you have guessed it

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that at Rutland in the Peregrine/Nomad final, on a day when fish moved all over the lake, casting a booby and stripping it back as fast as possible past the nose of the fish, was in fact the method employed by most! I must confess to having strange feelings about such a method.I spent a long time talking to Jerry Clarke last week about the recent Home International. This event was fished at Llyn Brenig – usually a great venue for proponents of dry fly fishing. What was the most successful method during this competition? Yes – you have guessed it – the booby, though sparklers were almost as effective. England won the match. The total number of fish caught by the English lads was 117, but Scotland pushed them close by taking 114 trout. This is not surprising really as lure fishing seems to be extremely successful in Scotland, thus the anglers representing their country are adept at that method.The Welsh team could only muster 89 trout on their home venue, whilst Ireland caught just 44 fish. Bashing lures around all day must be pretty alien to the team from over the Irish Sea.Why is it that these methods are coming so much more to the fore? Much is due to the fact that stocking levels are so high – and there is a regular infusion of fresh stockies willing to chase bright flies. I touched upon this idea when I looked into the disappointing way that England approached the World Championship on Chew and Blagdon. There were no freshly stocked fish in either lake for that competition, and as a result, nymphs were by and large far more effective than lures.But I also believe that much has to do with how the modern competition angler approaches his sport. So many of the new recruits to the competition scene have “cut their teeth” on lure fishing that they have absolute confidence, and will plug away all day – even if the fish are moving.Call me old-fashioned if you will, but seeing moving fish and covering them with a nymph or better still a static dry fly is what my hobby is all about! It is that moment, of feeling that I have convinced the trout that my fly – that bit of steel with some fur and feather round it, is in fact a creature that it habitually eats. I am pleased to be able to report that on my home water – Chew Valley, the end of season competition, which was sponsored by Sharpe’s was not won by anglers using boobies. The match was a straight split between those anglers who chose to target the fry-feeders and those who targeted the insect feeders.The winner was Alan Williams who stayed with the fry feeders over the “False Island”. He caught eight trout weighing 20lbs 13.75oz and had 7lbs in time bonus to add on. He won a fine boat rod for his efforts. In second spot was Tony George who went for the insect feeding fish and though he caught his limit 30 minutes earlier, ended up 6 ounces behind Alan. I spent the first two hours using a large tube sparkler and caught two hefty trout that were feeding on the fry, but when I found some moving fish at the dam, I changed to dries and caught six more fish in the next couple of hours. This was enough to give me third place, with 26lbs 7oz.The club knockout final was being fished at the same time. In a very close contest, Tony Baldwin, who had knocked me out in the semi-final, just scraped in ahead of Dave Monks. Hot NewsRumours have reached me that Hanningfield is experiencing problems with their caged fish. Apparently there is a virus affecting the trout. The water was due to be closed for fishing at the weekend – but I have been unable to substantiate this report as yet. Certainly Grafham Water couldn’t obtain its usual stocking consignment from Hanningfield. I will try to get some news of this for next week.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis