Bumping fish

[The Flying Tench]

First a point of definition. Am I right that when people talk of 'bumping' they are talking of the times when you strike, feel something on briefly (anything from a split second to 3 or 4 seconds) and then zilch?

 

I went grayling fishing today - not brilliantly successful. 2 grayling, 2 trout, 2 salmon parr, and 10 bumped fish, some of which felt pretty solid.

 

So what causes bumping? I can think of 2 possibilities, but maybe there are more:

 

1. Hook size. I started with 2 maggots on an 18. That has lost me fish before, so first I went down to one maggot, then decided perhaps the hook was blunt (the maggots always burst) and switched to a 16 and 2 maggots. But I bumped fish with all combinations. At times (even when the lost fish felt quite reasaonable) only one of the maggots was a bit smashed, so maybe they were being clever about biting the maggot but not the hook - but is that normal for grayling?

 

2. More likely in my view is that the stretch in the mono at about 20 yards, plus the fact that I feel the top section of my rod may be a bit too soft, meant I was not giving a firm enough pull to set the hooks. I'd be interested to know if those who have switched to braid for trotting have found they get less bumped fish. A slight puzzle is that when I have fished the same stretch of water in September I didn't get the same trouble - but maybe the fish bite more boldly then, or maybe (on reflection) they were caught closer to the rod, meaning less give in the mono.

 

I'm currently using Bayer perlon. Maybe some mono lines have more stretch than others?

[Tim Kelly]

It's bloody cold at the moment so maybe the fish weren't taking the bait as confidently and quickly as in warmer water conditions? If the hook bursts the maggot it's too blunt, so you should change it immediately. Maybe the maggots were masking the hook point?

[P@UL]

It's bloody cold at the moment so maybe the fish weren't taking the bait as confidently and quickly as in warmer water conditions? If the hook bursts the maggot it's too blunt, so you should change it immediately. Maybe the maggots were masking the hook point?

 

Yh I know what you mean.

 

Was out on Sunday and caught 6 Grayling but lost 6.

 

The ones I lost were on a few seconds then just came off.

 

I find this can happen a lot with Grayling and Dace maybe it's the way they fight.

 

Some say the rod action is to blame.

 

I was using worm and sometimes the bait maggots or worms can mask the hook.

Edited December 17, 2007 by P@UL

[Guest tigger]

It could well be down to a combination of your rod having a soft tip and your line stretching on the strike. I've beeen using 8lb power pro and attaching a 1 1/2 to 2 ft gut bottom, 4 1/2 lb daiwa sensor with a micro swivel. I was trotting 100 plus feet and hitting virtually every bite. You'll find that you feel every little minute tug on the line. The only thing I don't like about using braid is that horrible grinding sound on the rings. I would definatley recommend you give it a try and I think it will cure your bumping off fish (even with a blunt hook or a hook bursting with maggots).

[Dick Dastardly]

Grayling are notorious for being easily "bumped off".Some anglers advocate incorporating a short length of pole elastic in the set up to overcome this.Ive never tried it.The reason why is that since Ive been using braided mainline for trotting Im just not having the problem anymore!

 

Might try the laccy dodge though if I fish Timsbury again (they have a no braid rule) and see if it helps.

[Newt]

I'm curious now. What is causing the loss of fish with mono that is 'cured' by using a no stretch line?

[Chris Plumb]

Barbed or barbless? Grayling twist so much that you are going to lose even more with barbless. I guess it's a compromise between getting bites and bumping fish. I usually fish a 16 for grayling where I expect big fish (like the Itchen) 18s on other venues. I get accused of going too small and that I will lose fish (this from anglers that will fish 12's for grayling). However we'll often end up with similar numbers on the bank - I'll get more bites but will bump more. I rarely use double magg - much prefer single - think it looks more natural, imparts less twist in the line (though the swivel deals with most of that!) and less likely to have one fold over the point. I'm curious that you think there's too much stretch in your set up - as I get accused of not having enough in mine!!!! My rig is almost identical to tigger's above - except I use Fireline Crystal..... still bump a few fish though!

 

 

C.

[Guest tigger]

I'm curious now. What is causing the loss of fish with mono that is 'cured' by using a no stretch line?

 

 

Newt I think there's several reasons.One reason could be the amount of time between striking and the hook moving/ setting in the fishes mouth. when you strike with mono it stretches causing a delay before it actually sets the hook giving hook shy fish time to blow the bait out. Another reason is when fishing at distance and you strike with mono the stretch takes the power out of the strike so the hook may not penetrate the fishes mouth enough to hook/set it so it just bumps off.

 

As Chris says you really need to use barbed or at least semi barbed for Grayling !

[Dick Dastardly]

Ive no idea why the braid works better.Especially as its the exact opposite to the elastic option others have had sucsess with.

 

Totally agree about barbed v barbless.

[Anderoo]

I don't remember bumping many grayling when fly fishing for them, certainly less than bait fishing. I don't know why that is, there's plenty of stretch in a fly outfit (despite what it says on the fly line box!). Anyone else found this? Maybe they take a dry fly confidently and hook themselves well against the weight of the fly line, whereas when float fishing the hooking relies on the strike more?

 

TFT, were you using a fixed spool or a pin? I seem to bump fewer grayling (and dace) since using a pin. Grayling can be a real pain for this though, no matter what you do. I don't like braid, so I just try to keep the line between rod and float as straight as possible, use small, sharp hooks and accept that I'll get more bites than fish

 

PS still sounds like a good day's fishing!