The Fly Fishing Thread
Discussion
nigelpugh7 said:
Yes I’m sorry that I do tend to post random ramblings!
Sorry for that.
And I post random video too! Sorry for that.
https://youtu.be/8_UtWEB7Mxc
Smollet said:
I would only every use a 3wt on streams where the fish aren’t likely to be more than 1-1 1/2lbs. Tremendous fun. I do use my 4wt on some still waters but generally use my 5 or 6 wt for fish of 3 lbs +. I use my 8wt when I’ve been drinking and think I’m going to catch a double.
Ok thanks... kinda wish i wasn't swayed into buying such a light rod then. I will probably be at stocked lochs more than streams. oh well lesson learned!
Bonefish Blues said:
Prime time of year now things have cooled down a bit, plus Furlough is still meaning there's lots of people with time on their hands I guess.
Im sure that's the reason, plus it was early evening on a Friday too, and two very nice pubs right on the Bankside there too, both beer gardens full of people.coppice said:
Better look away now Nigel ...On a 2 " paddletail jig meant for Mr Perch, and caught in fast flowing water . Quite a scrap on a 7-6 light lure rod ... Rubbish picture I am afraid
Oh wow John! He’s ace, well done.I’m not that much of a coward when it comes to Pike really you know!
Would just love to catch one ! And soon hopefully!
nigelpugh7 said:
coppice said:
Better look away now Nigel ...On a 2 " paddletail jig meant for Mr Perch, and caught in fast flowing water . Quite a scrap on a 7-6 light lure rod ... Rubbish picture I am afraid
Oh wow John! He’s ace, well done.I’m not that much of a coward when it comes to Pike really you know!
Would just love to catch one ! And soon hopefully!
dickymint said:
I've never caught a Pike or eaten one but would love to do both one day. I understand that it's a pain to de-bone them?
I have eaten them, not caught be me, but fish caught from a large clean lake in survey nets. They were weighed and measured and opercular bones removed for ageing, and then filleted and the meat given away to whoever wanted some. As a poor postgrad student I was up for a bit of free food! They were very tasty. I used to take the bottom of the fillet to deep fry in batter (no bones) and used the bony bit for casseroles. The French classically make fishcakes out of them. otolith said:
dickymint said:
I've never caught a Pike or eaten one but would love to do both one day. I understand that it's a pain to de-bone them?
I have eaten them, not caught be me, but fish caught from a large clean lake in survey nets. They were weighed and measured and opercular bones removed for ageing, and then filleted and the meat given away to whoever wanted some. As a poor postgrad student I was up for a bit of free food! They were very tasty. I used to take the bottom of the fillet to deep fry in batter (no bones) and used the bony bit for casseroles. The French classically make fishcakes out of them. https://www.thefishsociety.co.uk/pike-fillet-steak...
Seems that even fillets have bones in them (I can deal with that) that are difficult to remove. Nice link in the product information to a pike choking on a Zander too!!
No idea if anyone has already posted about the Carpe Diem YT channel, but I strongly recommend. Not much talking (just as well as it’s in Swedish), but beautifully filmed shorts of fly fishing in idyllic wildernesses. Very restful.
Living here in Miami I do miss fly fishing for trout and pike, but still get the odd adrenaline rush with a fly rod thanks to the peacock bass. Bonefish Blues would no doubt be down on the flats off the Keys, I just find that my tolerance for the tropical heat and the blistering sun limits the appeal. Shame as bonefish on the fly is supposed to be a seriously addictive thrill.
Living here in Miami I do miss fly fishing for trout and pike, but still get the odd adrenaline rush with a fly rod thanks to the peacock bass. Bonefish Blues would no doubt be down on the flats off the Keys, I just find that my tolerance for the tropical heat and the blistering sun limits the appeal. Shame as bonefish on the fly is supposed to be a seriously addictive thrill.
dickymint said:
Cheers, that lead me to to search a supplier and found this............
https://www.thefishsociety.co.uk/pike-fillet-steak...
Seems that even fillets have bones in them (I can deal with that) that are difficult to remove. Nice link in the product information to a pike choking on a Zander too!!
They do, the infamous y-shaped ones, but they’re in the top half of the fillet and a pike fillet did me a couple of meals - one boneless, one not!https://www.thefishsociety.co.uk/pike-fillet-steak...
Seems that even fillets have bones in them (I can deal with that) that are difficult to remove. Nice link in the product information to a pike choking on a Zander too!!
dickymint said:
Nice link in the product information to a pike choking on a Zander too!!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20971848Surprising to see this quote from Charles Jardine;
BBC said:
British angling expert Charles Jardine said the event was "really unusual".
"What on Earth possessed the pike to take on prey that size?" he asked. "Gluttony just killed that fish."
Perhaps he isn't a Ted Hughes fan? "What on Earth possessed the pike to take on prey that size?" he asked. "Gluttony just killed that fish."
Pike by Ted Hughes said:
Pike, three inches long, perfect
Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
They dance on the surface among the flies.
Or move, stunned by their own grandeur,
Over a bed of emerald, silhouette
Of submarine delicacy and horror.
A hundred feet long in their world.
In ponds, under the heat-struck lily pads –
Gloom of their stillness:
Logged on last year’s black leaves, watching upwards.
Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds
The jaws’ hooked clamp and fangs
Not to be changed at this date;
A life subdued to its instrument;
The gills kneading quietly, and the pectorals.
Three we kept behind glass,
Jungled in weed: three inches, four,
And four and a half: fed fry to them –
Suddenly there were two. Finally one
With a sag belly and the grin it was born with.
And indeed they spare nobody.
Two, six pounds each, over two foot long.
High and dry in the willow-herb –
One jammed past its gills down the other’s gullet:
The outside eye stared: as a vice locks –
The same iron in his eye
Though its film shrank in death.
A pond I fished, fifty yards across,
Whose lilies and muscular tench
Had outlasted every visible stone
Of the monastery that planted them –
Stilled legendary depth:
It was as deep as England. It held
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
That past nightfall I dared not cast
But silently cast and fished
With the hair frozen on my head
For what might move, for what eye might move.
The still splashes on the dark pond,
Owls hushing the floating woods
Frail on my ear against the dream
Darkness beneath night’s darkness had freed,
That rose slowly towards me, watching.
Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
They dance on the surface among the flies.
Or move, stunned by their own grandeur,
Over a bed of emerald, silhouette
Of submarine delicacy and horror.
A hundred feet long in their world.
In ponds, under the heat-struck lily pads –
Gloom of their stillness:
Logged on last year’s black leaves, watching upwards.
Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds
The jaws’ hooked clamp and fangs
Not to be changed at this date;
A life subdued to its instrument;
The gills kneading quietly, and the pectorals.
Three we kept behind glass,
Jungled in weed: three inches, four,
And four and a half: fed fry to them –
Suddenly there were two. Finally one
With a sag belly and the grin it was born with.
And indeed they spare nobody.
Two, six pounds each, over two foot long.
High and dry in the willow-herb –
One jammed past its gills down the other’s gullet:
The outside eye stared: as a vice locks –
The same iron in his eye
Though its film shrank in death.
A pond I fished, fifty yards across,
Whose lilies and muscular tench
Had outlasted every visible stone
Of the monastery that planted them –
Stilled legendary depth:
It was as deep as England. It held
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
That past nightfall I dared not cast
But silently cast and fished
With the hair frozen on my head
For what might move, for what eye might move.
The still splashes on the dark pond,
Owls hushing the floating woods
Frail on my ear against the dream
Darkness beneath night’s darkness had freed,
That rose slowly towards me, watching.
dickymint said:
I've never caught a Pike or eaten one but would love to do both one day. I understand that it's a pain to de-bone them?
Err , it's very bad form to kill pike, or any coarse fish in England . Not illegal - the law allows a single pike of less than 65cm to be killed. But if you do so, be very discreet as you'd be risking abuse or worse from some pike anglers . I have eaten them in France and they taste like fish flavoured cotton wool with a side order of random bones . Enjoy catching one and let it live to fight another day
Didn't want to get into that, as Dicky said previously that he doesn't understand fishing for anything he doesn't mean to eat, but yes, finding somewhere to keep a pike from without getting lynched may be problematic.
On the eating qualities, I think water quality has a lot to do with the flavour and cooking style with the texture. The ones I had were from a big clean lake, and very good, but I would imagine they could be muddy from many waters.
On the eating qualities, I think water quality has a lot to do with the flavour and cooking style with the texture. The ones I had were from a big clean lake, and very good, but I would imagine they could be muddy from many waters.
coppice said:
dickymint said:
I've never caught a Pike or eaten one but would love to do both one day. I understand that it's a pain to de-bone them?
Err , it's very bad form to kill pike, or any coarse fish in England . Not illegal - the law allows a single pike of less than 65cm to be killed. But if you do so, be very discreet as you'd be risking abuse or worse from some pike anglers . I have eaten them in France and they taste like fish flavoured cotton wool with a side order of random bones . Enjoy catching one and let it live to fight another day
- there are a lot stories suggesting it was a setup
Edited by dickymint on Monday 14th September 08:41
I think the big change was the realisation in fisheries management that pike are a valuable part of the ecosystem and that because they are cannibalistic trying to suppress their population by removing larger fish tends to lead to an explosion in the numbers of small, hungry ones. A put-and-take trout reservoir is potentially a bit different, in that you aren't relying on natural recruitment, but as you say anglers are willing to pay good money to fish for trout reservoir predators.
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