Why not mix techniques?

[olsmelly]

There I was, pottering through my bits and bobs and up popped a very old Shakespeare fly reel, still in good nick. That was when I remembered the equally old Hardy(ish) fly rod in the attic (Maw had it made by a friend, who worked for Hardy).

AFTM7 will handle most things from the shore, I thought, but I have problems with balance and co-ordination. Could I still handle a fly?

I tackled up and went out into the garden......... DISASTER! I was all over the place!.......... So much for this beautiful rod and trusty old reel..........

Then I thought.

Why MUST we use a fly with a fly rod? That took me back to Spiggie Voe in Shetland; a wonderful Sea Trout mark. I remembered, way back, wondering how this Local could get such a range on his fly cast........... It took me some time to twig to the fact he was using a spinner instead of fly............

CHEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


But! Why not?

Here I am, disabled and unable to use the fly rod and reel under normal conditions. Why should I deny myself the excitement of bringing in a fighting fish on such sensitive tackle?

So I tackled up with light braid and a slow sinking plug. It works a charm!

Then I thought, what about the bigger ones, like Tope and the like? The AFTM7 would not handle fish that size!........... but a light boat rod would.............

And there in the corner stands my trusty 6-12lb light boat rod; last used for Sole............. It is also home built (conoflex blank) and ringed in similar mode to a fly rod (better sensitivity). This rod has detected the bite of a baby sole (just an inch across) and taken an 18lb Blonde Ray in a full tidal rip!

It is also rigged to take a fixed spool (in the original configuration, a small Scarborough).

Now I can really get going! The rig casts a good 30m with a 35g plug and I get every nuance of its action in the water............. a pity I haven't had a sniff of a bite yet............

[freeliner]

Mixed techniques - I'm all for that. Good luck with your experimentation, olsmelly - I'm sure the bites will come.

A friend who took up mullet-fishing this year is float-fishing with a car-boot purchase for a couple of quid - a very long heavy-duty fly rod (possibly a double-hander as the reel-fitting's set up the butt a bit). It's overheavy for my tastes, but with plenty of leverage and length for what he's doing . Not a setup for the purist, but one that he's made work for him

As for me with float rods, I've considered variations of dapping with a mackerel strip in the top layers of the water from a pier at times when there's no-one around and theres a bit of wind to move the bait around. It could equally well be an appropriate fly.

Dapping's the nearest I've ever really got to fly fishing - though I did it years ago. That was the kind of dapping where you tie on something big and bushy, crawl though the undergrowth by a little stream , poke the rod through a tiny gap and drop the fly on the noses of tiny but lively and very wily brown trout. I do regret not persuading my uncle, a master dry-fly fisher on the Wiltshire chalk streams, to teach me the art. He could whip out rising grayling or brownies with what seemed like a minimum of effort but was so good at it he found he lost interest over time. Sadly, he's long dead now.

But what about spinning a bait? I've done variations on this with fish-strip and head-hooked ragworm, starting by dropping the bait with minimal weight (shot) down the side of a pier and casting parallel to the structure either up-current (faster, less-controlled drop) or down-current (slower, "hanging" drop). Pollack, Bass, Mackerel and Shad have all taken the bait.

Either bait seems to work a treat in the right (calm) conditions at night, very slowly retrieved or walked along very slowly along a structure - particularly for bass in relatively shallow water.

So is this spinning or fishing a moving bait?

Fished right the way down to the bottom in slack-water or a slow current, the head-hooked rag picks up bigger wrasse than the normal tinies in daylight where I've fished it. So I guess this falls into the "moving bait" category, especially as it works a treat using a quivertip for better bite indication..... I guess it's a bit like a shore version of fishing on the drift from a boat.

[olsmelly]

The Trout mob call spinning with bait "Bubble floating" and those that do it, Bubble floaters; with some disdain..........

However, I note those snobs are not above tying a shrimp on their fly lines!
:bitch:

I have used the bubble float and Stuart Tackle to great effect on Sea Trout. Likewise a 3 fly leader on a small bubble float can be very effective for Brownies, as well, and HERRING even!


As long as the bubble float is between rod tip and trace you are legal. The other way round is POACHING!

For the bait on a Stuart Tackle, I use a length of about 3" of mackerel belly; the thin white bit from the underside seems to work best. I cut it in an elongated triangle, with the base about 1/2" wide. I let the wider end do the work behind the tackle.

Cast, pause, slow jerk......... maximum speed of retrieve: just short of making a wake with the float.

Of course you can use a pebble to cast a bare fly with a spinning rod!

Tie a 3 fly trace to the main line. Fix te pebble just in front of the last fly, using a Clove Hitch. Make sure the weight of the pebble is securing the hitch and cast.

The clove hitch will unravel when the pebble hits the water, leaving you with the fly way out and ready to retrieve.......... very slowly!

THAT gets right up Fly Snobs' noses!....... and catches one helluva load of fish!
:fishing-smile:

[freeliner]

Likewise a 3 fly leader on a small bubble float can be very effective for Brownies, as well, and HERRING even

Now that's giving me ideas... I've been told there's a herring run in Portsmouth harbour in autumn (apart from the other members of the Herring family that turn up). I've always fancied a crack at them. Occasionally I've seen some small shoals of fish that look right. I know they're fished for with small Sabiki feathers in Sussex (flies in all but name really), but that method sounds well worth a try.

The pebble method also has me thinking too, for use in saltwater in places where I know that slowly-retrieved baits or tiny lures and flies would score. Many thanks.

I've also experimented before now with small muppets freelined and retrieved very slowly at night but there are restrictions as to casting range. The pebble method could get those into places I've wanted to put them but not reached yet...

[olsmelly]

You might consider adding the odd gram or so of weight to the last fly, so it will sink rather than get blown around. A very light shot should be adequate without the lure sinking too rapidly.

Some of the flies I have used for Sea Trout measured a good 2 inches in length. here is absolutely no reason why Sabikis should not do the job.