Paul Arden | Sunday, 22 August 2021
Ashly and I travelled down the lake for three full days of non-interrupted fishing last week (a five day journey). Not only did Ashly catch two Snakehead in two days, but we also had some free-riser action and I caught my first Giant Gourami of the year!!! It was great to escape the Internet and now of course I am in work-overload to catch up! Next week we shall do the same but this time heading North.
As you will see from the video that I am editing, Ashly is more than a little bit frightened of Snakehead and she is worried that they will turn around and bite her! This is why I am helping her hold the fish in the POD. The first fish we barely got a photo of. The great thing about these fish is that she caught them on a popper variation of her own... and I think there is a lot of mileage to be had in this variation.
Also while down the lake, we finally have got our entries in place for the virtual casting challenge that is being held at the moment. I threw 123'6" (from memory - I'll need to check!). That puts me not quite in last position, but for here it's actually a quite respectable cast! I gave myself 4 minutes; I didn't want to cast all day, besides a storm was incoming.
Excellent Ronan's Report that is not currently displaying on the FP since I changed the report page to be secure "https". https://www.sexyloops.com/blog/2021/08/20/a-new-tactic-for-lakes/. Very interesting for me particularly as a winter tactic.
It was nice to come back and read all the FPs. Martyn's Snail feeders FP reminded me of my reservoir days. I also used foam patterns, not unlike the one Martyn posted. There were a few times when the trout were locked onto snails and having patterns that clung to the surface, as opposed to floated on it, were necessary (although I do note that Arthur Cove in his book was using winged wetflies to catch similarly feeding fish - a Woodcock and something I believe!). I also had a few flies tied from cork bodies which I think may do the job of "hanging" better, but since I only found this activity a handful of times, it's not something with which I've had very much chance to experiment. If you suspect "snails" then lean down close to the water with your head sideways and your nose touching the surface - this way you should be able to see the "dimples" the snails form in the surface film.
Mika's Friday page from the world fly fishing championships was also an interesting one. A few years back Malaysia tried to enter these championships. We thought Tasmania - great! Many of us have fished there. Finland - great! i know Mika! Anyway we weren't accepted - not sure why. Somewhat bizarrely they wrote to me last year asking if I could help promote competition attendance from SE Asia! I have recently become interested in Comp fishing, not because I'm competitive, or even think this is particularly interesting, but purely because I've seen how it's lifted my game in fly casting. I can imagine it doing the same for fishing. I'd fare well on stillwaters, but I'd definitely struggle on rivers!! However it is a very niche branch,a bit like fly casting.
Lars' page on mobile flying is a good one. I've always carried a kit with me, although the vice can be a bit cumbersome. However big hooks I can hold in my hand and small hooks can be held in a pair of forceps.
OK we are in town, restocking provisions and editing this week's SLTV episode. Back to the Battleship again tomorrow. Gourami and Free-risers. I need to be on the water again!
Cheers, Paul