[Mike Barrio]

Another thing that I have found over the years, is that the size of the water is important to me when it comes to making decisions about tactics

If I am fishing a big wild loch or a big stocked fishery, I will tend to use much larger flies and experiment a lot more with depth.

If I am fishing on a well established small stillwater like Haddo, or the other local ones, I tend to think more like I would on a slow pool on the river, smaller flies in both dries and nymphs.

Does anybody else find themselves thinking more like a river angler when fishing a small stillwater?

Cheers
Mike

[Ben Dixon]

If I am fishing on a well established small stillwater like Haddo, or the other local ones, I tend to think more like I would on a slow pool on the river, smaller flies in both dries and nymphs.

Does anybody else find themselves thinking more like a river angler when fishing a small stillwater?

Cheers
Mike

I find a #2 4x long conehead bugger works quite well on many slow pools on many rivers, I'm sure it would also take fish at Haddo, barbless of course and would probably also catch at other small waters

Mike, there is a cross over between small stillwater & running water, general watercraft and thats about it IMO.  From that point only my thinking is the same but methods other than ripping a streamer are not the same really and neither is the fishing for me.

Cheers

Ben

[flybox]

Interesting thread this one.
How about sitting in a boat in the harbour, 3500 acres of water in front of you and having to make the choice between going for the stockies (Rainbows) or going for the native brown trout in the same place!!
Of course i'm talking about Loch Leven and this was a scenario I was faced with many times when I left the harbour and at one time that could be almost every day.
This topic could have 1000's of answers. The key aspects is to "try" and master is the conditions. Temp, light, wind, air pressure, wind direction, time of year, water temperature, where the fish are and at what depth they are feeding, what the average size is and this is only the start!!  
It was amazing how many times I thought to myself, right, i'm going for those rising browns we caught last night and during the day session we caught a bag of "Stockies" and not a Brownie to be seen.
This confirms my point, there are 1000's if not 1,000,000's of combinations to adapt and be successful but  more often than not the same tactics will take both species. As far as i'm concerned, that is the fun of flyfishing.  

Paul

[Mike Barrio]

Great reply Paul ..... I like threads with 1000's of answers and that is what the topic is all about

Water temperature, light, wind, insects etc etc ..... are all part of the jigsaw and all part of the fun!

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

I'm really lucky in that I get to watch anglers fishing every day ( unless the loch is frozen ) and I've come to realise that the folk that enjoy their fishing the most are the ones that know what they enjoy about their fishing

Folk enjoy trying to piece together the jigsaw and I think we all have our own personal jigsaws. For some that means working out the conditions and possible food supply and trying to match it, for others it might be using a fly incorporating the latest tying material or cheek colour, for others it might be a certain tweek in a retrieve rate, or perhaps the enjoyment of a perfectly executed cast of some type ..... the list of possibilities is endless.

If you know what it is that you enjoy about your fishing, you can take this to any water and enjoy your day

Could this be why I enjoyed my first evening at a stocked fishery? Nobody told me what the most productive fly was, or how I should fish it ..... I just took a moment or two to watch the water and take in the surroundings, then I fished as I normally would to fish that I could see, in the way that I personally enjoy.

Cheers
Mike

[Ben Dixon]

Mike,

You getting cabin fever?!  I know I am 

Ben

[Mike Barrio]

Mike,

You getting cabin fever?!  I know I am 

Ben

Ben

Yes probably, but I was casting on ice today, which helped a bit ..... I think?

Cheers
Mike

[Allan Liddle]

It's a broad church we all belong to as 'Brothers of the Angle' and a topic that's certain to evoke a whole range of emotions from us all.  Afterall, as much as you might try to deny it, fishing is a personal thing, you fish because you enjoy it or at least you should do (if not then there's always golf  )

You're right Mike about anglers gaining enjoyment out of fitting another piece into the big piscatorial jigsaw (mine's a 500,000 piece one and i'm still struggling on the corner bits  )

One thing i do find quite simple is this: if there's a style, species, location or tactic you don't like then simply don't do it.  Why berate another angler who does (as long as it's legal and dosen't get in the way of me stalking a spooky rod bender  )

Cheers

Allan

[Jim Eddie]

It's a broad church we all belong to as 'Brothers of the Angle' and a topic that's certain to evoke a whole range of emotions from us all.  Afterall, as much as you might try to deny it, fishing is a personal thing, you fish because you enjoy it or at least you should do (if not then there's always golf  )

You're right Mike about anglers gaining enjoyment out of fitting another piece into the big piscatorial jigsaw (mine's a 500,000 piece one and i'm still struggling on the corner bits  )

One thing i do find quite simple is this: if there's a style, species, location or tactic you don't like then simply don't do it.  Why berate another angler who does (as long as it's legal and dosen't get in the way of me stalking a spooky rod bender  )

Cheers

Allan

Well said Allan 

 

Jim

[Offthebard]

In my experience it would seem that stocked rainbows on certain occasions will respond well to traditional pulled wets. However wild browns seldom (but do rarely) respond to some of the tactics employed on your stocked rainbows.

This is only my opinion gained from fishing a rainbow stocked Lake with native/wild browns over the last 30 years but it does seem to hold reasonably true in Englandshire where there are a lot of waters of this ilk.

Sandy.

[Barry Robertson]

Just out of curiousity Sandy what water are you talking about??

Cheers
Baz

[Mike Barrio]

I find a #2 4x long conehead bugger works quite well on many slow pools on many rivers, I'm sure it would also take fish at Haddo, barbless of course and would probably also catch at other small waters

Mike, there is a cross over between small stillwater & running water, general watercraft and thats about it IMO.  From that point only my thinking is the same but methods other than ripping a streamer are not the same really and neither is the fishing for me.

Cheers

Ben

Yes, but I've watched you fishing at Haddo and I know that you do not really enjoy fishing for rainbows

What I have seen from the hut ...... is that Ben fishing with a Woolly Bugger or whatever lure looks bored, or at least not enthusiastic, but on the days when you can see the trout and you target them with size 18 - 20 dries .... you get a twinkle in your eye!

Cheers
Mike

[Offthebard]

Baz it's Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor. Its about 100 years old and 155 acres.

It is regularly stocked with Rainbows but the Brownies are really Native/Wild.

Sandy B.