Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Iain Goolager

Re: Don Today
« Reply #75 on: 09/10/2009 at 22:38 »
Superb stuff Ben,

what was the weather like up there? It tipped it down here. Hopefully we'll get out sometime and you can inadvertantly give me some tips! :wink

Ben Dixon

Re: Don Today
« Reply #76 on: 09/10/2009 at 22:46 »
It drizzled on & off for most of the day with a few short heavy downpours but thankfully, it stayed quite warm until about 5 when the temperature dropped, about this time I stopped moving fish so gave up.  You out again tomorrow?  I think I will be, probably sometime after about 12, give me a buzz if you can get a pass.

Cheers

Ben

Iain Goolager

Re: Don Today
« Reply #77 on: 09/10/2009 at 22:50 »
Okey Dokey

Ben Dixon

Re: Don Today
« Reply #78 on: 10/10/2009 at 21:43 »
Fished the middle river today with Iain Goolager.  Plenty of fish and plenty hooked but none stuck, we must have contacted a dozen or so fish, maybe more and had two on for a while before dropping them.  I have just thrown out all of my Fulling Mill & Loop tube doubles and refilled my box with Salars, those bloody hooks have lost me more fish than they have landed over the past 2 seasons  :mad.  All action was to stripped Sunrays and Monkeys, did manage to land two decent trout, one about 2lb and the other round about 4lb plus a few smaller ones.  Plenty of salmon about, no salmon on the bank but a top afternoon, simply seeing so many fish chasing flies made the day more than worthwhile despite me taking a dip  :grin

Cheers

Ben


Iain Goolager

Re: Don Today
« Reply #79 on: 10/10/2009 at 23:02 »
Today was very exciting, one of those days when every cast is fished with anticipation. It was also a great lesson in the art of Salmon fishing with the single hander.

Ben, I couldn't believe how much fish  :z15 you bent into today, phenomenal stuff  :z6   sadly it just wasn't to be.

Maybe it's because I'm still in my infancy but I've only ever seen Salmon fishing as Double Hander, traditional casts, across and down, etc. so I'm now optically enlightened.


one last thing, I gave Ben a shot of my 13' outfit and he was throwing the line mental distances.  :shock

CASTING LESSONS please Mr S. Clause 

Matt Henderson

Re: Don Today
« Reply #80 on: 10/10/2009 at 23:44 »
Is the river coming up at all?  I'm hoping to get out on Monday. If I ask very very very nicely...

Ben Dixon

Re: Don Today
« Reply #81 on: 11/10/2009 at 00:17 »
Today was very exciting, one of those days when every cast is fished with anticipation. It was also a great lesson in the art of Salmon fishing with the single hander.

Ben, I couldn't believe how much fish  :z15 you bent into today, phenomenal stuff  :z6   sadly it just wasn't to be.

Frustrating but the fact that the fish were so active in chasing flies was enough, was almost as much fun as trout on streamers
 :grin
Quote
Maybe it's because I'm still in my infancy but I've only ever seen Salmon fishing as Double Hander, traditional casts, across and down, etc. so I'm now optically enlightened.
  Same as any other fishing mate, if something is not working, change it.  Within about a dozen casts, I knew it was not going to be a day for swinging flies, the water was up a bit but I did not think it was up enough for the rise alone to stir things up.

Quote
one last thing, I gave Ben a shot of my 13' outfit and he was throwing the line mental distances.  :shock
From the man that nearly went swimming trying to retrieve a fly he put into the reeds on the far bank, nice outfit that  :z4

Matt, the water is up a bit, come up two inches since yesterday but will have droppd by Monay I would think.


Cheers

Ben

j.r fartley

Re: Don Today
« Reply #82 on: 11/10/2009 at 11:32 »
Today was very exciting, one of those days when every cast is fished with anticipation. It was also a great lesson in the art of Salmon fishing with the single hander.

Ben, I couldn't believe how much fish  :z15 you bent into today, phenomenal stuff  :z6   sadly it just wasn't to be.

Maybe it's because I'm still in my infancy but I've only ever seen Salmon fishing as Double Hander, traditional casts, across and down, etc. so I'm now optically enlightened.


one last thing, I gave Ben a shot of my 13' outfit and he was throwing the line mental distances.  :shock

CASTING LESSONS please Mr S. Clause 
aye i have to say,when i bought my rod from orvis and seen Bens casting i was a tad impressed!  :z4

Conehead

Re: Don Today
« Reply #83 on: 11/10/2009 at 20:14 »
Hi Ben

Would be intrested to know what kind of leader set up you use for your single handed salmon fishing :? Intresting point that you make regarding loop doubles, have been using them a lot myself this season and have dropped a great deal of fish that I would normally think were well hooked :z8. Found the Salar tube doubles good hookers but didn't quite sit right with some of my tubes.

Matt Henderson

Re: Don Today
« Reply #84 on: 11/10/2009 at 20:47 »
I got some partridge big mouth doubles yesterday to put on tube flies,  they seem to sit much better than the loop doubles I had before that.  Mind you I wasn't paying attention when I bought the loop ones and they were down eyed.  They were also less than half the price of the loop doubles.

Ben Dixon

Re: Don Today
« Reply #85 on: 11/10/2009 at 21:13 »
Hi Ben

Would be intrested to know what kind of leader set up you use for your single handed salmon fishing :? Intresting point that you make regarding loop doubles, have been using them a lot myself this season and have dropped a great deal of fish that I would normally think were well hooked :z8. Found the Salar tube doubles good hookers but didn't quite sit right with some of my tubes.

For my single handed stuff I use home made shooting heads cut either from steep tapered WF lines or from DTs with the level tip cut back  to the end of the taper.  The heads are then looped and whipped and I stick a 7' Rio polyleader on the front to give me a sink tip, the loop is important as braided loops always tend to hinge a bit when throwing heavier tips and flies, I then add a diameter of tippet that suits the fly.

Matt, I reckon the BMD's hook better than the Loops, probably because of the larger gape.  They seem quite soft but I have not personally had problems with them, even the #20's hold a fish quite well if you can get it hooked.  Would like to see the Salar tube hooks produced down to #13 & 15 like the tying hooks.

Cheers

Ben

Matt Henderson

Re: Don Today
« Reply #86 on: 12/10/2009 at 21:41 »
Seeing as I'm on holidays this week and that Mrs MDH was busy doing stuff today I managed to get a mornings fishing headed upstream with my single hander and my tiny doubles to see what the day would bring.  Ten minutes in and I was into a fish.  Bigger than anything I've hooked into on that rod before and in my haste to get the thing in the net the fly came free.  Carried on and into a few nice trout, and then into a bigger fish.  I'm happy to say that it was my first ever salmon I'd learnt my lesson from earlier on so it took twenty minutes of coaxing to get it anywhere near the net, every time I thought it was done and I was trying to ease it towards the bank it would gather its strength and run again.  Still successfully landed it and a quick photo before I returned it to the water.  It was 22" long and quite fat not a true kelt but definately very coloured. It took a size 16 low water double emerald stoat.  Which I'm also happy to say I tied myself.  I fished on a bit after that but time was against me.  I did try a sunray shadow and had one very tentative nibble but nothing solid.  So all in all a good morning out.  I'll put the fly pictures in the other part of the forum.



Two other gents turned up one of whom was casting very nicely, he was on the forum but I forgot to ask his username.  Did you have any luck?

I might have claimed victory too soon it appears.  Either a spawning sea-trout or a big brown trout.  Either way a big fish.....  :oops ??? :oops :z15

Ben Dixon

Re: Don Today
« Reply #87 on: 12/10/2009 at 21:53 »
Nice Job Matt  :z16

Singlehander cope o.k? 

Ben

Matt Henderson

Re: Don Today
« Reply #88 on: 12/10/2009 at 21:56 »
It was okay apart from when I was playing the fish, then I was wishing I had the 15 footer which would have persuaded it a lot faster!  that and it didn't chuck the monkey too well, but I suspect the standard weight forward line and a 10ft sink tip aren't quite the right weapon to chuck it with.......

Worked out how to add the obligatory fish photo to my earlier post now...

j.r fartley

Re: Don Today
« Reply #89 on: 12/10/2009 at 22:49 »
lovely fish well done!

i took a drive past kildrummy today and the river looked fantastic!

really looking forward to gettin out on the don again!  :z15

 




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