attention to detail.

[hf]

When I think about fishing and fishermen I come to the conclusion that all the 'good eggs' are those who pay attention to detail - they catch more fish IMO than those who don't.

If I was to pay attention to detail, more than what I have hitherto done, what 3 key areas of detail would you point me in so that I might improve my fishing ability?

hf

(I've already worked out the one about slippery rocks ;D)

[builnacraig]

• Approach to the water, i.e. keep off the horizon
  
• Fly presentation depth, be prepared to change lines/leaders/flies regularly to suit the pool, or part of pool
  
• The ability to cast a nicely presented fly in any circumstance
  

(I am far from one of the "good eggs", these are the things I am working to improve in my own fishing)

Builnacraig

[G Ritchie]

1. Ensure the fishing tackle is balanced, appropriate for the conditions, is in good working order and all knots are tied correctly.
2. Stealthy approach to the pool to avoid disturbing the fish.
3. Choice of tactics to suit the conditions. Fly size, type and colour. Line choice/depth fished. Angle of presentation depending on the configuration of the pool. Speed you fish the fly, whether you mend to slow it down, use a belly in the line to bring it round faster or hand-line.

[sinkingtip]

Like BNC I would never consider myself to be a "good egg" as such - biled, poached or scrambled, yes !.

"Attention to detail" should come as standard in all walks of life but in a fishing sense this usually covers chestnuts such as - choosing an appropriate marriage between fly and water, knots and leaders, reading the water and riverbanks, stealth and presentation - all of which are important but staple diet stuff.

The "sky line", as identified by BNC, is definitely one to pay attention to and often ignored - lethal on smaller rivers.

However, you ask "what 3 key areas of detail would you point me in so that I might improve my fishing ability" ?


In my opinion .......

1) Get a guid night's sleep the nicht afore - arriving at the river knackered has always been one of my least favourites. Difficult I know, especially when yer heid is spinning with thoughts of whats to come - a couple of heavy duty 'downers' and a mug of Horlicks usually helps.

2) Leave plenty of time for traveling, arriving, a reconnaissance of the water (where appropriate), tackling up and forming a 'plan' or time management strategy. Rolling up 'manic in the motor' is not conducive to any fishing day - either for yourself or for the rest of the party.


3) Relax - sing Orinoco Flow by Enya. Don't become wracked with self doubt if, after a couple of hours, you haven't even seen a fish let alone connected with one - that's salmon fishing - get used to it !!

regards
STip

[Speyducer]

To add to the above excellent comments to improve the fishing exeperience, and increase the ability not only to fish, but to hook & catch fish, I would say that:

1. Use leader / tippet knots which a) you trust 100% & b) you can tie everytime perfectly in ALL conditions - wind, rain, snow & freezing cold, & in the dark if needed.

2. Have an organised pocket system in your wading jacket/waitcoat such that your search for a particular fly, new tippet, sink-tips/polyleaders etc. come to hand immediately & without having to stumble in frustration from your wading position to rummage in some far-off bag or boot of the car

3. Consider each cast as a 'training-towards-perfection' exercise, in the set-up, power stroke, and delivery, with the accuracy of casting into an 18" ring in a competition, and delicacy of a dry fly man such that the fly will be fishing perfectly when it swings across that salmon lie you know is there.


As for 'Tip's suggestions, then I consider, from my own fishing trips that 1 out of 3 ain't bad.....then again, I do like the sweet voice of Enya!!! ;D

Mike

[hf]

Thanks for the replies. I would like to take one of the mentioned 'details' and discuss it further. (In fact I would like to discuss all of them at some point ;D)

One of the details mentioned was 'stealthy approach'. Now I accept that that is something I am not guilty of and do make unnecessary 'distrubance'. I do follow the thinking about approaching pools quietly and out of the skyline (and will endeavor to be aware of that even more so) but what about when you are fishing down the pool and you have trees/ bushes directly behind you, or when you are wading in a pool. How do I keep the 'disturbance' (audio and visual) down to a minimum? Will my spey cast disturb the fish? Will my walking on the rocks cause the fish to spook? Will my movement on the bank be a hindrance?

Further discussion/idea's will be gratefully received

hf

[jw]

All comments above are excellent, the two things I have been very careful with are nylon & hooks always buy the best (define the best be it cost or what you are confident with, I leave it to you}. Rods, reels & lines are a matter of circumstance, nylon & hooks are what gives the end result.

[fisherscottage]

Hi HF,
If we were to pick 3 best tips they would probably be:-

Don't wade unless you have to, but when you do remember, your are wading, not walking in the water, big difference.

The ability to cast from from any position and with any kind of obsticle in your way, this will enable you to cover the pools methodically, if you can cast from a tree lined high bank ( left or right ) or with branches overhead, that kind of thing. you will catch more fish.

To be able to read a salmon pool, recognize the likely lies, have a good idea what size of fly to put on and what speed and depth to fish it at, any one of these will increase your chances.

Some of the above can be taught ( casting when restricted ) others are down to experience, listen and follow your instincts, if you go down a pool and think " maybe i'm fishing to small and high " make the effort, come out, put a bigger fly and a polyleader on and go back through the pool again. It works for us, sometimes !

Tight lines, Tom n Jean.

[builnacraig]

Sept 9, 2008 8:51:49 GMT hf said:

but what about when you are fishing down the pool and you have trees/ bushes directly behind you, or when you are wading in a pool.

Will my spey cast disturb the fish? Will my walking on the rocks cause the fish to spook? Will my movement on the bank be a hindrance?

I learn't the necessity of a stealthy approach on the Creed in Lewis. The Creed is a wee river, generally moorland and with pools with low banks. If you walked up the pool to start at the top you would see bow waves as fish deserted their lies, or more subtly, the water in the pool would rock. Strangely the pool would then be blank

I became obsessive about approaching the pools from a distance and making a long detour if required. Then some character would come sauntering up and disturb all your good preparation. I have not seen the evidence of fish leaving lies on the larger rivers in Ayrshire but I assume that it still happens, maybe they just have greater depth to slink away. I still try to avoid disturbing fish as much as possible.

IMHO once you are in the water wading your profile is much lower and the chances of disturbing fish greatly reduced, particularly if there are trees etc behind you. I would also say that your other points about walking on rocks, bank etc also apply and should be minimised.

However I haven't seen you casting HiFi so can't comment on that aspect of your fishing ;D

Builnacraig

[salmo]

1. If you are on a private beat fish down first without wading. I have been on the Dee many times and did not see any fish until the tw@t on the other side waded through them and pushed them over to our side.

2. Keep a sensible leader. I use fluorocarbon all the time now because I can use a 15lb leader instead of an 8lb but if you are in rocky ledges go back to Maxima 15lb or higher. Salmon are not particularly leader shy??

3. Understand that salmon, trout and salmon parr have the same vision. If a parr can see your fly and they become a nuisance put on a larger fly. If the parr avoid your fly change the pattern.

salmo

[salmonking]

Confidence.....

[neptune]

i was fishing last week with out much luck working my way back down the river to where id parked, i changed flies & started to cast again then slipped off the bank, erse in river & the line landed in a heap. result a nice 5lb slightly coloured salmon
my tip, make a noise, make a splash & cast as bad as you can.

it worked for me

[tweedsider]

Been there and done the very same neptune, lifted the rod and the snagged bottom swam away.
tweedsider

[alta]

There are many tales of people waking up the salmon in dry low water conditions by trowing in the dog or some rocks. Not sure if they are true or just coincidence?

alta

[conwyrod]

Does seem to be true, Neil Graesser mentions this in his book Advanced Salmon Fishing.

He writes that a beat owner on the Welsh Dee used to get his gillie to stone the water before he fished it.

[hf]

Sept 13, 2008 22:30:05 GMT conwyrod said:

Does seem to be true, Neil Graesser mentions this in his book Advanced Salmon Fishing.

He writes that a beat owner on the Welsh Dee used to get his gillie to stone the water before he fished it.

This is just an aside. Does anyone know if it is legal or otherwise to stone the pool before you fish it? Or, could it possibly just be a rule for certain beats? Or am I just imagining that I read it somewhere?

[salmo]

I have no doubt that throwing rocks could make salmon more likely to take a fly as they can get very aggressive when threatened as opposed to the simple wariness that sometimes occurs when anglers are careless of movement or clumsy wading.

I have also observed salmon get very aggressive when new fish enters a pool. There are all sorts of displays of jumping and really fast movements (like dolphins playing). This can be a good time to fish since soon after this they will often grab the fly really hard and just take off

salmo

[hf]

Sept 5, 2008 20:58:20 GMT G Ritchie said:

1. Ensure the fishing tackle is balanced, appropriate for the conditions, is in good working order and all knots are tied correctly.
2. Stealthy approach to the pool to avoid disturbing the fish.
3. Choice of tactics to suit the conditions. Fly size, type and colour. Line choice/depth fished. Angle of presentation depending on the configuration of the pool. Speed you fish the fly, whether you mend to slow it down, use a belly in the line to bring it round faster or hand-line.

Graham... with regards to angle of presentation, will a fish take the a fly regardless of what that angle it is? eg straight across and hand lined back (no bow on the line) or at 45 degrees (more traditional) or even further round, say almost downstream (and again hand lined in).

My favourite is when there is a good flow on the water and you whang it out at 45 and let it come round but more than often that isn't the case on the river I fish and in the low water the pools become more canal like. The old 45 rule doesn't work quite the way it should. Are my chances of catching lessened because of that?

Regards and thanks

hf

[sinkingtip]

Graham's no hame yet - ye'll huv tae settle fur me instead.

Interesting pot pourri of questions there HF.

Whilst I too subscribe to the "whang it oot" philosophy I think we are all aware that salmon will take a fly presented in a great variety of ways - sometimes without "rhyme nor reason". True, whanging it oot at 45 is certainly considered the norm and would suffice under normal flow conditions, but in the conditions you describe I assume you are lacking on the cumec front.

In this case it should go without saying that you need to impart some form of 'life' into your fly - obvious I know - c'mon, your a loch fisher - ye ken whit am on aboot.
This can be done by adjusting the angle of and / or rate of retrieve eg. 'backing up', collies etc.
I don't think a salmon will take the fly "regardless" of how it is fished but I firmly believe that an 'unconventional' approach might produce results more often than we think - given half a chance or a bit more bravery on our part.
Better just whangin it oot.
STip

[G Ritchie]

HF, in the slacker flowing pools try casting square across and if there is sufficient current in the pool, let a belly form in the line which will drag the fly around quicker (Beauly belly). Alternatively, a try a figure of eight retrieve to keep the fly working, this is a technique I use a lot on the slower pools on the Deveron. In very fast flowing necks of pools it can be worth casting at a very narrow angle to allow the fly to fish round more slowly.