[Iain Goolager]

Had a blast on the penultimate day of the season.

Windy was often unfishably strong which made this method harder than it should be.

hope you enjoy it.

Iain

http://youtu.be/lbnPW3Z4Ix4

[Mike Barrio]

Looked like good fun! ...... Great stuff Iain

Cheers
Mike

[Iain Cameron]

Great!
Did the LTH offer advantages on the smoother bits of water? Watching, I couldn't see any leader on the surface, which I'm sure we would have with a fly line.

Good work in the wind; Saturday was a tad breezy.

Cheers, Iain. Not that Iain. Another Iain

[Noel Kelly]

Quality Iain, well done.

[Marc Fauvet]

nice ! 

[Iain Goolager]

That Iain,
My opinion on the method is;
It is very tactile and offers much better control & take detection than with a standard line.
It had me fishing parts of the river that I'd have cast over if again using a conventional line.
I felt that one one occasion I had 3 reasonable (relatively speaking) trout from a section of water which I would have normaly taken one from and then moved on (possibly says more about me than the method).
I though that it made me think a little more about where a fish might lie and how to tackle it.

But, I found it tricky to be accurate when casting into a wind, to be fair it was very blowy that day.
When I did fish a canal type section, from the bank, where there was a lot of bankside vegetation & the most likely lies were under my bank it was nigh impossible to fish it very well due to my inability to drop the nymph close enough in - at least with a conventional line you can over power the forward cast to have the fly kick intowards the bank.
When fishing with a size 14 dry fly I could not make any headway at all in positive turnover - also it was usualy not until the fly began to drag before I could see where the dickens it was -no use!

I have also though about having a 1 wt or 0 wt flyline to see how it would work on a 10' 3wt? just a thought.

I'm sure there was more but I don't have time to think at the moment.

All I know is that I will be sharing this method with the dry fly next season.

Iain
 

[Rob Brownfield]

Were you using a tapered line a la Tenkara or straight through mono?

My last venture out was with a reversed tapered sea fishing leader, so that was 50lb tapered to 20 around 24 feet long, then a standatrd 7 foot tapered trout leader attached. Not ideal, but allowed "into the wind" casts of sorts.

Biggest trouble was the memory in the sea leader.

I really enjoyed it though..as you say, makes you think and makes you stealthy.

[Euan Innes]

Good job Iain 

These little videos just get better, as does the fishing.

 

[Ben Dixon]

Nice work lardarse 

Do you think those fish would have eaten a klink or other big dry fished to the same spots or a nymph fished under a Klink?

I've not given that method a lot of attention, I had a massive overdose of bugging some years ago and it sort of put me off fixed line nymphing unless conditions dictate that it is likely to be the only way on the day.

Cheers

Ben

[Iain Goolager]

Rob,

9m Hends Camou tapered leader.

Benji,

Who can tell?  Over the last 2 weeks I've been out 3 or 4 times on flatter sections of water where I have witnessed many many fish - some of them quite decent. I have targeted these with Klink and Dink (dink going from size 12 to 18) - then dry only (duns & emergers) and then single nymph only, all on conventional fly line. My success rate has been surprisingly poor quite possibly down to the clarity and depth of water in some instances.
The last outing on slow clear water although not a 'day & night' experience with the LTH method did see a marked increase in fish hooked.

I'm still not 100% convinced that it will be the most effective style on the majority of Don water that I currently fish, especially when trying to approach spookier residents but I will be giving it a good go next year.

Iain

[Ben Dixon]

Your findings interest me, do you think the rippled surface resulting from the win played in part in getting those fish?  How was the weather when you tried the same fish with other (fly line) tactics?  No need to answer mate, I'm just being lazy, should go do more on it myself!!


Cheers

Ben

[Loxiafan]

Hi Iain,

Briiilliant vid dude, and fanfeckininspirational stuff ! I too had quezzies, some of which have been answered, mainly the type of leader. I was out that day with conventional gear and had real probs even at a sheltered Don beat so you did really well. Some cracking wild fish there too. Wishing now I could have joined you on the Urie !

Do you think a 3 wt would be an advantage over a 4 wt for this technique ? Basically, I am looking for an excuse to buy a Streamflex Plus in a 3 wt !   Do you think a Tip Flex 10' Helios could do it ( esp. Ben, Kev, Hamish )? I suppose with heavy bugs it might but with small PTN's ala true French Nymphing ? I am going to try it on the Helios, but canvassing opinion and experiences on here is always a useful exercise. I got a great bookie, "Dynamic Nymphing" (well I think it is good) and the boy prefers TF stiffer rods - bounces more 8"" trout but then as he says we are not after 8"" trout !

My other quezzie, how many flies did you use - looks affy weedy ! Did you snag weed, lose flies etc a lot ?

Cheers,

Linz

[Rob Brownfield]

Hi Linz,
This might be of interest to you. I use a Westen 2 10 foot #4 as its all I have got. Thats a fairly soft rod.
I used a fairly heavy weighted nymph on the point, tied to fish point up, then two very light nymphs/spiders on the droppers. I also cheated a little and used a foot of fluro orange braid, knoted every 2 inches and the knot covered in yellow varnish as a form of indicator. Most fish came to the point fly interestingly enough. Maybe it looked more of a mouthful?

With this set up, on a calm day and a level, 8lb line, I managed to get the flies out around 2 2.5 rod lengths, which is all i needed. The runs were around 2 feet deep between weed or small runs behind large rocks where it was possible to keep the flies in the pocket of slack water far longer due to very little drag.

Unfortunately I never got the chance to try out my "tenkara" set up, which would have allowed me to fish the same bit, but much easier I think, as the rod is longer and thus I would not have needed so much line to reach the same runs. However, I did hook some big fish in that bit of the river and I wonder how the Tenkara would have coped.

[Iain Goolager]

Londzay,

Don't know ref the rod, if anything I'd like to try a 10' 2wt.

Ref the fish size - I can see that on the 'wrong' day the method could account for a shed load of small fish which is definitely not the goal but what can you do? You are correct in the fact that dry fly fishing allows you to significantly reduce the number of toddlers you have to deal with netside.

I opted for the single nymph for a few reasons, as I'm in my infancy I wanted to walk before I could run, I thought that the extra fly in that wind may give me some unwanted problems and also the fact that due to the river condition I was really looking to drop a nymph down the side of weedbeds and only having to organise one plop on target might have been easier (you can see in some sections just how little space there was between the weedbeds).

Iain

[Iain Goolager]

Sorry forgot to say, lost one nymph up a tree - to be fair it was drooping over off the other bank and how I managed a few casts under it prior is beyond me.
Almost all the nymphs were tied on jig hooks, a couple of weedy snags and one clung to the bottom momentarily but that was it - no robbery I thought.

Iain

[Loxiafan]

Cheers Rob n Iain,

I guess I'll have to justify the Helios 104 - the idea was it was to be a one size (nearly) fits all kind of arrangement, and it seems it is. Would be interested if Paul Procter uses his for leader to hand (Richard ?).The Streamflex Plus #3 has a lot of 'high brow' fans so defo one to take seriously methinks. But it is a much softer action than a Helios ! Guess I'll have to cast big wide loops (my speciality anyway !) with the Helios if using more than one flee.

Can't wait to give this a go - currently doon in Fife and season finishes the morn, but I don't have any gear with me due to having to leave Aberdeen so suddenly. Could have had a fine day on the Leven, my boyhood river (gets all misty eyed).

Off to order some jig hooks and slotted beads !

Cheers again guys,

Linz

[Loxiafan]

Ref the fish size - I can see that on the 'wrong' day the method could account for a shed load of small fish which is definitely not the goal but what can you do?

Hi Iain,

I think the point the author was making re- small fish was that with a stiff rod (ooer) you will drop/bounce more fish esp. the wee ones that just go mental. A softer rod will presumably count for less dropped fish....and why Streamflex's are popular with comp anglers as an 8"" fish counts ? !

I must admit with the TF Access I have hardly dropped or bounced a fish of any size (for me), nor with my 9' Streamflex, but with the 104-4 Helios I have dropped a few. However, I am starting to think it is something to do with using a 10' rod rather than a TF - I have no idea why   I did drop a lot on the 10' Streamflex and it was mid to progressive action.

Linz

[Allan Liddle]

Hi guys, love the vid Iain, must give the French style more attention next season, it certainly opens up a lot more water.  Upper Deveron in bright blazing sun and crystal skinny water really sold the method to me, even more amazing was the fact that you could see every bit of gravel but fish seemed to simply 'materialise'.

I use tapered carp leaders with a tiny seamless ring (watch fish aren't targetting this, seen it happen) then mono of choice from there.

Streamflex is brilliant for this, i use the #5 Plus almost exclusively, brilliant.  Have hardly lost a fish since switching to this rod, just have to accept there will be times when you're compromised a bit on windy days.  Good as it is, for Frenchin' then the 10' #4 (or #3 in your case) is better though but improved even more when you add the Plus extension piece to the equation.  I know it wasn't designed for this rod, but works brilliantly. (If you think this is good, try it in the tube or boat in a good wave, makes it a 10' 6" light yet responsive top or water rod.  Opposite to this?  Crap when you want to pull big things deep and can take a while to land yer troots, you certainly don't bully them that's for sure)

Allan L

[Loxiafan]

I use tapered carp leaders with a tiny seamless ring (watch fish aren't targetting this, seen it happen) 

  fms, really ? !

Good as it is, for Frenchin' then the 10' #4 (or #3 in your case) is better though but improved even more when you add the Plus extension piece to the equation. 

Mmmm, I wonder how can I go about getting hold of the #4 extension piece......!

....lookin' like a 3wt Streamflex Plus for me I think.

L

[Loxiafan]

....lookin' like a 3wt Streamflex Plus for me I think.

Well, that is the first episode of RAS (Rod Aquisition Syndrome) for 2013 .....have ordered the Streamflex XF2 Plus in a #3 

Roll on opening day, phuk dries it is two weighted MB nymphs for me all the way 

L

[Iain Goolager]

Nice one pimpernel 
Looking forward to hearing the results.                      Dont diss the driez tho' bro'

Infact, If I were in some way involved in the River Don policy making I'd ban all fly-line less methods...........and;

wading
down stream casts
wet flies
hopper droppers
jeans
anyone that looks Irish
talking
streamers tied on hooks larger than a 14
ducks
kneeling

Oh yes, the future's bright, vote for me

Iain

[Loxiafan]

Aye, dries (and, ahem, 'emergers') will still be my preferred method, but those images of sporadic Clyde risers (ala the Don last season)on the Fish On video keeping coming to the fore - the nymphs just outfished the dry.

You'd get my vote on every condition.....'cept ducks, obviously......and, no Salmon angling to take place when trout fishing is underway !

L

[Iain Goolager]

 

I love ducks too Lindsay..........a l'orange, oh and they keep my dries afloat 

Iain

[Loxiafan]

I love ducks too Lindsay..........a l'orange, oh and they keep my dries afloat 

   Nice one ! Really, you find CDC keeps your flies afloat ?  I need to use lotsa "Newts 'gina" to ensure that !

L