More Fish Farm Escapes

Well I was reading The Sun, a UK paper the other day and saw this story by J. Pyatt.

By coincidence I also recently watched the movie, “The Great Escape”, which might be why this story and the photos caught my eye.

Supposedly the brown trout leaped from a breeding pond into the pipe carrying fresh water from a stream about thirty feet away. Those tunnels can sure come in handy.

You can read the whole story here at the Sun.

Photos by Dennis Bright, at Alresford, Hants.

I would be interested in whether you think there is a bit of Photo Shopping going on here.

The Most Visited Fly Fishing Sites

Thought you might find this interesting. It is a list of top fly fishing websites this week, based on the number of visitors in the last five days.


It is not very scientific because it is only from one source but it is neat to see what people are interested in.

• 1
  The Fly Fishing Shop strictly for the Fly Fishing Enthusiast.


• 2
  Outdoor Adventures Network! (OAN!) full of fly fishing related news, fly fishing forums, articles, information, tips


• 3
  Outdoor Central.com News Network Covering Hunting and Outdoors recreation since 1997


• 4
  The Classic Fly rod Forum Classic Bamboo and Wooden Rods
  


• 5
  OzarkAnglers.Com Fishing information for most of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas including fishing reports, maps, guides, fly recipes and articles.
  


• 6
  Front Range Anglers - Boulder, Colorado Fly fishing gear and equipment.Online information center and fly tying resource.


• 7
  Fishingnet Fishing in Perthshire Scotland for salmon and trout
  


• 8
  N. PLATTE RIVER FLY SHOP Full service fly shop providing fly fishing gear, equipment and tackle on the North Platte River in Casper, Wyoming - online fly fishing store.
  


• 9
  Fly Fishing Destinations, Guides & Tackle Over 4,400 fly fishing destinations and trips. Over 6,000 brand name tackle products.
  


• 10
  Viciopesca.Net Página sobre pesca en España, con todas las especies, lugares de pesca, fotos, etc. -translation=Page on fishing in Spain, with all species, fishing sites, photos, etc.
  


• 11
  USAOnTheFly.com The United States Fly Fishing Directory
  


• 12
  FlyAngler.ca Canadian Fly Fishing - All in one place
  


• 13
  Fishing Cairns Complete anglers guide to fishing the Great Barrier Reef & Cape York regions of North Queensland Australia. From billfish to barra, fly, lure, sport & game fishing - day and extended charters.
  


• 14
  Kiene's Fly Shop one of the largest & oldest fly shops in the US located in Sacramento, CA.


• 15
  Charlie's Fly Box The Best Online Fly Tying Tutorials on the Web!, also a full retail fly shop.
  


• 16
  WVAngler.com Fly fishing the great state of WV and beyond your Elk River home.


• 17
  Choice Accessories, Wildlife Ringtones Fly Fishing, Fishing Decals, Jewelry, Bass Jewelry, Trout Jewelry, Crappie Jewelry, Largemouth, Smallmouth, Fishing Rear , Salmon flies, Fishing Prints, Animal Ringtones, Wildlife Ringtones
  


• 18
  Ultimate Fly Tying 1000's of fly patterns, state/local fly fishing sites, fly tying materials
  


• 19
  All About Fly Fishing Fly fishing articles, resources, fly patterns, and information for the novice and expert alike.
  


• 20
  Virtual Flybox A Flytyer's paradise featuring over 1000 unique fly patterns from around the world! Online resource for the Fly fisher or Flytyer.


• 21
  pêche de la truite.Trout fishing From France. Pêche de la truite, les techniques, noeuds, boutique mouches, Cul de canard et Viflex. Trout fishing techniques, flies, bait, lures, knots, tips.

Lessons Learned as a Boy Scout

When I was young I used to read voraciously. Anything about woodcraft or hunting and fishing adventures I would devour.

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A lot of the lessons I gleaned from learned men like Ernest Thompson Seton and Ellsworth Jaeger, still stand me in good stead when afield. Other bits of woods lore were picked up along the way from cub masters and scouters or other characters met during a lifetime of hunting, camping and fishing. I was looking through an old notebook today and came across some gems.
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• Here is one. “What weighs an ounce in the morning, weighs a pound at night.” Not a lot of explanation needed for this one but I still think about it when loading my pockets or pack. My old Scout Master, Mr. Oickle, used to say it.

• How about this, “If there's only one, it isn't a track, it's an accident”? That simple wisdom saves a lot of second guessing in the bush. Some of the Big Foot hunters might bear this one in mind too.

• “Ducks flying overhead in the woods are generally pointed for water.” Might save you some doubt when walking a compass bearing toward what you hope is a trout-filled still water.

• “If the turtles on a log are dry, they have been there half an hour or more, which means no one has been near to alarm them.” Often we walk right past a likely looking spot because we figure it is too near the road to have been undisturbed. I wonder how many others do the same and leave a beautiful pool un-fished?

• “Cobwebs across a hole mean "nothing inside." Well, nothing but spiders…

• “Whenever you are trying to be smart, you won’t be.” Another one from my Scout Master. It is not very woodsy but it has stuck with me.

This one has likely saved me from a few falls and caused a few when I didn’t heed it, “Never step on something you can step over or walk around”. Think about mossy rocks or fallen logs.

Anyway, for what they are worth, these are some of the proverbs scribbled in the margins of my notebook.

I’ll finish with my favourite;”The worm hears nothing pretty in a Robin’s song” I’ll leave you to interpret that one on your own.

 

Well, carry on boys and don't forget to DYB, DYB, DYB, and DOB, DOB, DOB.

Fly Tying, an Optimist’s Pastime

I was thinking the other day about fly-tying. It was the pesky article about “Yobs with Blobs” and the comments from other fly fishermen that started me mulling it over.

Here is the thing; every fly we tie is imbued with the hope that it is the killer, the irresistible, the one that no fish can refuse.
I have yet to take a fly out of the vise with out feeling a little bit of hope; maybe optimism is a better word, that this is the fly that will make my season.
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I first started tying flies close to thirty years ago. It goes through phases but basically now I’ll just tie what I need for a trip, usually the night before.
I have my favourite patterns minimized to a point that they are virtually unrecognizable to other fishermen. Mind you, if I am tying to give some flies to another fisherman I will follow the recipes exactly, but for myself- not so much.
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As an example, knowing a certain river has a run of salmon that favour the colour yellow, I will tie a handful of Blue Charms but substitute all of the blue bits for a bright, lemon yellow.

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That is because I like the way a Blue Charm fishes but know that for whatever reason, yellow will elicit a strike where the blue gets looked over, even followed, but strikes are seldom immediate.

The funny thing is that I say this stuff as though it was 100% true but I don’t really know. Is it apparently true because I fish as though it were true; or is it really true, about the yellow bits I mean?

Does that make any sense? Who knows? What I do know is that everyone who ties flies stops at some point and thinks,” This might be the one”

Where else but Canada?

Where else but Canada would the host of a fishing show be reprimanded for broadcasting political propaganda during an election campaign?

In a nutshell, Darryl Cronzy the host of "Going Fishing" had Conservative leader John Tory on the show in September 2007.

As you could predict when the boys were chatting between fish, some pretty lame jokes were made.

That prompted a viewer to complain to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council on the grounds "that fishing programs are supposed to be about fishing".

I shudder to think what would happen to me if everything I said during a fishing trip either:
A) Had to be strictly true
or
B) Politically correct

Saying a fish “went down like a liberal on election day” would not only be pretty mild but actually might raise the tone of the event.

Only in Canada eh?

"yobs with blobs"

Can this be true?
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I read this article in the Telegraph a long while back and I just can’t get it out of my mind. I had to ask Tony over at “Time by the River” what a “Yob” is, although I guess the article explains it pretty well. What do you think? Is there such a thing as too deadly a fly?
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From the Telegraph:

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The world of fly-fishing has been rattled by the use of a controversial lure which is being blamed for spawning "yobbish" behaviour in the sport.
Traditionalists claim that the brightly coloured "blob" trout lure is unsporting and should be banned. They accuse its users of adopting aggressive tactics, with the new breed of fishermen described as "yobs with blobs".

The highly effective, ball-shaped blobs, made from various fibres, promote an aggressive, chasing reaction from trout when pulled quickly through the water. Unlike traditional flies, such as "nymphs" or "daddy-longlegs", they do not resemble a living insect.

Purists argue that blobs, which are permitted in major contests, give an unfair advantage over conventional methods and make trout fishing too easy. England fly-fishing champion Chris Ogborne was so opposed to them that he left the England team, and says he has received hundreds of letters of support.

Mr Ogborne, from Wadebridge, Cornwall, says the blob technique is tantamount to cheating and should be banned. He claims to have seen blob fishermen heckling opponents using traditional flies in competitions.

He argues that the blob undermines the very essence of fly-fishing, in which anglers imitate a trout's prey with a hand-tied fly made from natural fur or feathers.

Blobs are used only on stillwaters, not rivers. Some blobs look like the pellets fed to stock fish before they are released into lakes and reservoirs. The technique involves ripping the lure swiftly through the water, as opposed to twitching gently an artificial midge or mayfly.

Mr Ogborne said: "Fly-fishing is about imitating things that fish eat. Blobs are fundamentally bad for the sport. It's a very easy way of catching a lot of fish and takes the skill away. Any idiot can use them."

Russell Hill, editor of Trout Fisherman magazine, said: "The blob craze has made trout fishing very easy. They are absolutely caning fish and winning every match. Gone are the days when you hear of a man winning a match with a dry fly or a nymph, because the younger anglers are going to these reservoirs and ripping blobs back at breakneck speed and catching their eight-fish limit in half an hour. There's a massive debate going on."

England fly-fisherman Jeremy Lucas said while the use of the blob and the booby – a brightly coloured lure with polystyrene "eyes" – could encourage novices, it was "repulsive" to see them used by experienced fishermen. He said: "Most of us would wash our hands of it. It reflects fly-fishing in a very bad light."

But Howard Croston, game product manager for Britain's best-known fly-fishing retailer, Hardy, and a member of the England world fly-fishing team, said blobs still required skill.

"The method has come from people trying to catch as many fish as possible as quickly as possible to win competitions," he said. "Younger people getting into competitions are not getting the chance, or not needing to fish the more skilful methods as often as pulling a blob."

Blobs are banned at Brook Farm trout fishery at Cranham, in the Cotswolds. Peter Turnham, the fishery's owner, said: "If you are that desperate you might as well use a net. Everyone now wants everything quicker and easier, rather than using a technique that is the most aesthetically pleasing."

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What do you think?