stormont angling club

[alprost]

Another Muirtons newbie here with a couple of questions:

- From what I can gather you can't get out and wade unless the water is at summer level. Is the 'Tay at Ballathie' reading on the FishTay website the best one to look at? How low does this reading have to be before you can wade and fish all of the pools?

- In terms of tackle, I'm a bit reluctant to fork out for an 18 foot rod at the moment. If I went along armed with my 15 footer, a full floater plus polyleader and Wet Cell II for low water, and a Guideline Power Taper sink 4/5 shooting head for overhead casting from the bank for higher water, would I get away with this?

- Regarding the Guideline power-taper - I've heard you have to cut it back a lot. Is this why it is the the best one for Muirtons?

Any info greatly appreciated!

[hairyscotsman]

Hi there..I would not bother investing in an 18ft rod just yet. The bank at muirton is half the reason the big rods are a help as its quite steep and most of the guys when using the shooting heads will overhead cast. The guideline taper in a 4/5 should be ok although the guys use lines that sink quite a bit faster as well. I would not cut it back at all until you have tried it full length. You can always use fast sinking polytips with the wetcel 2 to give you extra depth.It really is a massive learning curve the first year as myself and madkeen will testify to!! The lines that the guys use are unobtainable now but there is no reason the guideline will not work . I actually lost a couple of fish on 2/3 guideline a couple of weeks ago. I would suggest not to overly worry about lines as the ones you mentioned will do the trick just fine. Another piece of advice is to just fish the water in front of you as best you can rather than trying to hit the other bank. Some of these guys are casting 50yds plus and it can be a bit intimidating initially but stick with it and you will get fish.

[alprost]

hairyscotsman said:

Hi there..I would not bother investing in an 18ft rod just yet. The bank at muirton is half the reason the big rods are a help as its quite steep and most of the guys when using the shooting heads will overhead cast. The guideline taper in a 4/5 should be ok although the guys use lines that sink quite a bit faster as well. I would not cut it back at all until you have tried it full length. You can always use fast sinking polytips with the wetcel 2 to give you extra depth.It really is a massive learning curve the first year as myself and madkeen will testify to!! The lines that the guys use are unobtainable now but there is no reason the guideline will not work . I actually lost a couple of fish on 2/3 guideline a couple of weeks ago. I would suggest not to overly worry about lines as the ones you mentioned will do the trick just fine. Another piece of advice is to just fish the water in front of you as best you can rather than trying to hit the other bank. Some of these guys are casting 50yds plus and it can be a bit intimidating initially but stick with it and you will get fish.

Sounds like good advice to me - many thanks

I take it there are guys about fishing most evenings and on Saturdays at this time of year?

[madkeen]

Get yourself up there and experiment with your normal tackle.It is starting to getbusy in the evenings.You won't need a 18ft rod till you decide that your going to be regular although most casts involve a sinking line(shooting head)and 40yd+ casts.

[salmonscotty16lb]

well guys tomorrow its a 6till 12 shift at work shoot up to kerkock pick up a 18ft rod from Gary and have my proper shot at it
I'm totally s*****ing it ;D
first time out with a rod that length and shooting heads.
anyone else on the bank look out this might go wrong

[speymaster]

Hi

What 18 foot rod are you getting salmonscotty16lb? What kind of shooting heads do you need for this rod?

[salmonscotty16lb]

a second hand b&w expert. its maybe a bit heavy but it does the trick and gets me started.
lines oh no thats where it get complicated and i clock out and let one of the seasoned guys fill you in there
i borrowed two lines one a hi-d of sorts and one a int only fished 45mins as had to get home but monday i will order in some lines probably a int a deep water express and seen in t&s fewcets are doing a hi-d for £15? ant go wrong there i wouldn't think?

[madkeen]

It depends on what weight the hi-d is for your rod and I presume your going to cut it around 18yds your looking at 12wt and above.I have recently got a 15wt and it loads the rod well although finding them is the problem.There were a few fish about today.

[salmonscotty16lb]

were u out madkeen?

what bank? i had few casts around the woodie hole about 4ish. the statues got on my goat hope they come to life and move down as the season goes on?

[madkeen]

Yes was out on R.Croy lost a good fish in the tail of woody and had another good pull.If your fishing the muirton side i dont think they move down that much. You would be better off fishing the grainhead and back o island where the anglers do move down. i seen 2 fish lost on the muirton(back o island)in the morning,best bet is to get there at dawn and get the first run down.

[salmonscotty16lb]

funny thats my plan for next sat
its getting hold of lines at moment thats the prob but the search is on and will have enough to get started properly by thursday or so fingers crossed

[sagecaster]

owen said:

Can anyone tell me how well a spey rod is likely to perform with shooting heads I have a 15' B&W Speycaster and am thinking about what kit I would need to buy to fish the speedy water of Rome Croy. I have a floating multi-tip spey line (the monteith) but think I need a few full sinkers from talking to people there. Would I need a new rod too? If so who wants to tell the wife

Thanks.

Don't rush in to buying anything yet, the Jocky M fast sinking tips will suffice until you get your bearings. Your rod will handle a shooting head fine. however you will struggle for distance, hence the reason 18footers are so popular. Using massive head weights to 15# and up to 20 yards long. Check out what the experts are doing first.

[hairyscotsman]

Get a hold of a 10 or 11 Hi speed Hi D . You may struggle to get a DT so a WF cut back at about 16yds should see you ok. A wet cel 2 again cut about 16yds and a selection of michael evans (or any other) 10ft tips..In fact the tips from the monteith would probably be perfect. These couple of lines will get you over fish all season. Ideally something faster as well but these will get you started. Going tomorrow morning for a few hours ;D

[salmonscotty16lb]

fished wed and Thurs seen few salmon shoot through on tide (Ev) and one cought on RC side. I'm still practicing worked the back of the island thursday.... tricky cast and didn't hit where salmon were running in mid stream. my first shot in the grain will be in morning. express 700 ready:) can any one shed some light on a heavy revvy? i bought a 550g cortland a 700g and a 850g deep water express. been fishing away from the grain to get a feel for the beat and my 18ft cannon. still to spool my int and 850.

[madkeen]

Salmonscotty the flag was going up yesterday so you don't want to be using a 700 DWE.As for the heavy revy I have looked for one for a year with no joy when a few regulars say they are fishing a revy some mean a cortland type 6 which you have to buy 2 and chop and splice them toegether.I was out thursday so you were probably fishing opposite me I was there before and after the evening tide.You are right there were a good few fish pushing through and I seen a few teenagers amongst the grilse.

[rennie]

Lines for The Grainhead,just to shed some light for those new to the caper.Heavy Revy;Masterline Revolution Ultra Fast sink in the Heavy Weight format sinks about 6ips and should be 13/15 aftm as rare as rocking horse poo,a few UFS 11s are knocking about wont be as quick in the sink stakes but a poly-tip sorts that, will work ok for those with a 16ft rod rated 11.HiDs,again rare as Heavy Revy,some 11s at Tweedside Tackle all WF profile(some shooting heads about but they are too short on their own) bigger the water bigger the HiD up to 15.Deep Water Express,brutal, only for big heavy water 550 grain same sink as 15 HiD about 7ips but worse to cast,700grain about 8 ips terrible to cast and 850 grain about 9/10 ips life threatening to cast,thing is with the 550 and 700 DWE s its common to splice two together but you will need a big strong rod to lift/cast them and a WW2 helmet to boot.Oh and you will also need a Wet 2 40 yd in DT 12 (this will give two shooting heads) again no longer made some still about but plenty of alternatives look for 3 ips sink rate.Any floater of your choice coupled with poly-tips for a low water/Red Flag or if you want to fish the floater out of choice.Biggest help out here look for the Evans poly-tips level with no taper biggest sinks at 6ips, that on a Wet 2 gives near Heavy Revy performance. Cheers for now,busy tying tubes see you on the Grain Thursday. Pedro.

[salmonscotty16lb]

what level does the red flag go up?
i ran through the grain twice thismorning must do beter
was fishing a dt 12 ron tomson slow sink chopped down but struggled to load the rod properly. even still casting not bad if hit on the button. even if 3 out of 4 casts didnt go to plan i still covered plenty of fish with only a sore left elbow to show for my efforts. still loving it
trying to get up thursday myself pedro before work for a run through.

[tayspringer]

Was the red flag up today?

[rennie]

Red flag will fly on the Rome Croy side when the river drops below 1ft on the gauge on the Rome Croy itself meaning floating lines only with a single poly-tip,yellow flag will fly when the river is between 1ft and 1ft 6in on the same gauge and that will mean no line quicker than 3ips may be used again with a single poly-tip,no flag means no restriction on line sink rate.
This system was used to prevent accidental foul hooking of fish when the water dropped away and the fish were stacked up throughout the beats,sad to say that was very much in years past.Flags should be seen on the Grainhead,Back of the Island and The Woody Hole.

[salmonscotty16lb]

took my first of the year from the woody hole today ;D 8lb licrer:D

Pedro how did your week go?