Charley

Thanks guys, I figured on using American Fishing Wire for my traces, attached to the fly with a jam knot and to the mono section of the leader via a loop. In The Adaptable Flyfisher, Lou Stevens suggests using a close braid of mono tied into the fly when chasing Pike. Admittedly, he's referring to Jack's, but their teeth are no less sharp in my experience! I might consider it if I was fishing for Chub or Perch, as a bit of insurance, still not very comfortable with it as a practical solution to Pike teeth. For Chub and Perch I fancy a #6 weight rod would be fine and anything above that is starting to get overly heavy. There seem to be some good value #7/8 and #8 weight rods available on the Tacklebargains website, though I wonder if these might be on the light side for large Pike and the heavy side for anything else. The Toothy Critter fly lines seem to come only in #9 or #10 so it looks like a 9' #9 is the best bet, at least then I can be confident it will cope with the large flys and wire traces. All I need now is to find some water with Pike in!

Thanks, I've got a 9'3 #6 set up which I use for stillwater Trout, I imagine that would do fine for Chub and Perch too, but would I not need something a little heftier for Pike? I've been thinking about either having a go for them at a nearby reservoir, although there's a stretch of the Thames outside the M25 which might be fun, I know it holds Perch and Pike, not sure about Chub, though I can see no reason why they wouldn't be in there. There are some nice Roach in there too. But yes, my other main fly rod is an 8'6 #5, do I need something heavier? I've seen the Masterline Toothy Critter fly-rod out there, though I've only heard bad things about it.

The days are getting shorter and colder, we're almost in the time of year I would put my fly rods down and pick up a spinning rod, or a newspaper. However, last year I had an excellent days fishing in February for Grayling on The Test. I'm not sure I can stretch to the expense again this year, and certainly not more than a days worth, but my eyes have been opened to the benefits of keeping the fly rods out all year round. Trouble is, I live in London, where Grayling are sadly short on the ground! I was wondering how many of you keep fishing through the Winter and what you target? I know I could visit my local lake for Rainbows, is that good sport (I'm guessing I need to invest in a line that doesn't float)? Would I have more fun changing targets and going after Pike, Perch or Chub? Or should the only flies I handle be those on my trousers?

I'm afraid I can't find out much, but I think it's CC Mann. It appears a rod was auctioned relatively recently that was made for a CC Mann Ltd by AJS Walker, so perhaps it refers to a tackle outlet or company rather than the rod maker in person? I really don't know though!

I'm having some real trouble with my short distance casting, I'm not sure what the problem is but I seem to need a good 10-15 feet of line in the air to achieve any accuracy or quality in my cast. I can and so far have, cast this amount from further back to achieve results, it's just something I'd really like to iron out! I was wondering if anyone else has had similar trouble with it and maybe found a way round it or could offer some advice?

I'd heard that there was a river in Derbyshire with a naturally self-sustaining population of Rainbows, though so far as I'm aware they've not shown any inclination to go to sea and come back Steelheads.

Thanks guys, I had a look at the trout reservoirs, the trouble is the day ticket waters are kill what you catch with a minimum of 4 fish, I'm not sure quite what I'd do with 4 trout but I doubt I'd be able to eat them all! Plus, to be honest, I prefer catch and release, even for trout. So the Norton Trout Fishery looks a better bet for that, and cheaper without being too much further. What I was really keen on was expanding my fly-fishing repertoire, the River Wandle is an excellent spot, a chalkstream in London and with plenty of Chub, Dace and even wild Brownies. It is more of a Spring/Summer location though and Colliers Wood is a long way to go from Finchley Central on a short Winter day. When I fish Regent's I use light spinning gear, I've only fished there for a year but I've not seen a single Pike. All I catch is Perch and not of much size but still good fun, the biggest I've had from there was about 1lb and I was surprised to find one that size. I've not fished on Hampstead Heath as I couldn't find out what species are actually in the ponds. Though again I would guess that light spinning gear would be the most suitable. What I really wanted to do was get some of the traditional Winter fish on the fly, Chub and Pike mainly. After 1st November its Rainbows only for trout fishing and their usually so deep and torpid it becomes a bit 'chuck and chance', in my experience anyway. If anybody is interested in exploring the fly-fishing for Pike idea I'd be very happy to team up, perhaps discuss tactics over a pint? I can see that finding a suitable venue close to London might be tricky, I do have a car so I can travel a bit. I'm wondering whether the Coarse reservoirs on the Walthamstow complex might be worth a shot?

This thread is really useful! I'm a little bit of an all rounder though my favourite methods are fly-fishing and light spinning, mostly for Trout, Chub, Perch, Dace and Pike. Though I don't spin for Dace! And so far, I don't fly fish for Pike, this is something I'm keen to try though. I live in Finchley so I have to travel around a bit, usually fish places like the Regent's Canal and the Wandle, quite like the sound of the Lea and it's navigation channel, Coppermill Stream etc. I'm just wondering whether it would be possible to sight fish there and if there'd be enough room to cast a fly or whether I'd be best off with just the light spinning gear. I suppose I should do a reconnaissance myself, sounds good though from what I've read so far.