The Fishing Thread

[Dibby]

So, last season, I didn't get out fishing once. :-( This is because I used to rely on my uncle to drive me and my cuz up to the lake or river. He's the guy who got me into it in the first place and bought me my first fly rod and casting lessons.

Now that I finally have some transport of my own though, I'm planning on making next year a great year for fishing.

This will start with a new rod. I currently have a 10ft Greys GRX which I paid £100 for 3 years ago. An upgrade on my first rod which was a 9ft Airflo Delta+. For me, I never really got used to the action of the Greys and so I've never enjoyed using it. I did like the Airflo though. This is probably due to the Airflo's middle-to-tip action as opposed to the tip only action of the GRX. The bonus point from the GRX being the added whip and distance on each cast.

I'm looking for a rod in and around the £150 mark that is light and with a smooth action. I can get quite some distance on my cast thanks to the lessons so middle-to-tip would probably be a good compromise. I'd rather not go over 10ft but 10.5ft is my max due to personal preference. Line weight, I'm not sure on. My GRX is an 8 I think, but I preferred the line on my Airflo which I think was a 6.


Any suggestions?

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Put a hook on the end of your line :razz:

I didn't get out much at all this year but i'm planning to next year, with a vengeance.

I don't worry too much about rods, i've got about a half a dozen or so and none cost me much more than £50-£60. Same with reels. Sod paying all that money for the flash/better ones when you can pick a decent one up for £50-£60. I still manage to catch my share with a PB of 35lbs

I've spent a small fortune on clobber over the years and there's only a couple of things I wouldn't compromise on. My bivvy and my bedchair.

 

[Dibby]

:lol:

There are days when I'll spend all day by the lake though and as a virtually dry-fly only man, it can become tiring if you're using a rod that you're not comfortable with. My reel will always be sub-£20 as it really is just to hold the line for me. I don't use when 'fighting' a catch, preferring to control the line by hand. I do spend quite a bit on my floating fly line though. Spent £50 on my Hardy line.

 

[Dibby]

I'm now very happy! :grin:

I was given a handful of one particular dry fly when I first started this game. The 'White Death' and it is absolutely lethal at the lake I frequent just as it gets dark. By FAR the most successful fly I have ever used but I could never find where to buy them after searching in shops and online for ages. Today though, totally by accident, I've found that an eBay store has started to stock them so I've just bought 40 of my favoured variant and 10 each of the others. :lol:


See here for an absolutely awesome floating fry imitation that is deadly for brown and rainbow trout. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-x-Floating-...ng_Flies_JN?hash=item4835d22e9e#ht_1294wt_941


EDIT: Hmm, he has them listed as wet flies, but we use them floating on the surface, drawn in slowly with a figure-of-eight retrieve. Irresistible. :grin:

 

[Dibby]

I'd have thought we'd have more fishermen or women (long shot :lol on here. :-(

 

[ShelfSide18]

Only just found this thread!

Very keen coarse angler myself and after 2 years pretty much off at Uni I got back into it in a big way since last March setting myself a target of breaking all my PBs in a year - only have Dace, Pike, Perch, Zander and Grayling left to go.

Dibby, never have got the chance to do a bit of fluff chucking myself Must give it a go and get some casting lessons!