Bluemoon Angling Thread

[Newman Noggs]

oh very relaxing, yesterday i went for a relaxing fish at poynton (macc canal) went for the perch, after about 2 mins i snagged and it wasn't moving, i ended up snapping off,and i had forgotten my glasses, so i put the perch kit away and tried for a pike or two, second cast i snagged right under my feet, again it wouldnt budge, i tried putting the pressure on to straighten the hook, the hook didn't bend , the trace didn't snap, even my usually shit knots held firm, then my new rod snapped,cut my thumb and twatted my knuckle , aaah very relaxing haha

i've been in touch with the company i bought the rod from, they have asked me to send them pics, hopefully ill get a replacement.

I was getting enraged by the ducks and moorhens today which were steaming in with all their broods every time I flicked any groundbait or maggots round my float. Let's just say I was not "at one with nature".

 

[Sir peace frog]

I was getting enraged by the ducks and moorhens today which were steaming in with all their broods every time I flicked any groundbait or maggots round my float. Let's just say I was not "at one with nature".

they dont half make you jump with their calls, usually as your brain switches off to the outside world,one of those fuckers wails like a banshee ,haha

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Anyone thinking of getting new Winter fishing gear I can recommend the Prologic Comfort fishing suit which I have mentioned before. Only £50.99 from Angling Direct. That's for large. Medium and XL are £63.99. Typical, I've just got a new one and paid £89.99 for it.

Bought one 2 years ago for 70 quid, included a free RidgeMonkey baseball cap. Bargain.

Got one of these this time last year on bmr's recommendation. Toasty and dry all winter - nothing to touch it at that or even full price that I can find. I prefer the discreet olive green to the club shop / full kit wanker offerings from the major tackle manufacturers too

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

I was getting enraged by the ducks and moorhens today which were steaming in with all their broods every time I flicked any groundbait or maggots round my float. Let's just say I was not "at one with nature".

Once it gets a bit warmer people will be surface fishing for carp which handily attracts all the ducks into their swim. Other than that a few slices of bread skimmed frisbee style as far as you can buys time.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

oh very relaxing, yesterday i went for a relaxing fish at poynton (macc canal) went for the perch, after about 2 mins i snagged and it wasn't moving, i ended up snapping off,and i had forgotten my glasses, so i put the perch kit away and tried for a pike or two, second cast i snagged right under my feet, again it wouldnt budge, i tried putting the pressure on to straighten the hook, the hook didn't bend , the trace didn't snap, even my usually shit knots held firm, then my new rod snapped,cut my thumb and twatted my knuckle , aaah very relaxing haha

i've been in touch with the company i bought the rod from, they have asked me to send them pics, hopefully ill get a replacement.

Word of advice mate. When pulling for a break like that never use your rod for the reason you’ve found out. Point your rod at the lure and walk backwards.

Weve all made that mistake before.

 

[Saddleworth2]

My heat for the Scottish National is tomorrow so wish me luck. I was out for a practice day today and we shared 18 to the boat including a couple to dries. Some big fish up to 6lb. If I can replicate that tomorrow I will be well pleased.

Menteith was glorious today. Lambs, grebes, Ospreys. Buzzer hatches….
m

So yesterday was a different proposition to Wednesday. Wall to wall sun and a flat calm for the majority of the day. The guy I was drawn with was on the engine but despite that was happy to take my suggestions about where we should fish as we had been more successful than he in practice. I had a good start and had 4 in the boat by 11.am Tactics were a washing line supported by a two tone sunburst FAB and a couple of buzzers. Things slowed down considerably as the fish started to respond to the pressure they were being put under. I like catch and release but it does provide a training ground for fish to determine whats safe to eat and what isn't. Consequently we were getting jabs and pulls rather than solid hook ups. The afternoon was a grind and I managed another three to take me to a bag of seven. Five returned and two killed (one of them was a nice fish on around 3lb which would do me no harm at weigh-in.

One welcome distraction in the afternoon was watching an osprey take a large perch not 20 yards from where we were fishing and then carrying it so close to our boat that I felt I could have touched it with my fly rod. In all my years fishing that is the closest encounter I have had with these magnificent birds.

My fishing partner had struggled a bit but took a fish very close to the bank with his last cast of the day to bring his tally to five. Our thinking was that probably 6 or 7 fish would qualify for the semi final and that is how it turned out. Results were posted last night and I scraped through in the top 20. Sadly my fishing buddy who was fishing with me on practice day didn't qualify nor did my boat partner.
The winner?
One of the top boys took 34. Yes 34 fish. A handful took i double figures and the rest of the 55 anglers competing somewhere between 0 - 9.
34 fish is a fish every less than 15 minutes sustained over the entire 8 hours. Incredible.

On to the semi finals which are held at Lintrathen Loch for me, sometime in June.

Anyway, here is the scene before we started:



and a slab from practice day. Please note that the half eaten pork pie in the bottom left corner was for my own consumption and was not being used as bait for rainbow trout.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

So yesterday was a different proposition to Wednesday. Wall to wall sun and a flat calm for the majority of the day. The guy I was drawn with was on the engine but despite that was happy to take my suggestions about where we should fish as we had been more successful than he in practice. I had a good start and had 4 in the boat by 11.am Tactics were a washing line supported by a two tone sunburst FAB and a couple of buzzers. Things slowed down considerably as the fish started to respond to the pressure they were being put under. I like catch and release but it does provide a training ground for fish to determine whats safe to eat and what isn't. Consequently we were getting jabs and pulls rather than solid hook ups. The afternoon was a grind and I managed another three to take me to a bag of seven. Five returned and two killed (one of them was a nice fish on around 3lb which would do me no harm at weigh-in.

One welcome distraction in the afternoon was watching an osprey take a large perch not 20 yards from where we were fishing and then carrying it so close to our boat that I felt I could have touched it with my fly rod. In all my years fishing that is the closest encounter I have had with these magnificent birds.

My fishing partner had struggled a bit but took a fish very close to the bank with his last cast of the day to bring his tally to five. Our thinking was that probably 6 or 7 fish would qualify for the semi final and that is how it turned out. Results were posted last night and I scraped through in the top 20. Sadly my fishing buddy who was fishing with me on practice day didn't qualify nor did my boat partner.
The winner?
One of the top boys took 34. Yes 34 fish. A handful took i double figures and the rest of the 55 anglers competing somewhere between 0 - 9.
34 fish is a fish every less than 15 minutes sustained over the entire 8 hours. Incredible.

On to the semi finals which are held at Lintrathen Loch for me, sometime in June.

Anyway, here is the scene before we started:

View attachment 41757

and a slab from practice day. Please note that the half eaten pork pie in the bottom left corner was for my own consumption and was not being used as bait for rainbow trout.

View attachment 41758

How are these boat/fly fishing matches administrated mate? - do you draw an area of lake like you'd draw a peg in a course match?

 

[Saddleworth2]

How are these boat/fly fishing matches administrated mate? - do you draw an area of lake like you'd draw a peg in a course match?

So you get drawn with a partner. Fishing is under international rules which dictates maximum size of the flies and a whole bunch of other rules like you cant fish standing up in a boat. You are given a score card which you need to update and get your partner to sign every time you catch a fish (imagine the poor bugger that had to sign off on 34). If you don't update your card in line with the rules you can get fish chalked off or even disqualified. Whoever came out of the hat first gets the engine which means they can dictate where to go. There is no restriction on where you go as long as you apply the normal boat courtesy and dont cut across other boats drifts, get to close to other boats etc. All fishing is done from a drifting boat. During the day a boat carrying the judges will be out and about checking the size of flies and folks score cards. The rules are rigorously upheld so if a fly is 1mm oversized you are disqualified not just from that competition but from a couple of years worth. (you regularly check your flies against a guage card you are given).

In practice its a little like golf in that you are competing against the water (course) rather than the guy you are paired up with and normally you will work together to determine best place to fish. choice of flies.

There is a time to complete the competition that you need to get back for. Again thats strictly enforced and a minute late and you will be disqualified. Most competitions are a mix of kill fish and catch and release. Yesterday was kill first two and then c and r. So on completion you sign your card and your partners card and have to attend the weigh in with your partner. Your two fish killed are weighed and then an average weight (2lb) is allocated for each fish released. All totalled up and then a cut off point determined (in these heats is usually top 50% go through to the semis).

hope that all made sense.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

So you get drawn with a partner. Fishing is under international rules which dictates maximum size of the flies and a whole bunch of other rules like you cant fish standing up in a boat. You are given a score card which you need to update and get your partner to sign every time you catch a fish (imagine the poor bugger that had to sign off on 34). If you don't update your card in line with the rules you can get fish chalked off or even disqualified. Whoever came out of the hat first gets the engine which means they can dictate where to go. There is no restriction on where you go as long as you apply the normal boat courtesy and dont cut across other boats drifts, get to close to other boats etc. All fishing is done from a drifting boat. During the day a boat carrying the judges will be out and about checking the size of flies and folks score cards. The rules are rigorously upheld so if a fly is 1mm oversized you are disqualified not just from that competition but from a couple of years worth. (you regularly check your flies against a guage card you are given).

In practice its a little like golf in that you are competing against the water (course) rather than the guy you are paired up with and normally you will work together to determine best place to fish. choice of flies.

There is a time to complete the competition that you need to get back for. Again thats strictly enforced and a minute late and you will be disqualified. Most competitions are a mix of kill fish and catch and release. Yesterday was kill first two and then c and r. So on completion you sign your card and your partners card and have to attend the weigh in with your partner. Your two fish killed are weighed and then an average weight (2lb) is allocated for each fish released. All totalled up and then a cut off point determined (in these heats is usually top 50% go through to the semis).

hope that all made sense.

Great thanks. What is it with the size of flies, I'd have thought that choice is part of the art - is it to stop people chucking huge weighted things out and basically spinning/lure fishing?

 

[Didsbury Dave]

So yesterday was a different proposition to Wednesday. Wall to wall sun and a flat calm for the majority of the day. The guy I was drawn with was on the engine but despite that was happy to take my suggestions about where we should fish as we had been more successful than he in practice. I had a good start and had 4 in the boat by 11.am Tactics were a washing line supported by a two tone sunburst FAB and a couple of buzzers. Things slowed down considerably as the fish started to respond to the pressure they were being put under. I like catch and release but it does provide a training ground for fish to determine whats safe to eat and what isn't. Consequently we were getting jabs and pulls rather than solid hook ups. The afternoon was a grind and I managed another three to take me to a bag of seven. Five returned and two killed (one of them was a nice fish on around 3lb which would do me no harm at weigh-in.

One welcome distraction in the afternoon was watching an osprey take a large perch not 20 yards from where we were fishing and then carrying it so close to our boat that I felt I could have touched it with my fly rod. In all my years fishing that is the closest encounter I have had with these magnificent birds.

My fishing partner had struggled a bit but took a fish very close to the bank with his last cast of the day to bring his tally to five. Our thinking was that probably 6 or 7 fish would qualify for the semi final and that is how it turned out. Results were posted last night and I scraped through in the top 20. Sadly my fishing buddy who was fishing with me on practice day didn't qualify nor did my boat partner.
The winner?
One of the top boys took 34. Yes 34 fish. A handful took i double figures and the rest of the 55 anglers competing somewhere between 0 - 9.
34 fish is a fish every less than 15 minutes sustained over the entire 8 hours. Incredible.

On to the semi finals which are held at Lintrathen Loch for me, sometime in June.

Anyway, here is the scene before we started:

View attachment 41757

and a slab from practice day. Please note that the half eaten pork pie in the bottom left corner was for my own consumption and was not being used as bait for rainbow trout.

View attachment 41758

Well fished and well done qualifying. Good luck in the semis.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Great thanks. What is it with the size of flies, I'd have thought that choice is part of the art - is it to stop people chucking huge weighted things out and basically spinning/lure fishing?

no basically the more movement in the fly the more attraction so you can use material like maribou to put a long tail on a fly that would normally outfish smaller more imitative flies. The rules are designed to create a level paying field.

 

[Newman Noggs]

So yesterday was a different proposition to Wednesday. Wall to wall sun and a flat calm for the majority of the day. The guy I was drawn with was on the engine but despite that was happy to take my suggestions about where we should fish as we had been more successful than he in practice. I had a good start and had 4 in the boat by 11.am Tactics were a washing line supported by a two tone sunburst FAB and a couple of buzzers. Things slowed down considerably as the fish started to respond to the pressure they were being put under. I like catch and release but it does provide a training ground for fish to determine whats safe to eat and what isn't. Consequently we were getting jabs and pulls rather than solid hook ups. The afternoon was a grind and I managed another three to take me to a bag of seven. Five returned and two killed (one of them was a nice fish on around 3lb which would do me no harm at weigh-in.

One welcome distraction in the afternoon was watching an osprey take a large perch not 20 yards from where we were fishing and then carrying it so close to our boat that I felt I could have touched it with my fly rod. In all my years fishing that is the closest encounter I have had with these magnificent birds.

My fishing partner had struggled a bit but took a fish very close to the bank with his last cast of the day to bring his tally to five. Our thinking was that probably 6 or 7 fish would qualify for the semi final and that is how it turned out. Results were posted last night and I scraped through in the top 20. Sadly my fishing buddy who was fishing with me on practice day didn't qualify nor did my boat partner.
The winner?
One of the top boys took 34. Yes 34 fish. A handful took i double figures and the rest of the 55 anglers competing somewhere between 0 - 9.
34 fish is a fish every less than 15 minutes sustained over the entire 8 hours. Incredible.

On to the semi finals which are held at Lintrathen Loch for me, sometime in June.

Anyway, here is the scene before we started:

View attachment 41757

and a slab from practice day. Please note that the half eaten pork pie in the bottom left corner was for my own consumption and was not being used as bait for rainbow trout.

View attachment 41758

Brilliant. Congratulations! I take it the slate is clean in the semis, i.e. there is no advantage gained from your position in the quarters.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

no basically the more movement in the fly the more attraction so you can use material like maribou to put a long tail on a fly that would normally outfish smaller more imitative flies. The rules are designed to create a level paying field.

Are you only allowed to fish only one rather than multiple flies on a leader then too?

 

[Newman Noggs]

So yesterday was a different proposition to Wednesday. Wall to wall sun and a flat calm for the majority of the day. The guy I was drawn with was on the engine but despite that was happy to take my suggestions about where we should fish as we had been more successful than he in practice. I had a good start and had 4 in the boat by 11.am Tactics were a washing line supported by a two tone sunburst FAB and a couple of buzzers. Things slowed down considerably as the fish started to respond to the pressure they were being put under. I like catch and release but it does provide a training ground for fish to determine whats safe to eat and what isn't. Consequently we were getting jabs and pulls rather than solid hook ups. The afternoon was a grind and I managed another three to take me to a bag of seven. Five returned and two killed (one of them was a nice fish on around 3lb which would do me no harm at weigh-in.

One welcome distraction in the afternoon was watching an osprey take a large perch not 20 yards from where we were fishing and then carrying it so close to our boat that I felt I could have touched it with my fly rod. In all my years fishing that is the closest encounter I have had with these magnificent birds.

My fishing partner had struggled a bit but took a fish very close to the bank with his last cast of the day to bring his tally to five. Our thinking was that probably 6 or 7 fish would qualify for the semi final and that is how it turned out. Results were posted last night and I scraped through in the top 20. Sadly my fishing buddy who was fishing with me on practice day didn't qualify nor did my boat partner.
The winner?
One of the top boys took 34. Yes 34 fish. A handful took i double figures and the rest of the 55 anglers competing somewhere between 0 - 9.
34 fish is a fish every less than 15 minutes sustained over the entire 8 hours. Incredible.

On to the semi finals which are held at Lintrathen Loch for me, sometime in June.

Anyway, here is the scene before we started:

View attachment 41757

and a slab from practice day. Please note that the half eaten pork pie in the bottom left corner was for my own consumption and was not being used as bait for rainbow trout.

View attachment 41758

I'd love to see an Osprey. I've seen fish eagles in South Africa but never an Osprey.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Brilliant. Congratulations! I take it the slate is clean in the semis, i.e. there is no advantage gained from your position in the quarters.

none whatsoever. In fact, I am now disadvantaged as unlike Menteith, I don't know Lintrathen well at all. You have to fish a different water in the semi so a bit of 'hobsons choice'.

I'd love to see an Osprey. I've seen fish eagles in South Africa but never an Osprey.

You must get to Scotland! (or Rutland). There are sometimes 4 or more fishing at Menteith. Dont know where you live mate but Rutland Water has fantastic facilities for watching and photographing these wonderful birds.

Are you only allowed to fish only one rather than multiple flies on a leader then too?

You can fish up to four flies. AS the fish were feeding just under the surface yesterday I had a washing line set up with three flies. The fly on the end was a Fab (Foam arsed blob) which because of the foam butt sinks very slowly so it keeps the other flies in the feeding zone for as long as possible. I was fishing that with a couple of small buzzers which imitate chironmid midge hatching lavae. Every fish yesterday took the FAB.

 

[idahoblues]

none whatsoever. In fact, I am now disadvantaged as unlike Menteith, I don't know Lintrathen well at all. You have to fish a different water in the semi so a bit of 'hobsons choice'.

You must get to Scotland! (or Rutland). There are sometimes 4 or more fishing at Menteith. Dont know where you live mate but Rutland Water has fantastic facilities for watching and photographing these wonderful birds.

You can fish up to four flies. AS the fish were feeding just under the surface yesterday I had a washing line set up with three flies. The fly on the end was a Fab (Foam arsed blob) which because of the foam butt sinks very slowly so it keeps the other flies in the feeding zone for as long as possible. I was fishing that with a couple of small buzzers which imitate chironmid midge hatching lavae. Every fish yesterday took the FAB.

Casting gets fun with three flies

 

[Saddleworth2]

Casting gets fun with three flies

even more with 4!

Yesterday was flat calm most of the day so with a 22ft leader and 3 flies getting good turnover and presentation was hard work. Especially when you have a FAB on the point. They are not exactly aerodynamic. :-(

Lets just say I had as many fankles as fish but just about managed to stay with the original leader all day.

"fankles" = tangles in scots.

 

[idahoblues]

even more with 4!

Yesterday was flat calm most of the day so with a 22ft leader and 3 flies getting good turnover and presentation was hard work. Especially when you have a FAB on the point. They are not exactly aerodynamic. :-(

Lets just say I had as many fankles as fish but just about managed to stay with the original leader all day.

"fankles" = tangles in scots.

Not too bad on a lake, just get the line in the water. Fishing the rivers I do requires getting as close to the bank as possible all the time

 

[Saddleworth2]

Not too bad on a lake, just get the line in the water. Fishing the rivers I do requires getting as close to the bank as possible all the time

Ah. Thats what the guy that caught 34 yesterday was doing. Just getting the line in the water. I really must try that :-)

 

[Damocles]

You started this thread but notvread many posts from you. Do you actually fish ?

I don't post a lot on off topic any more generally. But I fish regularly, yeah.