Educated Trout

[Leon Roskilly]

I'm fishing a syndicate water, around 7 acres.

 

It's a farm reservoir rich in insect-life and well stocked, mostly with 3-7lb fish, rainbows and browns, but with some 15lb+ (so can't risk going too light).

 

The syndicate has a strong catch and release culture with only the odd fish being taken for the pot.

 

A stocking in April meant easy fishing and good sport for the first few weeks of the season (including a good number of willing resident fish, leeched up from overwintering), the fishing gradually becoming harder as the fish wised-up and the amount of available natural food increased exponentially (one of the delights of the place is margin reeds absolutely alive with sedge flies, damsels and now huge dragon-flies, attracting swallows and martins, not to mention the sound of frogs and lizards being hunted by grass-snakes).

 

The frustration of repetitive casting, with the occasional reward of a twitch of the line, and the rarer lock-up of a fish on is compounded by trout (sometimes big trout) patrolling past the platform, occasionally sipping at something on the surface, or turning to take some unseen creature below.

 

Trying to tempt these patrolling fish is irresistible, but apparently pointless because they have seen it all.

 

The best that is achieved is to have a fish turn towards what is being offered, before it veers away contemptuously.

 

What is really Oh!-so-frustrating is to have them go for the knot(s) in the leader!

 

(I guess that if I could tie a fly the size of a daphnia I might be in with a chance, but I doubt that any hook smaller than a daphnia would hold for long! Yes, I've tried small midges on incredibly small hooks tied to 0.185m fluoro (8.2lbs, I daren't try smaller)).

 

It's getting so that I'm tempted to head back down to one of the commercial stockie lakes, just to recall what a day's sport playing and landing trout is like!

 

In the meantime, I guess I have to try to ignore the fish patrolling the edges, I guess that everyone has tried tempting them and they have either been caught and released too many times, or have seen everything that can be trolled past them, and concentrate on improving my casting so that I can reach the fish whose tactic seems to be to feed on the surface just beyond casting range (almost as frustrating as the 'entertainment' provided by the margin-patrollers).

[Sportsman]

My initial response would be to fish lighter.

Size 16 or 18 spider to 3 or 4 lb fluoro.

To balance this you would need a lighter rod. 9' 4wt would do well.

This would handle the trout you mention and land them faster than you might imagine.

Is float tubing allowed, it is perfect when there is a lot of marginal growth. It allows you to fish tight up against it with light tackle.

I wish I could find somewhere like this around here.

 

After thinking about it alternatives would be suspender buzzers such a CDC F fly or Shipmans fished virtually static right IN the surface film or an APPS bloodworm like this http://www.diptera.co.uk/patterns/b/bloodworm_apps.html fished very slow with occasional long draws.

 

The fishery I enjoyed most in Aberdeenshire was about 99% catch and release with some very wary "seen it all" fish.

These tactics worked for me.

I almost never fished heavier that a 3/4wt and landed over 20 double figure trout, largest around 17lb on a 4lb leader

Edited May 31, 2011 by Sportsman

[Leon Roskilly]

I don't know about float-tubing, but there's a couple of small row-boats available to members on-site, which I'll get around to trying at some point.

 

I have fished with a #5 wt outfit there, but generally use a 6/7 mostly to get some casting distance (there's always a wind).

 

I tried again yesterday and was largely successful in ignoring the margin fish.

 

The game-book showed that someone had had a successful morning on a fry imitation pattern.

 

The only other finned inhabitants of the water are rudd, and I'd noticed a lot of fry seeking shelter in the margin reeds a couple of weeks ago and the thought of using fry imitations had crossed my mind and were duly ordered from ebay.

 

However, I'd not seen the fry since (eaten?), but yesterday, inspired by the game-book entry, I tried one of the imitations for a while, but without success.

 

A half-hearted swirl at a dry fly was all the action I got before abandoning the shallows (well after trying a diawl bach beneath the dry for a while).

 

There was a fair old chop on the water, and the blustery wind meant I was spending as much time fighting with the vegetation and tangles as I was fishing. Oh! and I got a fly in the ear during a cast. Whack! (Fortunately the fly had been de-barbed )

 

I decided to abandon subtleness and put on a yellow-dancer and stripped it back at a medium-fast speed, resulting in a take at distance and a spectacular fight from a 4lb fish, restoring my waning confidence.

 

Of course I couldn't resist showing the yellow-dancer to the marginal fish, who swam towards it for a look, noted the new pattern, and continued on their mission.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Leon Roskilly

[Sportsman]

Boats are nasty, noisy and uncomfortable and ensure a fish free zone all around the boat, out to about casting limit

Float tubing is comfortable, quiet and succesful. Once tried you will never want to fish from a boat (or bank probably) ever again.

 

I would only fish a 6/7wt rod if I had to cast into a gale. They have no advantage for distance otherwise. Having said that I don't fish with yellow dancers (well, not often )

Tournament distance casters universally cast 5 wts. I use a 5 wt in the wind but a 3/4 wt almost all of the time. This allows the use of fine leaders and, in turn, small flies

They are not designed for distance work but then, most of the fish are around the margins and for those that aren't there is always the float tube.

My favourite rod from the tube is a 6' 6" one piece 3wt bamboo that I built on a Chapmans blank. I once had 3 double figure trout in an hour on this with a 4lb leader and size 16 spiders. It bends all the way to the butt

If you can beg borrow or steal a 3/4wt give it a go with some tiny flies on light leaders. You might be surprised.

On Haddo fishery in Aberdeen there are some very highly educated large trout. many of the regulars there now fish 3/4wts because it works

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

[Steve Walker]

Trying to tempt these patrolling fish is irresistible, but apparently pointless because they have seen it all.

 

 

[Leon Roskilly]

The wind dropped today, and it was even hot in the sun.

 

A couple of rainbows to the yellow dancer, then the follows stopped.

 

So, on with a dry and a take close in as I was getting the line ready (it didn't stay on though).

 

Another three rainbows on dry-flies (and a couple came off, plus several takes that didn't hook up) and a couple of bonus rudd with attitude.

 

A change in the weather and everything is back to as it should be

[Leon Roskilly]

This morning's session started fishing in a light wind with cloud cover beginning to break up.

 

Lot's of takes on a dry-fly, but frustratingly only one hook up.

 

Meanwhile the margin patrol was out in force including a good fish that looked like a double.

 

But as usual totally disinterested in my offerings.

 

I tried a lure for a short while, then went back to targeting the fish feeding 10 yards or so out on the dry fly.

 

But the thought of hooking the double had me trying again, this time with a very small black buzzer 18" below a large dry.

 

 

Still no interest shown by the margin patrol, but a different story further out.

 

Whereas I was getting a lot of interest in the dry but failing to hook up, they were savagely taking the buzzer and self-hooking

 

Four more rainbows in the net before the thought of lunch and my arms turning an alarming shade of red in the now bright sunshine, and the increasing wind, had me quitting whilst ahead for the day.

 

(The water level at this 7 acre farm reservoir is dropping fast now, so hoping for rain before things become desperate).

Edited June 4, 2011 by Leon Roskilly