“Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements
are made for wise men to contemplate and for fools to
pass by without consideration”.
Izaak Walton (1593-1683)
During the C.L.A. Game Fair 2006 This year I attended
several excellent talks by John Bailey on Fly Fishing
for Pike and Barbel. This may seem like sacrilege to
many Fly and Coarse fisherman, but I honestly do not
know why. There is nothing new about this idea the Victorians
were fishing for Pike on the fly and many more species
the flies appear alongside Salmon flies in many publications.
Our memory of the sport became forgotten when fly anglers
became sucked into an argument of Dry fly versus Nymph,
we now all happily accept that both have their place
in our fly wallet and use both equally. We now seem
to be locked in a silly argument of only game fish should
be fished for on the Fly. I guess there are two types
of anglers those who happily fish for one species or
those who enjoy the sport and the challenge.
Neither is right or wrong and as we travel around the
world on fishing holidays more and more of us are discovering
the joys of saltwater fly fishing and opening our eyes
to new species. I myself do fish for many species in
this country both game and coarse I didn’t set out to
do so it just happened.
Why do I fish for coarse fish on the fly? Well three
main reasons one was I couldn’t always afford to pay
£45 a day on a Stillwater at times, Two was I
enjoyed fly fishing on the rivers and stalking large
fish on light tackle and not carrying a wheelbarrow
of kit. But most important of all was that it was massively
good fun and gave me a great feeling of achievement.
Originally I did not target coarse species they were
delightful accidents in the early nineteen eighties
catching eels and perch on baby dolls. Then one day
I saw John Wilson on one of his Go Fishing shows catching
carp on a fly rod. Wow he was using a floating biscuit
and cutting a small groove with a hacksaw then super
gluing it too a hook. Well I and many others had to
have a go at this and it worked and still does. It was
wonderful hooking into a large charging carp and playing
it, My fellow anglers have never really been keen on
my small victories and I often fish under a barrage
of maggots and abuse. I was happy and having fun then
I started to observe river carp and now catch carp on
nymphs and floating flies. This made a very pleasant
alternative to catching trout although I still enjoyed
trout too.
I guess it might have ended there and it did until
I watched Keith Arthur fishing for Barbel on the seven
using a floating pellet on a hook. Well if it worked
for carp just maybe it might on Barbel but I was still
getting rid of blue bottles from my last irate carp
fisherman’s barrage. I at this time had access to a
small salmon beat that had plenty of Barbel but few
salmon. I plucked up courage to ask the beat owner if
I might try fly fishing Barbel he thought I was mad
but owned the coarse rights and agreed. I started with
floating biscuits and then soon moved to mudlers and
then tried an egg fly this pattern works exceedingly
well I am not sure if I am imitating berries, fish eggs
or boiles. But most species do seem to be very keen
to take this fly, I also must report that Dry Flies
and Nymphs are also very effective with Bill Sibbons
When All Else Fails and Oliver Kites \ Frank Sawyer
Bare Hook being worth special note. My local rivers
are fast running so a heavily weighted fly is often
essential or several shots up the leader.
Pike are very easily tempted to catch on most fish
imitation flies but you do need a wire trace to prevent
their teeth cutting your line and summer pike do provides
a wonderful aerial battle.
I must confess because of the problems with other anglers
I find my pleasure through fishing esteries for sea
bass these I started fishing for a few years ago starting
with crazy Charlie’s but now use small streamers of
my own design that imitate the small mullet fry they
feed upon. They are also very keen on klinkhammers and
a selection of Dry flies.
While fishing for sea bass and Sea trout I saw large
fish cruising amongst the shoals these were Grey Mullet
and some were even double figured a challenge. But the
mullet is one of the most frustrating of queries even
allowing me to balance the fly on their heads I thought
for a while they were totally impossible to catch. I
eventually caught my first one with a white muddler.
I am sure the fish considered this was an offering from
a tourist to ducks the fight was amazing though for
sometime I fished with white flies. Then I slowly started
to catch them on nymphs and dry flies, I find the best
pattern is a simple piece of chenille tied to a hook
to simulate a worm with a simple shot pattern works
very well.
So what do you need to start fishing for coarse fish
on the Fly I use a #7 - #10 rod this is not because
of the size of the fish merely I need the power to stop
a charging fish in a narrow river. I use a reel with
an anti reverse mechanism simply because I get fed up
of the reel bruising my knuckles but any large arbour
reel should do. Always use a strong leader material
as I rarely fish more than a couple of rod lengths out,
and the initial take can be very severe.
I do make a point of checking with the fishery manager
he is happy with me fishing this method I don’t normally
have a problem and offer them a chance to watch. Some
have even tried latter; I do play the fish very hard
and try to land the fish as soon as possible so the
fish is not harmed during the capture. As I am often
in the water I normally do not use a landing net but
slide the fish to my side and pinch the fly head in
my fingers. This allows the barbless or crushed barbed
hook to release the fish with a shake of the fishes
head. If the fish is spent I cradle it in my hand until
it swims happily away unharmed.
I see Fly fishing for coarse fish an exciting progression
of my sport and not harmful to any sport it allows me
to experience blistering runs on a few ounces of carbon
fibre. I am glad others are discovering this wonderful
challenge and hope others will stop catapulting maggots
at me and try themselves.
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