“Spotty Herberts”

[MWithell]

Thanks Moley. I'd forgotten the roll cast although actually I use it without thinking for getting enough line through the rings to cast 'properly'.
The length of leader is an issue with tight spaces, although funnily enough when I fished a small stream a few years ago I found I actually had to use a long leader and just flick the nymph out because the weight of the fly line in the rings was dragging everything back. I caught one tiny trout but then decided honour was satisfied and didn't bother any more. I found some lakes a few miles away from where we were staying and annoyed the bivvy boys by catching several carp by stalking while they sat fishless.

[Velossembly]

In rather late reply to Liphook I need to point out that on the River Wye in Wales the Open Season for trout starts on 3rd March, so I was not fishing “Out of Season” for either trout or coarse fish. However, that’s not the point; I was trying to catch chub and/or grayling. Short of attaching a notice to the hook stating: “This Bait is for Coarse Fish ONlLY”, I cannot see what I could have done to avoid those trout. I believe they would even have taken a sizeable parboiled potato.

Don’t get me wrong; I have enjoyed fly fishing, especially nymphing for dace and grayling on the Tamar at Lower Dutson. I live close to the River Teifi and, from what I’ve seen, river trout tend to adopt “stations”, rather than forming shoals but my precisely dropped feeder appeared to collect large numbers of trout in its wake. If I mis-cast and dropped the plot six feet away from the correct position then I had to wait for the pull round.
Maybe I should have tried casting way downstream to where the chub were waiting?

Fortunately, the trustees of the club with rights to that stretch of the Wye point out to all its members that the baits offered freely by coarse fishermen will feed the trout at a time when natural food is scarce, to the benefit of all. Come 15th March, the “maggot slingers” are off the river altogether, allowing fly-fishers to indulge their preferred methods.

BB.

[Olly]

Rather like spinning for pike in the open Salmon season - or barbel taking tube flies for salmon in the coarse close season.

[Velossembly]

Well, now you mention it Olly, this takes us into the realms of “The Great Deceit” when, back in the 1980s, some commercial coarse fishery proprietors decided that they were losing far too much day ticket revenue for three months of the year. So what did they do? Stocked each gravel pit with half a dozen rainbows and puts signs up announcing: “Trout Fishing - Any Method” ! The, then, N.R.A. were powerless to take any action and in the end capitulated, with the abolishment of the Coarse Fishing Close Season on stillwaters.

I have always regretted that loss. Hopefully, any pressure to remove Close Seasons on rivers, like the Wye, will be vigorously resisted.
BB.

[Olly]

Yes I remember - not far from me - in Surrey I think? I may even have fished it. I believe that was carried on to other stillwaters!

I too would like the retention of a Close Season on all rivers where stocking is on many occasions prohibitive - - due to the water being consistently polluted!