Play Or Skull Drag

[TheMargins]

Thank you.

[Guest rabbit]

There have been some very heated comments on this subject and as always the usual suspects always seem to have the major say.

 

I am willing to concede that their are anglers who can catch carp with a fly set up and do it in a way that does no harm to the fish and enhance the angling exerience for the angler.

 

I have a little more difficulty in accepting that this method is suitable for barbel, although I have discovered a small number of anglers who do use this method. As with all''cross over'' of disciplines their must always be a compromise and I fear that that the barbel will be the compromised.

 

So I accept this method will be practied by a few who will never have the dedication to fish many biteless hours on such the Lower Severn to catch a fish that never could fall to a nymph. These anglers are the 'model' of which I identify with, not the occasional thrill seeking fly fisher, and I am sure that will be the way for a few years yet, thankfully.

[argyll]

o I accept this method will be practied by a few who will never have the dedication to fish many biteless hours on such the Lower Severn to catch a fish that never could fall to a nymph.

 

Nothing would fail to fall for a properly tied and presented nymph eventually, its a natural food so why on earth would your lower severn fish not fall for one. If I'd remained as blinkered about other methods as you have about flyfishing, then I might be inclined to point out that crouching over a couple of hair rigged boilies and buzzers with possibly a bivvie behind (or around you) would hardly entitle others to take the moral ground. It and variations of it are not exactly the most natural way of fishing. Don't get me wrong, I fish with hair rigged pellets as standard tactics, but I do remain respectful of other peoples choice of approach.

 

As to the crack about the 'usual suspects' you're not short of an opinion or two yourself.

Edited December 11, 2005 by argyll

[peter mccue]

Margins,

 

A very effective way to deal with that loose line is simply to handline, which means you retrieve line by hand, ie you don't use the reel.

 

This is immediate pressure & control on the fish, which to be honest is quicker than grabbing a bucking rod in the rod rest.

 

One hazard is you do have loose coils by your feet, but you soon learn to be careful!

[poledark]

Margins, Usually when retrieving a fly, the line is pulled back by hand and the slack simply dropped on the ground or into a line basket.

 

When a fish is hooked it is usual to let the fish run , letting the line slip through your fingers until all the slack is taken up and then the fish is played on the reel. This is for "sizeable" fish, not tiddly 2lb ers.

 

If there is sufficient open water there is no problem, but you could (and would) be in a bit of trouble if there were any sort of snags/weed that the fish can reach.

I talk from about 10 years fly fishing experience.

 

I feel that I am more on Rabbits side in this debate, the violent pull as a medium sized carp(10lb? ) or barbel (6lb? ) takes off would not be very easy to control with your fingers, and what if the backing were to tangle?

 

I do not doubt that there are some that are/have caught these fish on a fly rod/reel but I wouldn't want to risk the fish's welfare by doing it myself, where the fish were quite large

 

Den

[Guest rabbit]

o I accept this method will be practied by a few who will never have the dedication to fish many biteless hours on such the Lower Severn to catch a fish that never could fall to a nymph.

 

Nothing would fail to fall for a properly tied and presented nymph eventually, its a natural food so why on earth would your lower severn fish not fall for one. If I'd remained as blinkered about other methods as you have about flyfishing, then I might be inclined to point out that crouching over a couple of hair rigged boilies and buzzers with possibly a bivvie behind (or around you) would hardly entitle others to take the moral ground. It and variations of it are not exactly the most natural way of fishing. Don't get me wrong, I fish with hair rigged pellets as standard tactics, but I do remain respectful of other peoples choice of approach.

 

As to the crack about the 'usual suspects' you're not short of an opinion or two yourself.

 

Argyll we could go on but its the season of goodwill, be happy and smile

 

Its only fishing