salmo6934

Update on Hardy Reel. Reel now gone, received £170 in part exchange.

spartafan, the ID will come with experience, don't worry about it you will soon pick it up. Pick up any magazine on fly tying and try to guess what they are (grouse & claret, teal blue and silver etc.), also the "recipe" for the tying will help.

Used to be deadly on the south coast. ps Liked the one about the french

Before you lash out on "Spey Lines" I would recomend you get a DT line to suit your rod. You will find it easier to learn with a DT than some of the newer lines. Also dont be misled by the "WF" title of the new lines, they are not the same profile as a WT trout lines, they have a longer belly on Spey Lines. I can recomend a good instructor but it may be a bit far to come(Glasgow). Last year I seen him take 3 people that had never used a 15ft rod, I went back an hour or so later and 2 of them were "Snake casting" like they had been doing it for years. In that morning they all became resonable casters, single spey, double spey and snake roll. It is definately a good a good idea to get an instructor, he can correct faults you are making whereas a mate who can cast may not be able to do this. "You don't have to be able to spey cast". This is what is usually said by people that can't do it, if you can it will give you another weapon in your armoury and will open up the river to you. Enjoy it and good luck.

Emmasdad, your contract is with the person, shop etc where you bought the rod. That is not to say don't have a word with Airflo, you might get somebody in a good mood who might let you have a replacement. Just to add on the merits of replacement parts for rods. In general terms, if you buy a rod and a part is broken by missuse, you can expect to pay a third (if its 3 piece) and half with a 2 piece. If you bought on a special offer and it say cost £50 (2piece) you would think it would cost £25 to replace the section. WRONG, it will probably cost half the RRP cost, just to let you know. Lots of tackle shops will try and fob you off with," I'll have to contact the manufacturers". If they have a good relationship with the dealers they should be able make a judgement themselves wether to change the item or not.

A number of years ago in the spring I was fly fishing a hill loch. Absolute silence reigned until this blooming Cuckoo started. It was about 200yds away and after a while was getting on my nerves. Just then a Heron appeared and flew over the Cuckoo, it went round in a circle and came back a few feet above it, as it passed over the top, it crapped all over the Cuckoo What I would have given for a photo of that.

There is a salmon gye net on Mullarkeys at the moment for £29.99 with peel strap. I'm thinking of getting one myself.

I have just looked at the website promotion site. There is a good example of Seatrout ID on it under Sea Trout Sites. In particular the difference between trout and salmon. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

No problem John, hope they work out for you.

I have been through the cheap way to wading boots, its false economy. I have tried everything you can imagine, got boots from car boot sales etc. the only cheapies I would recomend are an industrial boot. They are black rubber with large cleats (ideal for puting studs in, large cleats) they also have a steel toecap, they are quite heavy but should last many years. Unfotunately for me they only go to a size 11. I am in the fortunate position that I wear my boots almost daily (Feb to Oct), the pair I have at the moment are sold under the Fenwick name. I bought them 2 seasons ago, they have felt soles and I have studded the heels, there are still in good nick. The rrp was £49.99, I got them for £29.99. Here is an offer for you, the afore mentioned industrial boots well I have a pair you can have for the price of the postage, they are size 10/11. Pm me and there yours. Ref my last, the offer was to fishfinder.

Trainers (cheap ones) have not got a good sole for wading, plus no akle support and you will stub your toes. It does depend a bit on where your fishing what soles you have, I prefer studs, or a mixture of studs and felt. Felt can be lethal on steep muddy or grassy banks. I would go two sizes up on wading boots with neoprene feet. I take an 11 shoe and use size 13 boots.

Nice one, hope it bears fruit.

On a Gillies grave on the banks of the Spey, " If whisky be the water of life, why am I lying here."

Coiled spring, springs to mind.

Used one for years, always made a mess with my fingers. Then one day I dropped it, as I went pick it up I stood on it and broke the small hook. Had to finish the fly with my fngers and have never used one since. If you watch the how the figure 4 is formed it helps.

You might like to look at these sites. www.speycasting-tuition.com And a good site full of local knowledge of my area, www.robbieredball.net Some nice photos and info.

Hi Nick, If any one of above reasons you gave, which I agree with, had been given, I would not have written about it. Just leaves a bit of doubt in the mind for any future statements they give . Thanks for the reply. Happy New Year.

How much can we rely on reports from scientists doing survey on rivers. The reason I ask is that it was stated that there were no fish that spawned in our river, as a survey had been done and they did not find any fry. There are plenty of parr, but these are the results of there stocking policy further up the system. I have just spent the last month doing my favorite closed season pastime, watching the salmon digging redds and spawning in the river. I have done this for a number of years now, so I have concluded that I must be dreaming

Thats the first time I have heard that (In fact many mistake a sea trout for a rainbow) apart from the colour the rainbow has spots on its tail. some of the brownies in Loch Leven used to look more like sea trout (bright silver) Trying to tell a sea trout from a salmon is another matter.

You would have to study the scales. It's a long time since I was shown how. What I remember is, the scale has growing lines on it (like a tree), with a brown trout I would imagine the gap between the line will be fairly regular, whereas when the seatrout goes to sea, the gap will increase as it will have been feeding on richer food. It's also a way of telling how often it as spawned.

Save your money lads, get some millends. I've had some great lines over the years.

Coalies are a good bait for pike, tough and usually easy to get a hold of if you know someone that sea fishes. They come in a good size as well.

Thanks for that info, if you ever run into him, tell him "Jock" sends his regards. Cheers.

You guy's are taking me back a bit. I used to do a lot of surf casting in the 60s/70s, I was a friend of Terry Carrol. Does anybody know if he is still about, I lost contact when I moved back home to gods country. Spent many a pleasant evening on the beaches of Brighton and the West Pier. Sorry if I have highjacked the thread, but in them days we were casting about the 160/170 yds, my pb was 171yds. Terry was casting a lot further.

Used to call that the "Sea Squeak". Didn't half make a racket when you cast.