Tweed 2007

[zephead]

Wilhelm,

I thought permission had to be sought from The Factor to use anything else other than a Rapala down there or has this been imported downstream from years of practice in The General's by a newer member of your crew....................................??

Do these cast well off the new Ron Thompson spinning rods??

I await your reply with interest.

ZH

[greenbanks]

woldedge said:

greenbanks said:

At least you mention these awful abominations are deadly for salmon and are really most ineffective for catch and release purposes.As a fellow Ghillie,on a top beat that responsibly promotes flyfishing at all times,as a method of assisting onward migration of fish to the Redds , and who has noted how desperate stocks are on all rivers this season,(Have you not!!)perhaps your comments could have been worded just a wee bit better Billy.There has never been a better time for promoting catch and release,where possible, as rivers need as many fish as possible to reach the redds.These lures invariably get lodged right down a salmons throat and are a nightmare to remove safely if you wish to return the fish. A dead fish cannot spawn and a hell of lot of posters here do like to return fish Billy.

Greenbanks.

I think you will find that there are alot of people who fish the tweed or which ever river, do very do the catch and release, you need to read the threads more carefuly. In my opinion you can safely release a fish as easily if it is caught on a flying C, as a fly. Most of the salmon and sea trout I catch have never swallowed a hook from a Flying C or any other type of lure any more than a fly. Surely a fly is more easy to swallow than a big lure. If you were out worming then yes the chance of a fish being hooked deeply is greater.
As for the amount of rod caught fish, it is very tiny compared to fish that are caught in nets.
How many fish have you caught have net marks on them?

What a load of old Horlicks Yorkshire I know some of your becks will be at a grand height for spinning.
I have fished a good amount of beats on Tweed as well as many others rivers the length and breadth of Scotland and England,and have caught a fair amount of Salmon and Kelts on Flying C's,in fact i would be embarassed to say how many in Scotland and England for that matter I have caught.My own conscience got the better of me and I for one gave them up quite a long time ago,(on beats where i was allowed to use them). I have watched Salmon numbers drop dramatically and being acutely aware of how fish took these lures and the awful damage caused to the fish and would urge anglers to follow my lead and use them sparingly if they must.Give the fly a good go first,its amazing how more satisfying the take,fight and pleasure of landing a fish really is.
I stress I am not saying do not spin,spin if you must but think about the Salmons chances of survival having been dragged about a pool by a size 2 treble down by its gill rakers.It aint ,in my humble opinion, pretty to watch that's for sure.

[wilbert]

Yorkshire Esk your avatar says plenty about your views on C&R. Were they all caught on a flying C?

I dont know why but fish do tend to engulf the flying C and the treble hook can do some serious damage.

[akflyrod]

everyone has a different veiw on each otheres method, in fact the fish suffers stress no matter what method it is hooked, so all that are so concerned hang up the boots and campain for closure on salmon rivers, but i dont think that will happen , you seem happy enough p--sn and moaning about everyone else it says on the ticket - legal methods so take it up with them.
gary

[Yorkshire Esk]

wilbert said:

Yorkshire Esk your avatar says plenty about your views on C&R. Were they all caught on a flying C?

I dont know why but fish do tend to engulf the flying C and the treble hook can do some serious damage.

Wilbert

None of those fish were caught on a flying C. Three fish in one season. I wouldn't call that unreasonable. Maybe you would!
In all my years of fishing I have never caught a fish(spinning) with all 3 points(as springer has called them) in the fish.

Why the hell are you all getting at me for, I am just expressing an opinion. Billy was the one who told people to take the flying C not me. I only fish the tweed once a year twice at most.

[billytheghillie]

zep, permission not needed of factor(je) as for those rods they have broken twice pure crap. as for c&r on flying c many go back but a lot of anglers usually take the grilse. which in my opinion is good as small fish breed small fish.

[zephead]

"The Factor" is has similar initials to a well known DIY store-no,not Homebase either before you ask.

ZH.

[billytheghillie]

aaah got you now zep, you are talking about mr. r.sole a fine gentleman indeed!

[stoater]

Steady now Gents!
Any explanations or reports on the sudden apparent explosion in Tweed seatrout catches? (when its been fishable!). I know there's always quite a few "seadogs" around in the lower River late-July onwards, but they never usually outnumber the Salmon. Are these usual 3-10lb Tweed seatrout, or a different class?
I'm fishing the lower Till in 10 days time for the week, do folk think there's an equally healthy number/yearclass of seatrout running up there?
Any ideas?
Still 2 days available free by pm on Horncliffe, 30 June and 7 July, hate to see good fishing wasted.

[billytheghillie]

you will be in with a good chance of getting some good sea trout on the till. hopefully the water will have settled by then. down at tillmouth there is reports of fish in the 10lb class with one tipping the scales at 16.4 dripping with sea lice caught on the fly (cascade). at the begining of june sea trout were being caught on small dry flies, i heard of one angler who had 11 one night on small yellow sally. hope this helps.

[dunbar]

billytheghillie said:

zep, permission not needed of factor(je) as for those rods they have broken twice pure crap. as for c&r on flying c many go back but a lot of anglers usually take the grilse. which in my opinion is good as small fish breed small fish.

Grilse on the Tweed can be quite large, well into double figures into the autumn. I wouldn't like to see fish being killed just because they are grilse. I am sure cock grilse play an important part in the spawning process with larger hens. I thought the concept of grilse as 'unimportant' was well out of date?

cheers.

[stoater]

Billy
Is the sally a small skating fly, like the yellow dolly?
How do you fish the Sally?
Also, do you fish day or night?
On the main Tweed I've never caught a seatrout at night beneath Tillmouth. What do you reckon?

[billytheghillie]

stoater
the yellow sally is a small mayfly which is all yellow, think of a greenwell glory but in canary yellow, yes it is that bright. you can fish it dry (size 14 or 16) on its own or on a team of wets, sally on dropper small double on point. this is assuming river is in good ply i.e. about 6- 8 inches. i would start my fishing about 9.00.pm and fish into the darkness, tweed sea trout tend to go of when its really dark, you seem to get about an hour at them. you will have a good chance of sport below tillmouth. if you require any more info ask away. p.s. use fine leaders about 4lb-6lb. tight lines and screaming reels.

[stoater]

Interesting what you advocate concerning 4-6lb leaders, Billy. Do you think 10lb stuff too thick?
We are fishing at Tiptoe. Sure you probably know it, working so close. I also have access to approx. 3miles fishing just above Fenton on the Till, do you think they will have mainly pushed on through the Lower Till?
Do you think many of those real bruisers run the Till just yet? I say that because when fishing the main Tweed August onwards, I've never had a seatrout beneath 3lb. Are Till fish a different, smaller race? What I also find odd is that I have had quite a few biggish seatrout on the ol' stoater in the middle of the day(as opposed to middle of the night!).
Strange how fish behave!

[billytheghillie]

10lb a wee bit to heavy unless its f/carbon which should be of smaller diameter. there should be some good fish in till, as i said we have had fish to 16lb. On saturday(30.6) we had 2 at 4 lb but water was high and dirty, as i write this water is rising again with rain forecast. Till sea trout can be caught at daytime and is always worth a cast when dull and overcast. I know of anglers who get fish on the worm and spinner. (if you want to go down that road)

[dunbar]

Stoater, fish on the Till are well spread out now. Back in late May there were good runs of 'summer' fish right up through the TAS water and the water has been up and down like a yoyo since then. I've only managed one fish during the day, but haven't been on it much as yet.

[Yorkshire Esk]

Bit of a poor showing of salmon caught this week so far. I have seen the river levels if they are to be believed, thought there still might have been a few more caught. There has been the odd sea trout caught.
Is this the lull before the grilse arrive?

[billytheghillie]

river levels are very true i know work on it every day, not even worth a cast with spinner, chocolate brown. hope your right the lull before the grilse

[billytheghillie]

river waxing (rising) today saturday 14/07/2007 it hit us down the bottom about lunchtime, a horrid forecast is on the horizon. anyone fancy a game of golf!

[billytheghillie]

we were lucky (sat. night) big band of rain missed us, its looking good for the start of next week. those bloody weathermen, the only people who can tell lies and keep there job!