Do i pull it or not.

[garrydog]

Just been reading Successful sea trout fishing by Moc Morgan and Graeme Harris . Back in the late 70s I used to fish the river Annan Hodom Castle , it used to be fly only below a mark on the bridge . My mate Bob and I found the Sea Trout very difficult to hook missing many many takes . Of course during the late summer the fishing turned over to salmon and Griles ,we fished for them on the same rod as used for the Sea Trout but using shooting heads . All the heads where home made from Mill end fly lines ,and all in various densities , to get the right head to fish ,as long as the fly came onto the bottom just before dangle that was OK . We had some good fish on this method up to 21lbs ,and good fun landing them . This was OK until the water turned cold and the fish wanted a slower fly.
As I said we used the same rod ,and the reel was a small Hardy Perfect fly reel loaded with flat beam mono, as for the hooking of the fish we let the fish take line from the reel before stoping it with the finger.
Now for the Sea Trout , we tryed the same for the sea trout but with normal fly lines , and it worked very well with better hookups . I have fished for Sea Trout like this ever since , I dont pull into the fish immediately but leave it to pull a bit of line from the reel .I never pull or work the fly unless
I am fishing very slow water, if I want a faster fly I cast more square across the river. I have had many fish from the Towy over the 13yrs that I have fished the river .But after reading the above book ,would get more fish if worked the fly ?

[T7]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no!!! |\

[jj1]

Some nights yes, other nights no, some nights a big fly and others a smaller one, on the surface or down deep! Sewin being the fickle creatures that they are may require something different from one night to the next, the best advice i can give you is to go down a pool in your normal style, all well and good if u hit fish, but try the next run down in a different style if you dont, if this is succesful then start your next session off this way etc etc
jon

[jj1]

Sry t7, just seen ur post lol

[T7]

No worries JJ, You said it better anyway!

My standard retrieve is very slow figure of 8, but as you said if that isn't working I will try other retrieves and no retrieve at all.

[garrydog]

pull it or not

I thought I would get some response with this post " do I pull it or not" . I will try working the fly this season , but I do think that a slow figure of eight is not much different to what I am doing , so I will move the fly a bit faster than that . I do like fishing off the reel with the same length of line, I think the fish see the fly few times as I work downstream . Very often the fish will nip the fly once or twice before taking it properly, I will not tighten on the fish until it has taken line from the reel .

[holly]

Just been reading Successful sea trout fishing by Moc Morgan and Graeme Harris . Back in the late 70s I used to fish the river Annan Hodom Castle , it used to be fly only below a mark on the bridge . My mate Bob and I found the Sea Trout very difficult to hook missing many many takes . Of course during the late summer the fishing turned over to salmon and Griles ,we fished for them on the same rod as used for the Sea Trout but using shooting heads . All the heads where home made from Mill end fly lines ,and all in various densities , to get the right head to fish ,as long as the fly came onto the bottom just before dangle that was OK . We had some good fish on this method up to 21lbs ,and good fun landing them . This was OK until the water turned cold and the fish wanted a slower fly.
As I said we used the same rod ,and the reel was a small Hardy Perfect fly reel loaded with flat beam mono, as for the hooking of the fish we let the fish take line from the reel before stoping it with the finger.
Now for the Sea Trout , we tryed the same for the sea trout but with normal fly lines , and it worked very well with better hookups . I have fished for Sea Trout like this ever since , I dont pull into the fish immediately but leave it to pull a bit of line from the reel .I never pull or work the fly unless
I am fishing very slow water, if I want a faster fly I cast more square across the river. I have had many fish from the Towy over the 13yrs that I have fished the river .But after reading the above book ,would get more fish if worked the fly ?

Hi garrydog, a friend of mine advised me to figure of eight, when fishing for Sea Trout and, I can honestly say, my catch rate has increased quite significantly. Keep it moving, holly.

[johnevs]

Same here holly, the slowest retrieve possible does it for me on most occasions|\

[Aled]

First run through a favourite stretch on the Tywi, early June, its just got dark....
A lovely run leading into a nice pool, i can automatically (without thinking) feel the way i work the fly changing as i work my way downstream.
The fast popply water where i leave the current work it to begin with, then then a bit of a retrieve as the water slows, And moving on to that firm figure of 8 as you get the the main bit of a pool which is slow moving water......:>
Tight Lines
Aled

[garrydog]

Do you tend to miss takes ,and also loose fish by being on a tight line , hooking the fish in the front of the mouth .when I get a pull and the fish takes line from the reel I usually get a good hook hold of the fish .

[garrydog]

Do you tend to get missed takes , and fish coming off being on a tight line? When I get a pull and the fish takes line from the reel I usually get a good hold of the fish ,as the fish has turned on the fly.

[Aled]

I cant quite put a finger on it (literally) but if i'm fishing fast water i hold the rod a bit higher off the surface to allow a bit of "slack" for the fish to turn. If however i'm retrieving if i feel it i hit it!
However are there any hard and fast rules? I know many anglers with good fish to their name who retrieve, and many others who dont!
I reckon it all goes back to Aled's favourite words in fly fishing................SELF CONFIDENCE. :>
Tight Lines
Aled

[Sawyer]

I always retreive but vary the speed according to the pool/part of the pool I am fishing. I often find in the rough water at the head of a pool your line can form all sorts of wonerful shapes on its journey round & I like to keep in touch with the business end of my tackle. If I want a faster retreive I tend to up the sink rate of my line or pop a sinking leader on. As with everything Sea Trout I have had fish stripping a fly back (not a surface lure) so they are fickle s$ds!

[Blue Jewel]

On coming to the top of a known Sea Trout pool I usually start off with a few shortish casts, un-worked, then the same distance cast worked, before moving down the pool a step or two, throw a few casts but a little longer in length as above, this way the fish get to see both methods of presentation and you cover more water.
As stated in earlier posts, there are no hard and fast rules, just fish your flies as the conditions dictate, Sea Trout if they want your fly will let you know.

Mike

[johnb]

I entirely agree with the many sensible comments previous posters have made. Sea trout taking behaviour varies enormously, not just from night to night but often from hour to hour. I am sure that the key is to be flexible in your approach and to be willing to ring the changes, in terms of speed, depth and size of fly until you find a combination that gets a response from the sea trout. Given that sea trout are often smaller than salmon and that even sea trout of equivalent sizes tend to move more quickly than salmon, I would always feel most comfortable starting with a fly that was moving more quickly than I would fish it if I was fishing for salmon. And then ring the changes if that didn't work. I would usually fish a deep fly more slowly than a fly fished high in the water. We all know that sea trout can nip at flies and take short in ways that will drive you to distraction. Something that can help with this (and that allows you also to both fish the fly quickly and give the sea trout a chance to turn on the fly as they take) is to fish with a high rod tip. And I absolutely agree with Aled's comment. If you believe something is going to work, it probably will (sooner or later!). Impossible to overrate the importance of confidence.