help_ma_boab

I have always found Cortland lines to be on the light side. I normally fish a 7 wt rod, and Cortland #8 floaters and intermediates suit me better than #7's. It might just be my casting style, but it may be worth trying one line size up to see how it feels. Short leader and big flies should be OK - but try to tie them with materials which do not absorb water - and nice slim, streamlined patterns will have less air resistance. Also, I have not tried a Cortland Ghost Tip, so cannot comment, but Cortland sink tips reduce my distance - they feel unbalanced to me - again this may be down to my casting style. I hope you find these ramblings helpful. Bill

Congratulations! - Been there, done that - so know exactly how you feel. My biggest from the tube was 10.5lbs - won me a Daily Record 'Fish of the Week' prize. A good fish just seems to go forever when you are tubing. When I caught mine, it was breezy and the fish ran up past me and got upwind - I was knackered by the time I managed to get upwind of it again. Did your fish try this trick? Again - congrats - I bet it kept a smile on your face for days. Bill

Jim, I tried the solid indicators, but like you, had the same problem of them slipping on the leader under the strain of casting. I now make up my indicators from 'Loon Products Strike-Out' yarn. Two or three lengths of a coupla inches, folded over and whipped onto a small loop of braid or backing (I also used to whip 'em onto lightweight hooks). I tie a dropper into the leader, and tie the indicator onto the dropper. When I used to use indicators with hooks, it was just like a big top dropper fly, and it surprised me every time a fish rose to it - I caught quite a few on the indicator 'fly'. The big benefit of having the indicator tied on a braid loop is that it will pass thru the rod rings easily, so you can use really long leaders where needed, and still net a fish on the point fly. Hope this helps. Bill

Got the piccies at last....... I hope I get this right to post 'em ! I think the fish is a Turbot, but never having cuaght one, I stand to be corrected What do you guys reckon? Bill Aaaaarrrgghh! - No Piccies - So tell me how please.

Yep - I would agree with the 'find a bit of grass route'. If you have a decent winch on the trailer, and its not the Queen Mary your moving, its really quite easy. Easter weekend at Luce Sands on the Mull of Galloway saw us performing this kind of operation every day for 3 days. The water was way too shallow to recover the boats normally (submerging trailer) on an outgoing tide, so we simply beached the boats on the sand. By the time we got the 4x4s and trailers down, the boats were hi and dry. Unhitch the trailer, hook up winch strap, line up rear roller/s on bow/keel and start winching it on. On my trailer, the trailer actually walks its way under the boat (keel rollers & bunks), on my mates trailer (multiple rollers), the boat climbs up the trailer. Its a bit easier if you have someone to assist by steadying the boat at the rear, and it helps to have arms like Garth, but quite straightforward. The multi roller type trailers also have a bonus of the boat 'self straightening' the further it gets on the trailer - on my bunked trailer it sometimes needs a small adjustment at the stern (a quick heave). Its actually a lot easier than it sounds, and grass is not going to hurt the boat - just take it easy - do not try to hurry it. Hope this helps.... Bill

Unless of course you have trailer with 'Alko sealed for life' hubs - then you have nowhere to put the grease! The life expectancy of such hubs (for those who frequently launch into the salty stuff) is not good. They are great on caravans, but I would always recommend the older style hubs with replacable bearings (and grease) that you can do maintenance on. Just my opinion and experience. Bill

Cheers mate - any time you want us to scare the fish - just give us shout

Well, had a great weekend on the Mull - bad news for your 'lads week' Snatcher, - New England Bay no longer take tents - so we popped down to Sands of Luce caravan park. It was braw - access to beach was much better than NEB, but the bay is a lot shallower, so had to adapt launching & retreival procedures. I actually caught a Turbot (at least I think its a Turbot) about 3lbs, by hand, in the shallows when recovering the boats - I'll post a pic when I get 'em developed - then the experts can tell me if I'm right or wrong. Apart from that we didn't do any fishing, but plotted a lot of features on the finders, so hopefully we will get among 'em in the summer. Tack4 - Was that your lot in East Tarbert Bay on sunday? We were in the the two ribs & jetski, just out cruising and having a good time. Hope to bump into some of you guys down there later in the year...... Bill

Thanks Guys, Methinks I'll leave the rods at home and just spend a bit of time exploring with the boats and 'finders. regards, Bill

Hi Snatcher, Your antics round the Mull have made many a good read for me - I too love that area and spend a good bit of time there. In fact I'll be there this weekend (15/16th April) probably at New England Bay. There will be 4 of us, with 2 Ribs to play with. Whats the fishing like at the moment? regards Bill

I can't say I noticed much difference Jim, you will find everything happens in slow motion, with a steady cycling sort of action of the legs. I found that I could waste a lot more energy trying to go faster, thrashing the water and getting knackered for negligible gain - slow and steady seemed the best option for me. And when you are not trying to sprint, the footwear did'nt seem to matter much. Interestingly tho, I did try out a pair of scuba divers fins - much bigger than the ones designed for tubing - and they definately provided greater thrust for the same sort of effort. But they got in the way more when hooked fish tried to dive thru my legs. A lot is down to personal preference and you should experiment to find what you like. My next pair of waders will probably be back to stockingfoots, simply because the bootfoot ones I currently have are too big to fit into the scuba fins, and I liked the extra thrust they provided, but thats just me - you may find that you like a different setup altogether. Bill

Jim, I now use bootfoot neoprenes for my tubing, but used to use stockingfoot ones. I did not use wading boots over the stockingfoot ones. I used a pair of neoprene wetsuit boots (diving/windsurfing) over the stockingfoot waders and never had any problems either paddling or walking in them. However, neoprenes do get warm if you have to walk a long distance. I don't think it matters much - just personal preference - when I replaced my stockingfoots (terminal leaks) I got a great deal on a set of booted ones and can't say it made much difference in use. Not much help I'm afraid, Bill

Hi Guys, Has anyone else tried one of these 'Bloke' rods? I've been trying for a while to find a replacement for my beloved Fenwick Iron Feather travel rod (the old style one - not the new fast action poker), which I broke earlier this season. The write ups and web site blurb (www.blokerods.co.uk) sounded good, but pretty expensive at retail prices. Then I found that the company is putting a couple of rods on ebay on a regular basis. I thought 'why not?' and won a Bloke XL50 9ft 7wt 4-piece for a third of the retail (I know - jammy beggar!). It is lovely - a nice thru action with loads of reserve power in a very light blank. Good quality materials, well finished. I love it! It suits my style down to the ground. An absolute delight to use! Has anyone else tried one? What did you think? I liked it so much after one weekend that I bid and won another to give me a matching pair (bit more expensive this time - but still well worth it in my opinion). I know liking/disliking rods is a very subjective thing - but I would recommend trying one if you get the chance. And at current ebay prices you can save a lot of dosh. PS I dont have any connection with Bloke Rods, I just think my rods are brilliant, and great value at the moment. I also think that this company will generate a good reputation in a short space of time with products like these. Bill

Too right! - They are well tasty! A few (ok more than a few) years ago, a couple of mates and I would start off in the boat at the St Fillans end of Loch Earn, drifting more or less down the middle, heading towards the Lochearnhead end of the loch. Spinning with an assortment of Mepps, Tobys and natural minnows, we used to catch an awful lot of Char, a lot of 'em of good size too. If memory serves, it was always shirtsleeves, so must have been July/August time. When cleaned, the flesh was invariably very deep orange, and very tasty. I also knew a lot of guys who did all-night sessions anchored up beside the fish farm cages, and some of the char caught there would reach 4lb-5lb. My personal best was a tad over 3lb. You got a good strong fight (rather like a decent brownie) for a short while, then they would give up - they do not (in my opinion) have anywhere near the staying power of an equivalent rainbow. But definately very tasty! A lot of our deep glacial lochs in Scotland hold large shoals of char (thats what Ferox feed on), but its only when they come up close to the surface that any numbers are caught on rod & line. Just my personal experience guys - I have not targeted char since I took up fly fishing (many moons ago now) - perhaps I should get back to it. Bill

I'm off down to Rutland furra weekend soon. Does anybody have any contacts for accomodation in the area? Prices would be helpful too. Bill