chub on a fly

[wunnus]

Here are a few observations from my fly fishing attempts, I am really good at the "Sorta Cast".

 

Don't tell the Dace that to catch them on the dry fly in a stream is far more demanding than trout on a still water. Othertwise they will charge me more for it and they will make me pay to eat the little devils.

But it is so absorbing

 

It is really hard to beat the excitement from dropping a wet fly off a floating line, you cannot see the fish just the twitch of the line. Unlike carp fishing you cannot tell initially that you have hooked it then the line straightens. Unfortunately there is no audible alarm, unless you attach a fine line to a sensitive bit of the anatomy, preferably someoneelse's

 

SSSHHH I always keep the travel rod in the car with a minimum setup. Say no more! Gov!

 

Chub are so considerate. Chub will sometimes study the dry fly for ages before having a go (trout rarely do it like this). Plenty of time to get the bank ready with mat, aftercatch ciggy and coffee, camera, tape recorder for post catch interview etc. But often I screw it up by losing concentration and striking too early etc

 

Rudd really go for any castor type shapes just as the sun comes up/down. Try chucking a few casters on the local carp lake and whip out a few decent rudd. But you will need an olympic qualifying time in the 100m sprint to avoid the grumpy ole' carp fisherman

 

Red worm flies can really get you into the larger roach and perch.

 

Carp are hilarious. They may need several goes at it before they are on target. No wonder rudd and dace out pace them Nice pull when they are on. Carp fisherman do not like to see you play the fish though (insted of skiing the fish out on 40lb+ line), so give it plenty of the "I didn't know there were carp in here" or "just my luck" or "on the wrong rod again!"

 

Then on other days I need to sit on the mat and trot a float.

 

While I have reasonable (but failing slowly) eyesight and can react in time I think I can stave off the need for a rod rest & alarms. AND a chair AND a trolley.

There are some excellent fly tyers on ebay if you just dont have the time to tie your own.

It is obviously the highest accolade to catch the fish with an imitation of the hatch. But the fish dont know this yet so please dont tell them.

 

Best Wishes

[Colin Brett]

I was talking to a young lad at our club meeting last week and he uses "Czech" nymphs [really "Polish"] to great effect.

He had a 7lber a couple of weeks back!! WOW!!

 

Colin

[andy_youngs]

Colin, please refer my initial post (I think no 3 or 4) those flies are made in eastern europe somewhere.

 

I reckon I've got the best method of catching chub on light fly rod sussed though.

 

Take a bucket of mashed bread and walk say a mile stretch of river throwing it in under likely looking chub lies. They'll come up to the surface for it as long as you mash it lightly enough so that it doesnt sink. Use this method to locate the fish.

 

Once you've found them, put a small piece of artificial (rubber) bread on a size 8 or 10 hook and cast it on a light fly rod (7 wieght or below). Strong leader reqd because you'll probably have to 'hook & haul'.

 

In clear conditions, rubber maggots can be fished in the same way, ie, get them interested by offering naturals at first, and then cast an artificial on a small (size 16 or above) hook.

 

Damn ... I gotta get off this site before I give all my secrets away!

[Nicepix]

I don't know. We try and bring a little culture into your fishing and it all comes back round to groundbait.

 

What do chub feed on when the anglers aren't there?

 

 

 

[andy_youngs]

I don't know. We try and bring a little culture into your fishing and it all comes back round to groundbait.

 

What do chub feed on when the anglers aren't there?

 

mate, flyfishing was invented to make fish easier to catch, not more difficult. Just bescause people haven't traditionally pursued chub on a fly rod doesn't mean that it's not a noble art. I would suggest an open mind towards the definition of a dry fly. Patterns that work best have always been the most realistic imitations available. As far as I'm concerned a bit of rubber bread on a hook is the best dry fly you can get when it comes to big chub... but u gotta prebait

[Nicepix]

mate, flyfishing was invented to make fish easier to catch, not more difficult. Just bescause people haven't traditionally pursued chub on a fly rod doesn't mean that it's not a noble art. I would suggest an open mind towards the definition of a dry fly. Patterns that work best have always been the most realistic imitations available. As far as I'm concerned a bit of rubber bread on a hook is the best dry fly you can get when it comes to big chub... but u gotta prebait

 

As I said. It all comes down to groundbait with some folk.

[andy_youngs]

One last suggestion. I don't know if anyones considered spinning with a fly rod, but I don't see why it shouldn't be effective for chub.

 

The attached flyspoon is manufactured by Hildebrandt in the USA, and I understand that the Glasgow Angling Centre has recently started stocking them.

 

They were originally designed to catch steelhead. To date I've used them successfully for perch and mahseer, but I imagine they would also work on chub (or for that matter trout, salmon, sea trout & pike).

 

There needs to be a bit of flow to the river, and you need a fairly heavy rod to cast them (#8 weight or above). I've found a fast continuous figure-8 retrieve works best.

 

Best of all, there's no need to prebait (you know how sniffy some folk can be!)

[frankthebass]

WOW and I thought the sea section could be clicky!

 

Nicepix, lovely chub mate, I bet it gave a lovely scrap on fly gear. And I bet it swam away none the worse for its experience!