The Fly Fishing Thread
Discussion
RichB said:
nderstood. I'm following this thread with interest. I used to be a very keen course angler, not focused on one type of fish like the carp obsessed blokes but more into barbel, chub, roach etc. I've only ever cast a fly a few times but didn't find it awkward, I suppose I know how to handle a rod. Just thinking that fly fishing looks like a lot of fun without all the baggage of course fishing.
Fly fishing is the most enjoyable form of fishing I do, even though I am also a lifelong coarse angler too . You learn a huge amount about fish behaviour and location from fly fishing -whether trout or coarse . It works for every fish that swims and to date I've caught trout , grayling , salmon , pike , dace , perch , and chub by design on fly and carp, tench , barbel, roach, bream and rudd by accident. It can also be deadly - not only for salmonids either. My only 100lb plus bag of chub was on dry fly ! Don't be like a late chum who took up flyfishing in his mid 70s and spent the rest of his life kicking himself he'd not started decades earlier..
coppice said:
Fly fishing is the most enjoyable form of fishing I do, even though I am also a lifelong coarse angler too . You learn a huge amount about fish behaviour and location from fly fishing -whether trout or coarse . It works for every fish that swims and to date I've caught trout , grayling , salmon , pike , dace , perch , and chub by design on fly and carp, tench , barbel, roach, bream and rudd by accident. It can also be deadly - not only for salmonids either. My only 100lb plus bag of chub was on dry fly !
Don't be like a late chum who took up flyfishing in his mid 70s and spent the rest of his life kicking himself he'd not started decades earlier..
This, I'm finding more and more, is the beauty of fly fishing. It is the adventure and build up, rather than the bag-a-fish of coarse.Don't be like a late chum who took up flyfishing in his mid 70s and spent the rest of his life kicking himself he'd not started decades earlier..
I do a bit of everything. My house backs onto an estuary with flatties, eels, bass and mullet to be caught. I fish heavy coarse tackle there, or go down to the beach with the beachcasters and lob some lead out. I also like ultra light lure fishing for perch, fishing rivers with a trotting rod and a centrepin, or a quivertip and a lump of flake or meat. I like fishing for tench with a peacock quill in the margins or three rods on alarms with the baits out by gravel bars. I like catching roach and rudd on a canal dart or on the pole, a bit of pike fishing in the winter. And I like fly fishing - fishing buzzers on Farmoor for big stocked rainbows, or a Klink or Griffiths gnat for wild brownies on a little river or loch, or nymphing for grayling.
It’s all good. I love the active styles which need constant activity and undivided attention, but I also like sitting and waiting and watching the water.
I don’t really do carp fishing, though I keep meaning to get some on the fly, and I do sometimes do carp style fishing for tench. I do most other things though.
Last couple of trips;
Overdue a bit of fly fishing.
It’s all good. I love the active styles which need constant activity and undivided attention, but I also like sitting and waiting and watching the water.
I don’t really do carp fishing, though I keep meaning to get some on the fly, and I do sometimes do carp style fishing for tench. I do most other things though.
Last couple of trips;
Overdue a bit of fly fishing.
One Amp Andy said:
This, I'm finding more and more, is the beauty of fly fishing. It is the adventure and build up, rather than the bag-a-fish of coarse.
I appreciate however, I was never into the bag-o-fish. I would spend all day to try and land one or two 5 or 6 lb barbel. Never owned a keep net in my life! 
Thanks to the advent of hideously overstocked commercials , and their popularity , it's easy to think all coarse fishing is about bagging up with huge nets of carp . But many of us don;t do that stuff, preferring , for example , tench on lift method , roach on wag n mag or sitting it out with heavy gear for a barbel from a river raging with ten feet of flood water . It's all addictive , if very far removed from my dry fly tactics this week - but fishing is a broad church, or should be, and as the man said, the tug is the drug .
RichB said:
appreciate however, I was never into the bag-o-fish. I would spend all day to try and land one or two 5 or 6 lb barbel. Never owned a keep net in my life!
Me neither, Rich. I do love a good Barbel scrap.coppice said:
Thanks to the advent of hideously overstocked commercials , and their popularity , it's easy to think all coarse fishing is about bagging up with huge nets of carp . But many of us don;t do that stuff, preferring , for example , tench on lift method , roach on wag n mag or sitting it out with heavy gear for a barbel from a river raging with ten feet of flood water . It's all addictive , if very far removed from my dry fly tactics this week - but fishing is a broad church, or should be, and as the man said, the tug is the drug .
Very true.nigelpugh7 said:
Lathkill tackle are still a fishing tackle supplier, but don’t seem to sell rods any more, seems they concentrate on Fly tying equipment these days
Chris at Lathkill is a mate of mine. He bought the business from the previous owner and, as you say, he does the odd bit of tackle but really focusses on tying materials and equipment. He is second to none for this. He caters to the esoteric fly tying community and can source very obscure materials but also straightforward tools, hooks, beads and simple materials.
Most of my flies are tied by Jean Williams the owner of Sweets Fishing Tackle in Usk..............
https://www.nickfc.com/sweets-of-usk
It's like stepping back in time. She's a wonderful person but don't expect to just nip in, buy a handful of flies and leave - God She can talk
https://www.nickfc.com/sweets-of-usk
It's like stepping back in time. She's a wonderful person but don't expect to just nip in, buy a handful of flies and leave - God She can talk
Edited by dickymint on Sunday 5th July 11:34
RichB said:
Is there such a thing as a decent rod for someone getting into it, or would one need 2 or 3 rods depending on what waters you intend to fish?
Depends really on how close the needs of the waters you intend to fish are. If you wanted to fish tiny little brooks and massive windswept reservoirs, trying to do it with one outfit would be a real struggle. If you were fishing small to medium sized rivers and less challenging stillwater conditions, something like a 9' five or six weight might be OK.otolith said:
RichB said:
Is there such a thing as a decent rod for someone getting into it, or would one need 2 or 3 rods depending on what waters you intend to fish?
Depends really on how close the needs of the waters you intend to fish are. If you wanted to fish tiny little brooks and massive windswept reservoirs, trying to do it with one outfit would be a real struggle. If you were fishing small to medium sized rivers and less challenging stillwater conditions, something like a 9' five or six weight might be OK.The Orvis rod/reel combo that Andy recently bought would be ideal as a starter kit, as it's intended, although Greys, and others, offer similar.
No need to spend hundreds to get started and, at the end of the day, the fish won't care whether you're fishing with the 'latest and best' or a simple stick and line as long as they want what you are offering.
Give it a go, plenty of fly fishing lakes around to get you hooked!!
RichB said:
Is there such a thing as a decent rod for someone getting into it, or would one need 2 or 3 rods depending on what waters you intend to fish?
9'6" medium action 5/6 weight will be usable on all but small streams. Absolutely no need to get more than one rod until you discover where you are likely to fish. Until you learn the basics of casting you'll confuse yourself with multiple rods and setups. Fly fishing is only complicated if you make it so.dickymint said:
9'6" medium action 5/6 weight will be usable on all but small streams. Absolutely no need to get more than one rod until you discover where you are likely to fish. Until you learn the basics of casting you'll confuse yourself with multiple rods and setups. Fly fishing is only complicated if you make it so.
Quite so. I remember a lesson well learned from an old experienced fly fisherman when I suggested I needed a shorter rod to fish small brooks. He took my 9' rod and removed the butt end and then taught me how to cast with the remaining 7', without reel, under overhanging trees!!Still bought a 7' 3 weight though, with another reel!!
pequod said:
dickymint said:
9'6" medium action 5/6 weight will be usable on all but small streams. Absolutely no need to get more than one rod until you discover where you are likely to fish. Until you learn the basics of casting you'll confuse yourself with multiple rods and setups. Fly fishing is only complicated if you make it so.
Quite so. I remember a lesson well learned from an old experienced fly fisherman when I suggested I needed a shorter rod to fish small brooks. He took my 9' rod and removed the butt end and then taught me how to cast with the remaining 7', without reel, under overhanging trees!!Still bought a 7' 3 weight though, with another reel!!
pequod said:
dickymint said:
9'6" medium action 5/6 weight will be usable on all but small streams. Absolutely no need to get more than one rod until you discover where you are likely to fish. Until you learn the basics of casting you'll confuse yourself with multiple rods and setups. Fly fishing is only complicated if you make it so.
Quite so. I remember a lesson well learned from an old experienced fly fisherman when I suggested I needed a shorter rod to fish small brooks. He took my 9' rod and removed the butt end and then taught me how to cast with the remaining 7', without reel, under overhanging trees!!Still bought a 7' 3 weight though, with another reel!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2eeszkQoIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH6i0QJLtiw
Edited by dickymint on Sunday 5th July 18:10
dickymint said:
Yep who needs a reel? If I ever buy another rod this'll be it it............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2eeszkQoIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH6i0QJLtiw
And that Tenkara set up is the way to go ... simple as!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2eeszkQoIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH6i0QJLtiw
Edited by dickymint on Sunday 5th July 18:10
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