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The lazy way


Leon Roskilly

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You can actually play the fish harder on lighter gear without worrying so much about hook pulls or breaks.

 

The fishery where I caught all of my big trout was well known for holding large fish.

 

http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/haddo-trout-fishery.html

 

It is also known as a centre for lightweight tackle. The owner Mike Barrio ( a man who knows more about fisheries and fishing than most) advocated the use of 3 wt rods and tiny spiders, in fact he has his own range of rods at 3/4 wt. What he hated was individuals using 7/8wt rods and bite indicators. The indicator would disappear and whoosh, the "angler" would strike and try to rip the trouts head off. This resulted in "smash takes" and torn mouths. Haddo is probably 95% catch and release and with the above exceptions the fish were in superb condition so didn't seem to suffer from the use of light tackle.

Let's agree to respect each others views, no matter how wrong yours may be.

 

 

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity

 

 

 

http://www.safetypublishing.co.uk/
http://www.safetypublishing.ie/

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Yes, I usually use 1.5 to 2lb tippets for river brownies. I think the tippet strength limit on Farmoor is only on the catch and release fishery - I guess they subscribe to the school of thought that fish to be released should be skulldragged in on heavy tackle to minimise lactate build-up. When I found myself armed only with my #3/4 weight, I found they came in quicker than on the heavier gear, but if you watch a competitive angler like Hywel whatsisname, they get fish netted very quickly through the expedient of dragging them into the net before they know what's going on.

An interesting point Steve but, I'd argue that heavier tackle would lead to a lactate build up more than light tackle. With light tackle, although the fight is longer, the fish is never going to be flat out. With heavy tackle the fish is going to be giving its maximum to get away (admittedly over a shorter time) and more likely to suffer from a lactate build up. Also less chance of torn mouths etc.

 

My view on fishing for most fast water fish.......either that or just an excuse for not being very good at presenting heavier tackle to hook 'em in the first place!

Eating wild caught fish is good for my health, reduces food miles and keeps me fit trying to catch them........it's my choice to do it, not yours to stop me!

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I don't know what I think about the theory, to be honest. I know where it originally comes from - empirical research on bonefish looking at fight duration, lactate and subsequent mortality - but to what extent it applies to trout I don't know. Nor, I suspect, does anyone else. From what I remember of the mortality data, the fish would have swum off and died later, so it is hard to say anything either way from personal experience. I do know that I exposed rainbows multiple times to a process intended to elevate cortisol levels and which would also have elevated lactate, without excessive mortality. While cortisol would have saturated, lactate would not have been as high as in played fish.

 

I'm not convinced that you can pull harder on lighter tackle, Sportsman, but I will gladly agree that you can pull hard with greater confidence on balanced tackle.

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This weekend is out :(

 

When do you fancy?

 

(We have to take Five Bellies down to Newenden some time as well)

 

I was thinking of the following weekend for the Pike trip as the weather does not look too wet next week.

Sue and I are off to Devon to fish Tavistock on the 11-12th Feb so any time before that would be good subject to the weather of course. Fancy somewehere new likr Springhill TF?

Tony

 

After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

 

 

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I was thinking of the following weekend for the Pike trip as the weather does not look too wet next week.

Sue and I are off to Devon to fish Tavistock on the 11-12th Feb so any time before that would be good subject to the weather of course. Fancy somewehere new likr Springhill TF?

 

 

Sounds good yo me :)

RNLI Shoreline Member

Member of the Angling Trust

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I was thinking of the following weekend for the Pike trip as the weather does not look too wet next week.

Sue and I are off to Devon to fish Tavistock on the 11-12th Feb so any time before that would be good subject to the weather of course. Fancy somewehere new likr Springhill TF?

 

Tony

forgive me jumping in,been following the thread and contributing.

Springhill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,have you been there?.Its small and supposedly limited to eight on the main lake.We booked it a couple of New Year's ago for four of us and assumed that there would be plenty of room,huh.The guy overbooked plus he allowed regulars on which made it impossible to move around until many had gone.Also he wouldn't give us the opportunity to fish the other lakes without more money.Needless to say we have never returned.Fish tend to be on the smaller size as well.

It can colour up as well due to run off from the very steep hill behind it.Shame as it basically isn't too bad a place.

Down your neck of the woods,Lakedown is far far nicer for pretty well much the same cost and way bigger lakes.

Coming my way a little more is Hazelcopse.Cheap as chips,not 'Pretty' but he puts lots in and some good fish as well.A little further afield for you are MY most local waters, Albury, all easy to fish and quite prolific,not as cheap though.Coltsford Mill is another nice place.Not over easy,but some very good fish go in,blues and some tigers as well as rainbows and a few browns,that's near Godstone.

Edited by chuby
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Chuby

I have not fished Springhill since Rob Spiller left, but I seem to remember that the mainlake was a couple of acres and could easily accommodate 8 anglers or more; but things have obviously changed.

I used to fish Lakedown regularly, but have not been back since it reopened a couple of years back, but it is a fair old poke from Chatham, if push comes to shove i would just pop down to Chequertree, Chris Drew's place at Bethersden, handy for a short session.

 

Tony

Tony

 

After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

 

 

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Chuby

I have not fished Springhill since Rob Spiller left, but I seem to remember that the mainlake was a couple of acres and could easily accommodate 8 anglers or more; but things have obviously changed.

I used to fish Lakedown regularly, but have not been back since it reopened a couple of years back, but it is a fair old poke from Chatham, if push comes to shove i would just pop down to Chequertree, Chris Drew's place at Bethersden, handy for a short session.

 

Tony

 

Never done Chequertree.

Lakedown has now abandoned its big fish lake(N01 lake)so all are on offer on the one ticket so to speak.

Have you tried Brick Farm down near Battle?,don't know how much of a hike it is for you.Again,not 'pretty',but if Leon was going with you and you wanted 'string pulling' :thumbs: its heavily stocked and fairly hard NOT to catch and again reasonably priced for catch and kill.

Springhill is one mass of impenetrable reedbeds at one end and he is supposed to restrict it to eight anglers.Trouble is,if there are eight it means you can't move pegs unless someone else wants to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I guess that had we not been tucked up,then we would have returned,the guy was just plain greedy though.

I must get down to Parkwood and give it a crack.

 

Just found this,another worth some investigation i feel-

http://www.hastingfordshoot.co.uk/

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I'm pretty sure the minimum tippet strength at Farmoor I is 8lb! Not ideal when you want to fish little buzzers.

 

I also find it easier to get fish in with lighter, balanced tackle.

 

With the mild weather and a flooded Thames, I'm wondering whether to have a day's fly fishing this weekend. Hmmm!

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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