Bad Angling habits

[robbie]

Buying/tying a whole range of lovely new flies for a visit to the river .............................................................................................................................. and simply tying on a cascade coz you saw someone had caught on one 6 months before!

[fishingd0]

1 - taking your steps after you cast instead of before.

2 - trying to cast more than one can handle, then letting any loose line in hand go, whilst the fly is fishing through the pool.

3 - Not taking the time to learn vital casts e.g. left hand spey/double spey as a good example.

[tweedsider]

We all have them even the sainted SK I suppose

Mine

(1) Rushing to set gear up and missing rod rings

(2) Rushing into river without rolling up thigh boots

(3) Taking large strides, and plenty to the minute to reach a
distant pool and arriving in a sweaty irritable fettle

And many more

[exerod]

tweedsider said:

(1) Rushing to set gear up and missing rod rings

(2) Rushing into river without rolling up thigh boots

(3) Taking large strides, and plenty to the minute to reach a
distant pool and arriving in a sweaty irritable fettle

As above, usually in the order 3, 1, 2

Sticking to methods I know when the fish are "on" and trying other tactics when they are "off" with the result that all the minor tactics are useless...

Andy

[rpsalmon]

Dear Fishingd0

Your first two "bad habits" are spot on, but surely the next most cringing sight is people letting their rod tip drop downstream as they are "fishing a fly"-irrespective of what they are doing. I doubt many peoples flies are fishing properly through the best part of a pool.

[Speyducer]

fishingd0 said:

1 - taking your steps after you cast instead of before.

2 - trying to cast more than one can handle, then letting any loose line in hand go, whilst the fly is fishing through the pool.

3 - Not taking the time to learn vital casts e.g. left hand spey/double spey as a good example.

Somebody's been secretly watching me then...

...can I now claim that all these mistakes were 'invented' by me??

Mike

[salmondan]

1. Taking as much gear as possible, to cover all eventualities, and then struggling to carry it all.

2. As above, fishing too slowly and then when realising this, rushing.

Also been guilty of some of the above on occasion

[iainjay]

Dear rpsalmon

Please don't cringe but what should my rod tip be doing?

[robbie]

Fishing a pool all the way down with a gut feeling that all is not well at the fly. Only to discover that your instincts were right, the fly had hooked up on itself and had been probably skitting and spinning about in the river like a Whirling Dirvish all the way through the hot spots , scaring everything off within a hundred yards!

[fishingd0]

Rps goods point.

another one that I see almost on a daily basis; is when the fisher fishes through a pool without checking his/her fly from time to time, only to find at the end of the pool it has been back to front or messed up for the whole time.

[rpsalmon]

Dear iainjay

If a rod point is dropped downstream as the fly is fishing around, and as a result the fly is dropping downstream at exactly the same pace or even at a quicker pace than the rod tip is dropping downstream, then the fly will look more like a "dead thing" that is unnatural (at best being either being stationery in the current, or at worst falling like a leaf to the bottom of the river!). If the fly is moving downstream at a slower rate than the rod tip is moved downstream, then the fly and fly line are "hanging" from the rod tip and will fish higher and will appear more "life like".

On the down and across method, keeping the rod tip pointing out and yet keeping it still, until the fly has fished its way into the side, helps to keep the fly moving slowly/steadily (naturally)in the current.

[Speyducer]

Adding to the tangled fly dilemma, which may not always be obvious unless you hear it whistling about your ear during the cast, I think a more subtle problem may not be noticed, and instead of the situation where the tangled fly prevents a satisfactory presentation or even scares off the fish and then you just get no pulls, a wind knot in the leader, or abraded leader which goes unchecked still allows the fly to swing round nicely. Then, if you get a pull, and are fortunate to get a hook-up, this may lead to a good fish sneaking off with your fly after the line parts.

Frequent checking of the leader is the discipline which many, including myself, forget to do as often as necessary.

Mike

[iainjay]

rpsalmon

Thank you for that. I've always let the rod tip follow the path of the line but now see exactly what you mean.

cheers

[hornet]

1. Taking steps during fly swing.

2. Fishing a flee when I'm thinking that i should have changed .

3. I suppose i don't mend the line enough, then what is enough?.

4. Forgetting to pack butt wipes just in case .


Hornet

[elwyman]

fishingd0 said:

1 - taking your steps after you cast instead of before.

2 - trying to cast more than one can handle, then letting any loose line in hand go, whilst the fly is fishing through the pool.

3 - Not taking the time to learn vital casts e.g. left hand spey/double spey as a good example.

Pleased to see I share some of the same bad habits as the world champ. ;D

Another bad habit - wearing the same fishing socks all season.

[neptune]

i dont know if this is a bad habbit but as my wife works most nights
when its getting near time to go home my last cast turns into 5-10, another 5 and so on last casts until i have to run along the bank to get home in time
oh and also most of the bad habbits mentioned allready

[robbie]

Careful how you choose your words Dan. What is the Bad Habit ? your wife working at nights? you better explain

[jkboy]

1. My main fault is getting demoralised too easy i.e fish for an hour, see no fish and think feck this, nae fish in this bloody pond.

2. Experimenting with different casts and thrashing the hell oot the water probably does'ny help either, still practice makes perfect eh?

3. One thing I always seem 2 do is setup with, say, a sinktip and sz 11 cacade - the boy on the other side nails a fush and I shout ' wot u hit that on mate' - 'intermediate and sz 9 allys' he replies; immediately I start doubting my tactics and lose the most important thing (imo): confidence. Shortly after I've changed to match his tactics, by which time he's got another fish on a totally different setup: moral of the story - stick 2 ur guns!!