Bank Fishing The Blob

It is over the last decade or so that we have seen winter fly fishing becoming more prominent in Ireland. When I was growing up, the dreaded end of September meant the fly fishing gear was put away and I would spend the winter months tying flies that would have aspirations of emptying rivers come the following March. Thankfully the case these days is the river gear is packed away and we swap the light weight nymphing rods for our 6,7 and 8 weight bank rods. We have seen in recent years the emergence of plenty man-made fisheries that offer the angler great winter sport at reasonable costs. 

Also there is plenty of choice as the different fisheries present different fishing challenges, from natural environments that test our casting ability to well wintered fish that test our skill and nerves. The methods used generally in this field of fly fishing is ever evolving, there are new approaches and developments in materials regularly, each being hailed as the next best thing. Sometimes to be honest it is hard to keep up with it all.
As I have found over the last couple of winter seasons it sometimes is just as effective to stick to the basics and do the simple things right rather than get wrapped up in all the new developments, tackle and fly tying materials. So for the rest of this article I hope to give you some simple and still very effective methods and patterns to tempt the rainbows from their winter ponds. It is always important to check the fisheries rules when you arrive to see what is and is not allowed to be fished. While a few fisheries have rules regarding the fishing of Blobs in certain ways, it has to be said that they are the stable diet of the bank angler. Love them or hate them they are simple as simple gets to tie and fish correctly can be deadly.

There are a couple of ways you can fish the blob; firstly they can be presented through stripping or retrieving on sinking lines. Fished alone or as part of a team the trick here is to get the depths right and the retrieve, just the way the fish want it. So it is good practice once you cast out your flies to count down to a chosen depth, depending on the sink rate of your line and then begin stripping back the flies at various speeds until you get the depth rights and the speed. Another popular presentation method would be stagnant fishing the blob; this can be done either from the top down or the bottom up. Again the key here get your depth right. From the top down, can be achieved one way by using a floating line which will suspend the blob at the depth of your leader length, or the depth you allow it to sink to before beginning to figure of eight it back to you.

A contemporary practice of anglers is now to suspend the blob under what is called a bung, a this floating device can be made of plastic foam or a tied bung with buoyant materials used to support the fly often dipped in watershed to make it float endlessly. With this method you can now leave the blob or blobs at the required depth for longer until a fish takes it. Through bunging the fly will remain completely stagnant which is required sometimes by the fish before they will bite. The hi-visibility of the bung allows the angler to witness the takes quite easy on those dark wintery days. This presentation method can be used for several other patterns such as squrmies, buzzers, stalking bugs and the like. One key factor to fishing blobs under the bung I find important is to add a little flat lead to the under body of the fly and this allows it to reach its depth faster.

Fishing from the bottom up can be very effective during the colder days when fish are sitting deeper and feeding among the last of the summer vegetation on the lake bed. Here we would use fast sinking lines say a DI 3,5 or 7 sink rate depending on the depths of the lake you are fishing. We often add something to the blob for this method to be most productive; by putting some foam in the back of the fly we now have what is called a FAB (floating assed blob). This now allows us to sink the line to the lake bed and slowly retrieve the blob, which is suspended above the line path and the weeds or other snags that offer the fish food and protection. Again changing length of leaders from the fly line will allow your FAB to fish at different depths, and the most important aspect to catching fish in a stocked fishery is you must find the depth of the fish for any method to be effective.

There is a large variety of colours and textures to modern day blob materials, for the basic blob pattern use simple blob fritz, tie the core of the fritz on the hook above the bend and as you wind up the fritz in touching turns make sure and to pull back the fibres as you go so the finished fly has all the fibres leaning back away from the eye of the hook. I also find that using a nice bright thread for the head adds an extra hot spot for the fish to attack. You can also add in a second colour fritz to your fly, a tail of your choice or a pair of booby eyes, all giving you a variety of looks, shapes and colours that may attract feeding fish.
For me, the tackle generally I use is either 6,7 or 8 weight, ten foot rod by Syndicate, I find them great rods. The rod I choose at any time will depend on the wind, the line I wish to fish, the method I am fishing and even the size of tippet I need to use. Another aspect is how far out are the fish in the lake and how far do I need to cast. One piece of advice I give all bank anglers would be to get a lesson or two on casting, it will increase your catch rate, enjoyment of a day on the lake and save your arms from a lot of punishment, it is well worth it. Tippet wise, Grand max Soft Plus is a huge

favorite among bank anglers, expensive but as fluorocarbon goes it is good. Yet I have often seen the low cost monofilaments do the job also, my advice here is use what you are confident in using to begin with. A good pair of glasses to protect the eyes, warm clothes and a flask of tea and your all set. Oh a towel is a nice comfort, so when you have released a fish back into the water on cold days to dry your hands and save the cold setting into the bones.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and trying out some of these fly's and enjoy catching fish with it even more. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a shout on my contact details and if you are interested in Dohiku hooks, top quality tungsten beads, or Syndicate competition Fly Rods drop me a line or check them out on my website. Thanks for reading. 

Egg Yarn Streamers

With some Autumn river trips recently, my bank season for rainbows is a bit later starting than most.So over the last few days I have been stocking up on some old trustworthy patterns. Here is a neat little fly that has always produced fish for me and one worth having in the box for the season. 
I always try out different ways to work with materials and this was a good discovery. I find the body is highly UV reflective and has a lovely meaty look to it as it puffs a little when wet. The hot collar is also Egg yarn and is a great hot spot on any fly. 

Hook: Dohiku 302 size 12-10 
Bead: 2.5 - 3mm sliver bead 
Thread: Kevlar 50D thread 
Tail: Dave Downie white Marabou 
Body: Yellow egg yard (tie in a fraction of the yarn and spin it to form a floss like look, this gives it extra strength). 
Wing: Dave Downie white Marabou 
Collar: Hot red egg yarn (cut up small chunks of yarn and pull apart to make a dubbing)
I find this fly fished best on a fast or slow intermediate line and vary the retrieves till you find what the fish want. A very slow retrieve is often most effective on a long leader.
  

Another good fly that I use this hot collar on is one of my top nymphs on the river. Egg yarn is a very versatile material that can add to many of your fly's. As dose a lot of other materials so it is worth messing around with some and you never know what little things you might discover that make a huge difference to your flies. 
I hope you enjoy tying these fly's and enjoy catching fish with it even more. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a shout on my contact details and if you are interested in Dohiku hooks, top quality tungsten beads, or Syndicate competition Fly Rods drop me a line or check them out on my website. Thanks for reading. 

Wild Smoky Mountain Trout

This was truly one occasion where beauty outweighs size. I got the opportunity recently to spend some time in Tennessee fishing the rivers that rise in the Smoky Mountains with Mark and Eric owners of the Syndicate Rod Company.
We (I brought the wife) headed over in late October, as at this time of the year the climate is manageable for us fair skinned Irish folk. The summer temperatures can be extremely high and unbearable even for the locals. A plus side to this time of year is the foliage on the trees appear to be blazing with flames from the colour transformations of autumn, making it quite a spectacle from the viewing points.

As for the fishing end of the trip we began in the lower regions of the Mountains on the Stoney Creek and the Watauga River which means "beautiful river" when translated. This river certainly lived up to its name, as it made its way through the foot hills of the range. It had a large stock of mixed sized rainbows and some larger browns that move into it this time of year to spawn. Here you have two options to fish this river, either from drifting boat with a guide or as my preferred choice was wading it from the banks and was quite pleasant to wade at that. We spent a full day on the Watauga River catching countless rainbow trout averaging around the 10 inch mark with some larger fish to be found occasions. The river was stuffed with fresh water shrimp and using a gammuras style nymph you were in the business straight away.

However, my first experience of fishing this region was on Stoney Creek which is a tributary to the Watauga and joins the larger river just outside the city of Elizabethon. A stunning little river that boasts a nice stock if sporting rainbows and browns with rewarding 20 inch fish in there also for the angler that fishes the runs and pools with caution. We had a large number of fish from the first two days and our approach of nymph fishing was the very same as that of our home waters here in Ireland. For me simple pheasant tails and hares ears worked a treat for the Tennessean trout.

For the rest of the week we headed further into the National Park where the natural beauty was second to none. With the leaves putting on a spectacle for the eyes, I was brought to a creek for a real treat and one I won't forget for a while. Through out this region in the Roan Mountians, brookies or brook trout can be found in many rivers and creeks. During the Autumn months these fish begin to adapt an array of colours that has to be seen to believed, from pinks, purples, reds, and oranges making up the markings on the skin. The river was a small wild creek that had man made or natural dams, waterfalls at certain locations so as to protect the strain of fish and preserve it's purity from being mixed with other trout. These little beauties have been here for thousands of years and makes an angler feel pretty special to hold one in your hands if only for a moment to admire.

They are a very spookie fish and you must approach each pool with extreme caution, best option was using a single fly. Only a few casts in each pool or behind a boulder and hopefully it would provide a fish or a take at the least. If you are lucky enough to land one them more than likely that pool is finished and you move quietly to the next. Before long when moving from pool to pool you will find yourself lost in the woods creeping among the history of its floor and forgetful to all the insignificant crap we fill our lives with. This for me is what fishing is truly all about and a lesson I have to keep teaching myself from time to time. 

Our final location for the trip was just outside the holiday town of Gatlinburg, we spent an hour or two talking to the guys in the Smokey Mountain Angler tackle shop, where we pick up some cool souvenirs and information on the hot spots to fish in this area. After which we spent an evening session on a near by creek which was good sport for small brown before returning to our log cabin in the wood and the resident raccoon for the night.  The next morning we set of for the Cherokee Indian Reservation and the river know as the Little River, with an amazing drive over the mountains. 

In this area of the park a close encounter with Elk or wild Turkeys is a common occurrence and to be standing in the river with a large female elk cross twenty yards below you surely makes you feel appreciative of where you are, a moment you just stand a watch never mind taking a picture. 

I traveled to this place for several reasons one for the fishing and also to meet up with the syndicate boys, with some of the guys that are involved with its emergence as one of the top rod brands in the States. Personally I cant recommend the rods highly enough and as for the guys who are responsible for them, well we had one hell of a trip and I look forward to returning back soon. Over the week we met some great people and shared some of the local brew over an open fire with a banjo playing. But for me the highlight of the trip was to hold that small wild beauty of an Appalachian brook trout and understanding the history I was among, this beats size hands down every time. 

Thanks to all the people that took time to say hello over the trip it was great to meet you all and fish your waters. For me traveling and experiencing fly fishing is more important than expensive gear, I am glad to share these experiences with you all and hope it encourages every one to go and see it for them selves. You wont be disappointed I promise.  
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the blog, my website link is to the right if you are looking for Dohiku Hooks, Tungsten beads, or the amazing Syndicate rods check it out. If you would like any more information in traveling to this location please feel free to give me a shout.