Fly Fishing

Artoist

Artoist

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,170
Name
Stephen
Edit My Images
Yes
Any Fly Fishermen on TP?
I'm in Eastleigh in Hampshire for a few days and fancy giving it a go,any recommendations for tuition/ hire etc?
I used to do a lot of Carp Fishing 15-20 years ago and Coarse fishing before that but never tried Fly Fishing,seems very tranquil and appealing.
 
Thanks,yeah.....very much like Carp Fishing!
Very expensive,same as every hobby I pursue!!
I'll check it out ,thanks again
 
I would think there would be little oppertunity locally for river fishing and what was available could be very expensive especially for a beginner. Why not try a different challenge such as mullet fishing? It is available, free, and can be great sport. And you can use your coarse gear. A carp stalking rod would do.

If you want to start fly fishing it would be good to book some tuition first.
 
£115 for a fly fishing experience (from Chris's link above) seems a decent price for a day's entertainment TBH.
 
Checked out link from above,fully booked tuition wise whilst I'm in the area,even had a drive down to Meon Springs mid afternoon to check it out .Had replies from other teachers but good lord it's expensive
 
Have you tried any local reservoirs, used to be quite reasonable. Not as nice as a river or stream but ok to practise.
 
im a life long coarse angler and tried fly fishing the once, 40 years of muscle memory made it difficult, you have to lock your hand/forarm solid, i was flicking it out a i would a waggler so my cast landed in a bit of a heap rather than a straight line, i got there in the end but i had to conciously talk to myself when casting to keep my arm stiff, have a go whats the worst that can happen
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
im a life long coarse angler and tried fly fishing the once, 40 years of muscle memory made it difficult, you have to lock your hand/forarm solid, i was flicking it out a i would a waggler so my cast landed in a bit of a heap rather than a straight line, i got there in the end but i had to conciously talk to myself when casting to keep my arm stiff, have a go whats the worst that can happen
Click to expand...

My dilema came when I bought a margin pole..... No reel, elastic, "ship" sections back...... That took some getting used to.

I quite fancy doing some fly fishing, have done it before on lakes, quite fancy a go on a chalk stream though...
 
Jelster said:
My dilema came when I bought a margin pole..... No reel, elastic, "ship" sections back...... That took some getting used to.

I quite fancy doing some fly fishing, have done it before on lakes, quite fancy a go on a chalk stream though...
Click to expand...
i bought my first pole 42 years ago, 7 meter garbolino fiberglass job with an aliminium crook at the end to attatch an external elastic to, that in retrospect weighed a ton, before the days of internal elastics or even spare topkits, called a roach pole but i could probably haul in a great white with it , now i can hold my pole at 16 meters with one hand all day, mind you its current incarnation costs more than a canon r5 mk 2
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
im a life long coarse angler and tried fly fishing the once, 40 years of muscle memory made it difficult, you have to lock your hand/forarm solid, i was flicking it out a i would a waggler so my cast landed in a bit of a heap rather than a straight line, i got there in the end but i had to conciously talk to myself when casting to keep my arm stiff, have a go whats the worst that can happen
Click to expand...

The first time I went fly fishing I was on the bank of a stream in the woods. It took me about 45m to actually get a line in the water.`At one point I had to climb a tree to get untangled.
 
I never invested in any fly fishing tackle, except about a dozen flies. I had a homemade 12' coarse rod (From Sundridge blanks) and a Browning RD reel. I used standard 3lb breaking strain line, tied a fly to it and put a small shot (enough to enable a cast) about 8" from the fly. It was then easy to flick it ten to fifteen yards away, quite ample for small streams. I would use it in just the same way as a small Mepps spinner - cast and close the bail arm as soon as the fly hit the water. Then retrieve in a jaggy way. I had plenty of fish that way, from half pound roach and perch, to one pound brownies and two pound chub.
 
I fished twice last year and only managed 3 chucks this year when I sat on a mates box gor 5 minutes the other day , I used to fish 3 or 4 times a week and at one point when i was on the dole every single day , I even run my own 1.7 acre lake but since I broke my leg I can't sit gor longer than 10 minutes before my leg goes numb and I struggle to stand up, I miss fishing terribly and can't wait for my knee replacement to get back to it
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
I fished twice last year and only managed 3 chucks this year when I sat on a mates box gor 5 minutes the other day , I used to fish 3 or 4 times a week and at one point when i was on the dole every single day , I even run my own 1.7 acre lake but since I broke my leg I can't sit gor longer than 10 minutes before my leg goes numb and I struggle to stand up, I miss fishing terribly and can't wait for my knee replacement to get back to it
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that Brendan, hope that you can get back to it, because it is a very relaxing thing to do.
 
A couple of the dozen or so I had last time out. These two fell to freelined bread flake, but I took others on luncheon meat and pellets. Not huge by carp standards, but it was all about the watercraft, I've done the big fish, two rods with alarms thing, not my cup of tea any more, I much prefer waggler, pole or freelining.
 

Attachments

  • 451867076_10163684795379829_3954504787201098550_n (1).jpg
    451867076_10163684795379829_3954504787201098550_n (1).jpg
    322.5 KB · Views: 5
  • 451863297_10163684795404829_2071565580949400203_n (1).jpg
    451863297_10163684795404829_2071565580949400203_n (1).jpg
    218.7 KB · Views: 5
Jelster said:
A couple of the dozen or so I had last time out. These two fell to freelined bread flake, but I took others on luncheon meat and pellets. Not huge by carp standards, but it was all about the watercraft, I've done the big fish, two rods with alarms thing, not my cup of tea any more, I much prefer waggler, pole or freelining.
Click to expand...


Nice one, I love simple, uncomplicated fishing. There is a tributary of the Medway down here in Kent, which is four or five metres wide and the depth varies from half a metre to two metres. It holds some really nice chub. roach, perch, bream and pike. I got into the chub fishing, using either cheese or luncheon meat as bait. One day I turned up at my usual swim, which gave me a backdrop of trees so the fish couldn't see me. There were a few chub between two to four pounds and there was this considerably larger one. I quickly tackled up and put a large piece of cheese on a size ten hook, cast in virtually on the fish's nose and bang! The fight didn't last long and when I got the fish on the bank, it was indeed a chub, lovely orange fins, golden body, tirning olive on the top. I weighed it immediately and it took the scales to 6lbs 3oz, which was a couple of pounds heavier than my personal best.
 
andya700 said:
Nice one, I love simple, uncomplicated fishing. There is a tributary of the Medway down here in Kent, which is four or five metres wide and the depth varies from half a metre to two metres. It holds some really nice chub. roach, perch, bream and pike. I got into the chub fishing, using either cheese or luncheon meat as bait. One day I turned up at my usual swim, which gave me a backdrop of trees so the fish couldn't see me. There were a few chub between two to four pounds and there was this considerably larger one. I quickly tackled up and put a large piece of cheese on a size ten hook, cast in virtually on the fish's nose and bang! The fight didn't last long and when I got the fish on the bank, it was indeed a chub, lovely orange fins, golden body, tirning olive on the top. I weighed it immediately and it took the scales to 6lbs 3oz, which was a couple of pounds heavier than my personal best.
Click to expand...

That\s a cracking fish.... I used to love fishing the Medway when I lived in Kent, I was a member of a club in the 70's & 80's - Kingfisher Angling & Preservation Society - they had lakes and bits of river all over the place. The Medway & Beult were popular, but they had some lakes out at Hoo which were great (I lived in Hoo as a kid) and also some ponds over at Horsmenden which was great fun.
 
Jelster said:
That\s a cracking fish.... I used to love fishing the Medway when I lived in Kent, I was a member of a club in the 70's & 80's - Kingfisher Angling & Preservation Society - they had lakes and bits of river all over the place. The Medway & Beult were popular, but they had some lakes out at Hoo which were great (I lived in Hoo as a kid) and also some ponds over at Horsmenden which was great fun.
Click to expand...

I briefly belonged to Kingfisher , then joined Tunbridge Wells Angling Society, who had lakes and bits of the Medway, Tiese and Buelt. There was some cracking fishing to be had around Headcorn, Yalding and Horsmonden.
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
im a life long coarse angler and tried fly fishing the once, 40 years of muscle memory made it difficult, you have to lock your hand/forarm solid, i was flicking it out a i would a waggler so my cast landed in a bit of a heap rather than a straight line, i got there in the end but i had to conciously talk to myself when casting to keep my arm stiff, have a go whats the worst that can happen
Click to expand...
Same here, I've only fly fished a few times, and ended up tucking the rod butt into my sleeve to stop me using my wrist.

I never really took to it though, but have been coarse fishing for 45 years or so. These days it's carp and pike, both of which I caught PB's of last season. This season isn't great so far...
 
Raincloud said:
Try as i might, i just cant catch any flies!!! Is it the bait?
Click to expand...
I wasn't very successful even fishing for Minnows in Glasgow's Queens Park, when I was a wean.

This feline was the only member of our family that was successful, when it came to fishing. In truth, so much so that my wife had to make strong metal mesh covers for her aquarium tanks. Interestingly, our four legged furry person never did get it through her head that the fish were permanently out of her reach and was regulary to be seen attempting to squeeze through 1 inch square holes, with no visible sign of success...

Perdita and fish tanks Rolleiflex.jpg
 
Last edited:
Many years ago when I bought a fly rod, the shops advice was to practice in a field until you get the "flick" right. While great advice, and it really helped me learn. It wasn't worth the comments I got in my local park. The keeper was hysterical by the time I left...
 
Its not that expensive, you can get decent stuff now for a nice price, its up to the individual,
My thing is I never skimp on line, still using the same stuff I bought 10/12 years ago, just wash it and treat it at the end of every season. In reality it has not cost very much, thousands of casts and hundreds of fish.
As for a days fishing, don't bother with that, join a club which has rivers, I was in Bradford #1, which is a course carp fishing club, with rivers, caught my best trout during that time, all for£60 a year.
I fished like the devil, fly and course, nothing better than trotting a float down a nice river and then the float goes under.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top