This week's offering:
Fish Bubbles
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Dave Burr
- Honorary Vice President
- Posts: 13521
- Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:03 pm
- 11
- Location: Not far from the Wye
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Re: Fish Bubbles
No comments yet? There is much to understand about bubbles and you've given a good rundown of most of the perceived knowledge DA.
Further to your observations, eels most certainly bubble as they wriggle in the bottom material but it's not from feeding activity. Eels tend to inhale their food from a distance of a few inches. Barbel too will bubble, small lines in the current of little bubbles are a sure sign that they have arrived. I forget the chap's name but, he did a video on fishing the Severn and didn't put a bait into the swim until barbel started to bubble over his hemp.
Casting to bubbles can work. If you find bubbling tench or bream that are moving and you are able to predict where they are heading then that's where to drop a bait. Carp are less likely to accept a bait landing just in front of them but it sometimes works.
You did mention the burst of bubbles from where a fish is hooked and the others that come up around the swim. I am pretty sure that the initial lunge of a hooked fish creates a vortex of water that moves a lot of silt, thus causing a jacuzzi effect. The other burst of bubbles in the swim are likely from spooked fish, each one creating its own vortex. Pure drama and fun to see.
I have mentioned this before but, you must factor the water depth into calculating your cast. All water has a flow of some sort, although small pools are less likely to be moving much. But feeder streams and wind cause movement and, in windy conditions, the undertow may be going in the opposite direction of that wind as the flow hits the bank and is pushed back against the breeze. I've cast a fly into a strong, facing wind and have been able to feed my short cast well out on the under current. Any bubbles seen in these conditions will be confusing.
Also, bubbles take a while to surface. A fart in the bath takes a second or so the surface, image that period times upmteen feet as they float up from a deep hole in a lake or river. Your cast to a moving fish could be well behind it by the time your bait finds bottom. (The use of 'deep hole' and 'bottom' are entirely innocent and relevant - honest).
I've caught plenty of bubbling fish and am confident if I think that the bubbles in my swim are from fish. Casting to tench has been more successful by going beyond a moving fish and pulling the bait back to intercept it. But, like most of us I suppose, I have seen bubbles that I would swear ot from feeding fish but, further examination has proved that the swim is empty and it's just marsh gas.
Further to your observations, eels most certainly bubble as they wriggle in the bottom material but it's not from feeding activity. Eels tend to inhale their food from a distance of a few inches. Barbel too will bubble, small lines in the current of little bubbles are a sure sign that they have arrived. I forget the chap's name but, he did a video on fishing the Severn and didn't put a bait into the swim until barbel started to bubble over his hemp.
Casting to bubbles can work. If you find bubbling tench or bream that are moving and you are able to predict where they are heading then that's where to drop a bait. Carp are less likely to accept a bait landing just in front of them but it sometimes works.
You did mention the burst of bubbles from where a fish is hooked and the others that come up around the swim. I am pretty sure that the initial lunge of a hooked fish creates a vortex of water that moves a lot of silt, thus causing a jacuzzi effect. The other burst of bubbles in the swim are likely from spooked fish, each one creating its own vortex. Pure drama and fun to see.
I have mentioned this before but, you must factor the water depth into calculating your cast. All water has a flow of some sort, although small pools are less likely to be moving much. But feeder streams and wind cause movement and, in windy conditions, the undertow may be going in the opposite direction of that wind as the flow hits the bank and is pushed back against the breeze. I've cast a fly into a strong, facing wind and have been able to feed my short cast well out on the under current. Any bubbles seen in these conditions will be confusing.
Also, bubbles take a while to surface. A fart in the bath takes a second or so the surface, image that period times upmteen feet as they float up from a deep hole in a lake or river. Your cast to a moving fish could be well behind it by the time your bait finds bottom. (The use of 'deep hole' and 'bottom' are entirely innocent and relevant - honest).
I've caught plenty of bubbling fish and am confident if I think that the bubbles in my swim are from fish. Casting to tench has been more successful by going beyond a moving fish and pulling the bait back to intercept it. But, like most of us I suppose, I have seen bubbles that I would swear ot from feeding fish but, further examination has proved that the swim is empty and it's just marsh gas.