The Complete Fisher Forum

[Fryfishing]

A quick question.
When the description of a fly is a mini lure, does this refer to hook size??
Could that mean a size 12 green damsel type pattern with a bit of flash, a cormorant maybe or something like a blob??

I only ask because in my mind a mini lure is a size 12 or smaller patterns with some flashy bits added.
Thanks
Peter
_________________
Floating Lines, buzzers, nymphs, stick floats, maggots and throwing lures at bitey things.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCi3uvEhBwv-hz0eGtrNtQgw

[MarkS]

Mini lures: I use it to mean blob, fab, booby etc Pete. No assumption on hook size. Non imitative patterns.

Bob's reports for BW always used that term for the same type of flies.

[Fryfishing]

Thanks Mark.
That clears it up in my mind.

_________________
Floating Lines, buzzers, nymphs, stick floats, maggots and throwing lures at bitey things.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCi3uvEhBwv-hz0eGtrNtQgw

[JCP]

[blondie]

myself and Alan shared a Blagdon boat yesterday in very hot,cloudy,windy and bright sunshine conditions.Making conditions at times,very difficult
We started off in pipe bay and soon moved down to Holt bay,where there were a couple of boats.Both boats catching a fish each,so we new there were fish in the area
Alan soon proved this by taking a few fish,whilst i had not had a touch(as per normal )No more activity for a while,so we moved over to pegs point area.Alan was straight into a fish and had several more i hooked a tidy fish that actually broke me,that continued to leap out the water several times sticking its fin up to me .We then moved to the top end for a short spell but no luck there
We moved back to pegs,where i finaly caught a fish on a very small suger cube green buzzer.Time was moving on so we decided to try wood bay.We saw a fish crash out twice .Alan was soon into a fish as several were starting to rise .I then caught my last fish on a cruncher on a washing line set up .That was it Alan had done really well under difficult conditions with 6 or 7 fish I need to get out more to practice .
Enjoyable day and great company

[Allrounder]

Excellent summary, Steve!

The fish weren't uncooperative but at times the bright conditions and Westerly wind made things difficult, especially in the Pegs/Rugmoor area where even with the full length of rope out, the anchor acted more like a metal drouge than a device for holding the boat in position. Shame really, as we both felt there there were a few fish in the area....




I'd also add that just before we came off that there was a fish nibbing in Wood Bay that just wouldn't look at my washing line offerings so I decided to set up the dries. Steve waited patiently for me to finish before catching it himself! Well what are friends for ? We came in after that!

A really enjoyable day and for those who do FB, you can find a clip of Steve telling me the time on the CF facebook page!

Alan
_________________
Member of ...
The Angling Trust
BRFFA
B.A.S.S.
Pike Fly Fishing Association

If you see me on the bank, say hello!

[tenet]

Found this video helpful:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+tie+a+beard+hackle&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB914GB914&oq=how+to+tie+a+beard+hackle&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l3j33i22i29i30l6.19311j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[arkle]

Another facebook "find" https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5356622104358488&set=gm.1365886993894902&__cft__[0]=AZVqvPFhFFnkt-xthNPxUtpQJge-ve03U1PYZesPfiLu1HxeEJIucRqNYDxPBx-hjTiCoKayZPAl5Yv4Hy3VNoe22yakG0xO0RDbU80wh3rgSqxH-f4Rqfl6WbxCmg9Y8U53cAe-3aY4YiGyQXuQBl3dPqpUPno5bDg9VXdfJuZBWHhusPylB3Tcr4v2DxyFslY&__tn__=EH-R
_________________
Hi there, I have around 40 yrs exp. of tying flies, incl. some semi-pro work. I've taught at adult evening classes, written for and supplied photos for most U.K. fly magazines. Given talks/slide shows/lectures/demonstrations etc. Am founder and life pres. of local Fly Dressers Guild (27years), our members have won more prizes for tying than any other similar club, we've also won several national flyfishing comps. I look forward to both learning from and contributing to this highly respected forum.

[mc07fly]

A very therapeutic morning session but no fireworks.

Reports were that despite several top up stockings the fishing has remained very slow and the BWFF comp event at the weekend had not been for the faint hearted. But with mainly light winds forecast from the SW and W for the morning I had to scratch the itch!

The set up was my trusty XS floater but, now with an 8ft Hover polyleader. Then 6ft to a red holo DB variant followed by 6ft to a small comp size damsel nymph. So even stealthier than usual but it has frequently worked for me.

The Rangers recommended Home Bay or Holt Bay and, possibly, Butcombe as the aerators have been activated for the past couple of weeks.
The water temp was 19C but the clarity was still good. The air temp was about 15C with broken cloud and sunny spells.

I don't change the flies much in these short morning sessions preferring a few well proven patterns; but I do work hard on depth and retrieve variations.

The winning combination was a very slow but continuous Fo8 fished (I think!) just over the sunken weed beds in about 8ft depth. A lot of the densest weed at this depth is still only 2-3 ft from the bottom but these conditions are when the sonar can be really useful during prospecting.

They did not jump in the boat but I returned two good fish (4lbs 2oz and 3lbs 4oz) that swam away strongly after showering me with holy water and I also had several tentative pulls that did not develop into hook ups but kept me more or less awake.

So, I found the fishing was hard, but not impossible, and I shall try to return next week.

Best,
McFly

[Allrounder]

Great report, Mc07fly! Good to hear that the weed is still manageable at Blagdon!

Apologies for my lack of posts over the last 2 weeks or more which unfortunately was due to the dreaded Covid. First my wife went down with it so I had to self isolate with no fishing to report. Then, after she and I both tested negative a week later I naturally thought I had somehow dodged the bullet but sadly that was not the case. I woke up the very next morning feeling like I had been hit by a runaway train and I spent most of that day in bed. Fortunately the worst symptoms eased after a day or two and I finally came out of quarantine last Tuesday following a negative test. Fortunately I'm fully jabbed so while the symptoms weren't much fun, there weren't as bad as they could have been so all good now.

I am now looking forward to getting out on the bank for trout again but as I didn't want to risk arriving at dawn to find the place weeded up I decided to try for Crocs from a boat instead today while also checking out the various bank areas for weed. As this info may also be useful to others thinking of getting out, I thought I would share it here.

The good news is that it looks like most of the bank areas on Chew are still OK although a washing line approach might be advisable in some areas. The Oak Tree and Nunnery stones looked fine to me as did Walley bank and Wick although Woodford did have some weed showing as I found when a rather lively Jack fooled me into believing it was much bigger than it was by burying itself in it! As for the boats I am surprised at how little weed there is even well up into Stratford, Spring bay and the East Shore. There was also evidence of fish moving in most areas including Stratford, Spring Bay and East Shore and I noticed bass bags hanging over the side of many of the 5 or 6 boats fishing in Herons.

On the fishing front it seems every Pike fly fisher and their dog is catching a '30' and even the occasional '40' on Chew at the moment but not me. I ended up with a 6 lively Jacks to around 7lb and a 12 that thought it was much bigger by taking me around the boat a few times before coming to the net. I'm fishing in the PFFA event on Sunday so it will in interesting to see what comes out then!

Until next time ...

Alan
_________________
Member of ...
The Angling Trust
BRFFA
B.A.S.S.
Pike Fly Fishing Association

If you see me on the bank, say hello!

[lakefisher]

Very pleased to read that you have recovered from the dreaded Covid Alan.

Being "hit by a runaway train" doesn't sound much like fun to me ............. Tony
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Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

[Bongoch]

Very delayed report from last Saturday when I was afloat on Blagdon.

With the weather having been warm and sunny beforehand I was a tad apprehensive about the prospects but my boat partner was keen so I thought what the hell. A chat with the rangers confirmed it had indeed been tough with Holt and home bays the recommendation as the lake had been stocked earlier in the week at both ends of Green Lawn. Started off in the middle of Long bay, pretty much to the right of the bird hide. Setup the usual washing line with DBs on the droppers and alternated between a flat daddy and sunburst FAB on the point. To my surprise we had a double hookup after 10 mins as I hooked into a fish shortly after my boat partner. Given the tough conditions I was pleased to have got the blank off my back so quickly! We stayed here for another hour but didn't have another touch so we went down and had 1.5h at various places in Holt bay. My boat partner got a second from here and was also bitten off by a pike. Cheddar was next though we didn't see sight nor sound of a fish after more than an hour. Consequently we headed back to Long bay. There were a few fish rising here on and off and over the remainder of the afternoon I managed to take 7 with my boat partner taking another 3. Best fly of the day was a simple red ribbed DB. I did manage one fish on the FAB but got the distinct impression that they were after simple non-garish patterns as any fly I tried with a tinsel head or flashy rib was steadfastly ignored.

[JCP]

Any showing at the moment chaps ?

JP

[mc07fly]

Saw very few on top yesterday morning, JP.

I also fished a no-frills red halo DB but this has been my go-to pattern for some years now at Blagdon after heavy fishing pressure or during the dog days of summer...and these days appear to be increasing!

A friend had a great day at Chew yesterday (in Herons Green) and spotted several renegades from Blagdon! Such treachery!

Best,
McFly

[Allrounder]

Hard on the heels of my Pike trip yesterday, I decided to have a look at the Oak Tree on Chew this evening as my freezer has run out of trout! I arrived at around 5.30pm to good conditions for the time of year with an overcast sky and a light westerly breeze so I decided to try to the right of the Oak Tree with the only other angler present fishing to the left of it . I started with my usual set up of a floating line on my 10 foot rod fishing a washing line with a Damsel Booby holding up a Green Holo and a Red Holo DB but I was disappointed to find that I was hooking weed every other retrieve so I decided to try further up to the left of the tree.

The other chap had also moved further up to the top swim by the reeds and he reported that he had a couple of takes on a foam Daddy. He felt there were fish in front of him which cheered me up no end as I had yet to have a pull or see a fish move so I got in about 25 yards below him. By then a few other anglers had arrived but the going was tough, with no pulls or fish coming to the net and I was just about to try elsewhere when a sharp tug changed my mind. It didn't stick but it concentrated my thoughts and when I had another fish nip the marabou on my Damsel Booby I decided to stay put and try to grind out a fish or two from those that were obviously in front of me.

Not long after, a fish interrupted a very slow retrieve and after a short scrap a small stocky was in my net. It took the Booby Damsel so blank avoided, but what was to follow was one of my most memorable 10 minutes ever on Chew. After dispatching my fish and wading back out I had another pull first cast and another fish in the net. That fish joined the first one in my bass bag back onshore and after a quick cup of tea I waded back out I had yet another fish first cast on the Red DB! That happened once more and although I lost that particular fish to bad angling, I can't remember ever having 4 pulls on 4 consecutive casts from the bank with a break in between each one like that before.

After that mad 10 minutes or so things calmed down and I had to wait another 30 minutes for my next fish which I promptly lost, although my final and best fish of the evening did stay attached. After ripping the line out of my fingers on the take I would like to say it fought like a tiger but to be honest it came in very easily after an initial run, despite taking the scales down to 4-6. That fish took the Green DB.

The plan this evening was to catch a couple of trout for the table and with that task accomplished I decided to call it an evening early at 8.30pm.



Until next time ...

Alan
_________________
Member of ...
The Angling Trust
BRFFA
B.A.S.S.
Pike Fly Fishing Association

If you see me on the bank, say hello!