Solving Problems

Solving Problems

Paul Arden | Monday, 16 December 2024

Fly fishing is very much about solving problems. That’s one of its most interesting aspects. I’ve been working on a problem here for almost as long as I’ve been in Malaysia, certainly for the past seven years. Namely that there is a significant percentage of fish that eat the popper but don’t stick. Solving this would potentially double my catch rate. So as you can imagine I’ve invested a lot of time into it, but despite many different tactics, I keep coming back full circle to where I am, because despite the high failure-to-hook ratio, the overall fish-to-the-boat ratio is still higher with my standard Vince Loud-Mouth Popper size 1 or 1/0 approach.

One of the problems with trying to solve a problem such as this here is that there are not many opportunities to begin with. 3-4 shots a day is about average (with snakehead babies). So trying to solve a problem like this here is going to take a long time.

I posted a question on the Board to see what else is left to try that I haven’t considered yet and to garner some new ideas…

https://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/viewtopic.php?p=85737#p85737

 

“Hi folks,

Something I’ve been working on for about 7 years and I would appreciate some suggestions to try. This is what I think happens: snakehead engulfs popper with a mouthful of water. Now it has a soft mouth because the real stuff doesn’t jump out. If you set now the fish opens its mouth and out comes the fly with the mouthful of water.

So I have tried:

Smaller poppers.

Larger poppers.

Poppers that only just float.

Poppers that can be fished slower that have an additional trigger (rubber legs that look like frogs — this is good but slows the shot and makes changes of direction mid-shot clumsy).

Poppers with two hooks (I stopped doing this because I hooked one snakehead top and bottom of mouth).

“Dislocated poppers” with the body on a tube and the popper head on the wire with the hook dangling below the fly (I really liked this idea but the fly lands “hard”).

 

I’ve also tried:

Immediate strip setting.

Allowing the fish to run off with the fly and hook itself (sometimes it spits the fly).

All manner of different sets and in particular: timings.

 

I haven’t tried circle hooks but have bought some.

I thought about flies that float but pull under when stripped (don’t have a decent pattern for this).

 

I’ve experimented with leaders to try to remove stretch, thinking that may be a problem. The Qwek twisted leader has best turnover. But I’ve often fished straight 40lbs. I’ve tried braid tippet (and Graeme’s hollow braid leader).

Basically I’m back to playing with the fly again and playing with the set timing. I’m using Gamakatsu B10S #1 and 1/0, debarbed of course.

What would you try next? Different hooks?"

 

Suggestions on a postcard to: Mr Sexyloops (The Yeti), The Battleship, Belum Rainforest, Malaysia. Or on the Board of course. 

Cheers! Paul