[Stuart Smith]

i was talking to a friend on the phone the other night and we got talking about favourite methods for catching trout.one of my favourite methods is fishing a fast sink line and boobies

the question ive got is why is it band on most small fisherys?

is it the method or the person fishing them?

the most common one i have heard is that this fish swallows the fly right down killing the fish but in all the years ive fished them ive never had one hooked anywhere else apart from the mouth

its a very effective method for catching trout if done proplery (on waters where its allowed). it catchs me dozens of fish every year


stuart

[Hamish Young]

Simple answer - the popular answer you mention is the also the right one
Catch & release is increasingly the norm, many fish hooked on boobies are hooked too deeply to release quickly and sensibly with the minimum damage to the fish.
Now it's fair to say that some folk are more in tune with the method and hook their fish in the mouth, but that's not true of all anglers and most fisheries will base their rules on the lowest common denominator - aka the folks who really don't know what they're doing.
QED.
I mean, some folk have a hard enough job remembering that more than one or two fisheries have moved to barbless or de-barbed hooks only.
My two cents.

H 

[Barry Robertson]

I think it all boils down to the angler!
Scottish clubs competetion this year boobies were allowed to be used when catch and release came into effect , i reckon they allowed them as they knew fine well the people using them are fishing them correctly!
I fished menteith ALOT this year and almost always had a booby on my cast at some point of the day , i think maybe twice over the season i deep hooked a fish which was then chapped and taken home!
I think alot has to be said about fishery owners / baillifs (not pointing at anyone here) , they should be checking people regulary for de barbed hooks ect and making sure people dont leave rods sitting un attended as this is probably when most fish in my opinion take the fly deep , whether it be a booby or a lure!

I think people get away with to much these days and the so called noddys spoiling it for others should be asked to leave waters if they dont follow the rules!
Maybe harsh but i think its the only way to weed oot the culprates!

[Stuart Smith]

but then they ban boobies what is wrong and they let people fish with buzzers static.

more and more these days you hear for fokes rods getting dragged into the water by fish.ive heard of 4 cases this year all on small still waters

so what do you do?educate them or ban them?

Or do you think people who are starting fly fishing these days are learing bad habits from the start?when i started fly fihing i learned on a little burn.nowadays you go to a small still water, pitch out a cast of blobs and buzzers, put your rod on the ground and sit back dicking around

If your in a club and break the rules you get band and its hard to join another one(no its not happened to me)

i would never fish on a reservoir with out a boobie on my line either fished deep or on a sink tip washing line style

i think it is the most versatile fly you can have in your box


stuart

[Barry Robertson]

I cant honestly think of a nice way of trying to explain this one as i have deleted my words to many times to count now of things i was going to post!
Standard of anglers fishing certain waters maybe 
Some people just need to be told why its wrong and they soon change there ways, alot of small still water anglers are self taught and probably dont even know what they are doing is wrong!
I think more of an education / lecture should be given to anglers arriving at waters by the fishery owners to ensure people are aware of whats right and wrong!

[Mike Barrio]

Hamish has more or less covered this one, but basically, like most things in life the rules at any given fishery are there for a reason. Please read them before you start fishing at your location and respect the fishery

The only thing that I would add and emphasize ...... is that in my personal experience, it is very, very wrong to group anglers in to any given category.

Small stillwater anglers, river anglers, salmon anglers, pike anglers, reservoir anglers, competition anglers, sea anglers, loch anglers, wild fishers, buzzer fishers, lure fishers ...... you name it ..... there are good and bad anglers in every possible category in my experience! The attitude of each individual person is what counts, some of the best "anglers" that I have met over the years have been complete beginners and some of the worst "anglers" that I have met have been very experienced indeed

Best wishes
Mike

[andreb]

There can be no question that boobie fishing is an effective method for lake trout. I fail to understand why people fish them though, apart from the reason, "they catch fish" I cant figure out why they catch fish though, as I don't know what they imitate. perhaps they prey on the trout's natural predatory instinct, or the fish's inquisitive ness. I have heard it said that the boody imitates daphia, or water fleas, but i can't really see how it does this either. I think most boobies are fished as lures, or streamers, and the reason why the trout take them deep, is because they are fished slowly, giving the trout a chance to really suck it in.
Having said all that, the times I have fished boobies, they have tended to result in more deep hookups, compared to other flies and techniques, so there must be something that I am doing wrong, but to fish a booby with a faster retrieve to avoid the deep hookups, to me, I might as well be using any other lure, and defeating the object of fishing the booby.
Great forum by the way, I hope I can contribute positively.