losing. Hence 18 lines.

If you managed to the end, well done. I even bored myself re-reading that.

Bloody close season.

I'm interested. Retiring in 9 months and going to take up fly fishing along with my usual coarse fishing escapades

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

I often think the same when reading about carp fishing - some of the terminology round the rigs - I wouldn't have a clue where to start.
Each branch of angling has its own language and the tackle manufacturers make sure its all nice and complicated and expensive.
Better fun than chucking a stick of dynamite into the loch though.

I hate all carp fishing, the tackle tart snobs, the clique, fishing for known fish(often named fish) on some undisclosed syndicate water. I can't stand fishing commercial waters either. Give me a river anyday, preferably a beautiful stretch on the Wye on a lazy summer's day fishing for barbel and chub. My favourite kind of fishing in England... Only bettered by fishing the Ebro in Spain for catfish. I'll be on there for a week in late march hoping to catch another river monster.