Back in Christmas, my girlfriend bought me a fly fishing setup as a present and I have spent some time practising and even tried a couple times but without success. The fish are now in the shallows though as the sandeel are in. So the other day I decided on a full-on flyfishing session on a shallow mark.
The rod is only an introductory 9ft 8wt and I had two reels, one spooled with weight forward line and a 3m sinking topshot, while the other was spooled with a fast-sink line.
I didn't use any fancy flies (I'm too worried about losing them on rocks while casting!) just some bulk bought clousers in two colours, a chartreuse/white and a black/ brownish on a 20lbs fluorocarbon leader.
After the hike to the spot, conditions were perfect and I soon started casting (or attempting to anyway 😁) and letting my fly sink.
I was fiddling with my phone at some point and then as I started stripping the line in, I felt the sudden weight and the rod arched over... Fish on!
The feeling was so different to a spinning rod and the fight was pretty mental! I soon got the hang of it though and managed to land a beautifully conditioned pollock of only about 2.5lbs! Was expecting a much larger fish after such a fight but it was great fun nonetheless...
I kept casting at the same area and the fish seemed to be shoaled as I got a few more even bigger ones than the first!
It was interesting to note how they wouldnt realise they were caught at times and theyd start pulling hard straight after! Also all the fish were relatively 'green' when landed and went back like stink.
I was expecting them to inhale the fly but surprisingly all hookups were pretty neat with the last fish just barely hooked on the bottom lip.
The action didn't last long and the fish either moved on or just ignored my offerings. I had a few follows too that were very cool to see in the gin clear water!
I know that had I brought the spinning gear, Id have bagged up as I could cover more water but I felt very satisfied with my results and decided to call it a day.
Definitely need more sessions under my belt, especially to get the casting sorted but I'm also hoping to get one on a popper fly! Now that would be awesome!
Heres the video of the session.
The good weather continues and just waiting for the mackerel now. Very excited for this summer's fishing!
Tight Lines!
The rod is only an introductory 9ft 8wt and I had two reels, one spooled with weight forward line and a 3m sinking topshot, while the other was spooled with a fast-sink line.
I didn't use any fancy flies (I'm too worried about losing them on rocks while casting!) just some bulk bought clousers in two colours, a chartreuse/white and a black/ brownish on a 20lbs fluorocarbon leader.
After the hike to the spot, conditions were perfect and I soon started casting (or attempting to anyway 😁) and letting my fly sink.
I was fiddling with my phone at some point and then as I started stripping the line in, I felt the sudden weight and the rod arched over... Fish on!
The feeling was so different to a spinning rod and the fight was pretty mental! I soon got the hang of it though and managed to land a beautifully conditioned pollock of only about 2.5lbs! Was expecting a much larger fish after such a fight but it was great fun nonetheless...
I kept casting at the same area and the fish seemed to be shoaled as I got a few more even bigger ones than the first!
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| Excellent condition! |
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| Not bad for a first timer... |
I was expecting them to inhale the fly but surprisingly all hookups were pretty neat with the last fish just barely hooked on the bottom lip.
The action didn't last long and the fish either moved on or just ignored my offerings. I had a few follows too that were very cool to see in the gin clear water!
I know that had I brought the spinning gear, Id have bagged up as I could cover more water but I felt very satisfied with my results and decided to call it a day.
Definitely need more sessions under my belt, especially to get the casting sorted but I'm also hoping to get one on a popper fly! Now that would be awesome!
Heres the video of the session.
The good weather continues and just waiting for the mackerel now. Very excited for this summer's fishing!
Tight Lines!
Nice mate, you'll have some fun with that!
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