Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Rob Brownfield

Loch of Skene - First Pike trip of the year
« on: 05/03/2012 at 09:15 »
And I blanked!!

Twas a wee bit cold to say the least, with fresh snow on the hills when I left the house. Skene, being so shallow means it cools down fast and I think my nether regions found that out quite quickly whilst stood waist deep.

I was out testing a few new flies and they really cast well for a 6 inch beast and have a great action in the water. Shame about the fish not playing ball though!! I am using a "halo" of UV material and the fly really "glows" in the murky water. Just working out how I can incorporate it into a Salmon fly :)

Phil

Re: Loch of Skene - First Pike trip of the year
« Reply #1 on: 05/03/2012 at 13:50 »
Hi Rob,

nice report  :z16 maybe it is still too early in the season and pike are still spawning...   :z8 I have never been to the Loch of Skeen, but if it's so shallow did you ever tried surface flies during summer time for pike? Like Dahberg Diverso or so... ?
Shallow, lots of weed, maybe lots of frogs...--> lot of pike???

Do you know if there are day tickes available? I haven't fly fished for pike since two years... Might be an option in May or so...  :z18

Cheers,
Phil

Rob Brownfield

Re: Loch of Skene - First Pike trip of the year
« Reply #2 on: 05/03/2012 at 14:53 »
Hi Phil,
The Pike normally spawn the end of March, beginning of April in Skene. I was deliberately targeting the areas where the small male Pike gather prior to spawning so as not to disturb the females. The females are in the deeper water which is some 300 yards off the shoreline, so no chance of hooking them just now :)

As for flies and tactics, I normally wade out 20 metres and cast weedless frogs back into the bankside weeds on a floating line. This used to be good for catching lots and lots of fish upti 6-8 pounds, but a lot of those fish have "gone missing" :(

There are two deeper channels that are some 2-3 feet deeper than the surrounding areas and these produce the bigger Pike come summer time. For these I use an intermediate line and a big, deer hear headed fly and strip the fly so it dives a foot or so, then pops back to the surface. Takes normally come as the fly is moving back up.

There are no day tickets available, only season tickets from Dunecht Estate at £80 a year. However, if you are interested in a bit of Pike fly fishing, I could take you to other local waters and I also have several spare Pike set ups you can borrow if you do not have suitable gear with you.

Cheers
Rob

Phil

Re: Loch of Skene - First Pike trip of the year
« Reply #3 on: 05/03/2012 at 16:47 »
Hi Rob,

what a pitty that so many pikes 'disappeared'...  :cry ..sad...

Great idea, would be nice to go out and fish a bit for pike :z16 What local waters do you have in mind? I have 8,9 and 10wt rods with different lines...

Usually I fished with big Couser Deep Minnows and Pink Things... But now I just got some SR Baitfish fibre material from my local flyshop... maybe I give it a try... What hooks do you use? I think I have to order some bits an pieces...  :z4

I fished usually in May for Pike, that's when the season starts... Most pikes are concentrated in the shallows and are quiet hungry after spawning and more active as the water warms up... during summer time I had no success at all, all pikes have been very distributed and out of reach (at least where I fished)...

Cheers,
Phil

Rob Brownfield

Re: Loch of Skene - First Pike trip of the year
« Reply #4 on: 06/03/2012 at 08:44 »
Hi Phil,
Well if you are geared up and ready to go, then I think we should! I don't really want to mention water names as a lot of fish have been taken for the pot, although we are getting on top of the situation on one of the waters. I hope you understand.

As for hooks, a lot depends on the fly I am using.  The last llot of flies I tied, which are designed to run shallow, use a Mustard Stinger Bass hook in about a size 1/0. These are around 5 inches long, lightly dressed and nice and easier to cast.

At the other end of the spectrum I use Sakuma Mantra hooks up to size 6/0. These are a good quality sea hook but with a nice wide gape so ideal for flies that are very bulky. On these I dress things that contain a lot of Schlappan, marabou and bucktail.

Bunny Leeches are tied on Partridge As Swier hooks, the old style, not the new Absolutes. I do have these but I find they are terrible hookers.

Lastly, I have started to tie on tubes nowas I think that the big hooks I use in flies damage smaller fish. With the tubes I can drop hook size downs to 2's and 4' and even smaller without losing fly size. The flies are a bit lighter too.

 




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