There's a stream not far from the house and a while ago I'd seen some barbel (catfish) swimming around in it, so today with nothing better to do and fed up sitting in front of the laptop working on a presentation for an upcoming seminar we're hosting, I took my fly rod down.
After looking around the river for a while, not seeing a rise, I went back upstream and saw a pool where there were some fish rising. That was all I needed to get me to put the rod together (a 9-weight saltwater rod - those fish would break my 5-weight rod, I reckoned) and move the car back closer to the pool. First I tied on an orange "booby" fly (a dry fly that floats with the aid of sponge for eyes....dunno what it's supposed to look like). Nothing happened after a few minutes so I tied on a fly called a "Yellow DDD" and had a few casts. No luck...so I tried a fly called a "half-a-chicken", a big black thing with red tail streamers which is supposed to be good for barbel. Again, no luck after a few casts.
This time I thought I might try an imitation grass hopper, called a "Joe's Hopper". A few casts and I had a few chases, but only after I noticed that they were chasing it after it "plunked" onto the surface....it looked like the noise was attracting them. So I waited for a rise and splashed the Hopper right next to it. Next thing I know, the line straightens and a barbel takes off like a fucking freight train. It took all the loose line I was hanging onto, about 3 or 4 metres, and then carried on going, taking about another 3 or 4 off the reel which was screaming like a banshee from the drag.
I managed to get the fish under control, brought it in a bit, it took a couple more runs and started swimming upstream, so I followed it from the bank. After about 10 minutes it tired, and I managed to get it to the bank but there was no way I was going to pick that slimy thing up. Luckily it was so tired it just flopped about a bit and I tried to get the fly out its mouth with some long-nose pliers, but the knot snapped as I tried to twist the hook out. Judging by the look of the fly, it was buggered anyway, so I didn't try any more to get the fly back and guided the fish back into the stream.
Not before I got some pictures of it though...... ;-)))) Even while I was fighting it, I had one hand on the rod and managed to get the digital camera out of my fly vest pocket to take a couple of pictures. Then when I got it to the bank, I took a couple more.
I reckon the fish was between 4 and 5 kilograms......have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself. On top of which, the leader I was using was rated 2.5kg breaking strain...so it was a good fight and result. The thin red circle to the left of it's mouth is where I highlighted the fly, still in the fish's mouth.
After that, I had to tie on another leader cos the barbel tried to wrap me around some debris in the water and frayed it, so I also tied on another grasshopper imitation from my fly box and tried a while longer. Turns out, the hook on that version was very weak (it was actually a number 10 trout hook) and bent straight on two subsequent takes that I had. Ah well.......
It turned out to be quite an interesting afternoon and I'll probably do it again sometime that I need a break..... ;-))))
This time I thought I might try an imitation grass hopper, called a "Joe's Hopper". A few casts and I had a few chases, but only after I noticed that they were chasing it after it "plunked" onto the surface....it looked like the noise was attracting them. So I waited for a rise and splashed the Hopper right next to it. Next thing I know, the line straightens and a barbel takes off like a fucking freight train. It took all the loose line I was hanging onto, about 3 or 4 metres, and then carried on going, taking about another 3 or 4 off the reel which was screaming like a banshee from the drag.
I managed to get the fish under control, brought it in a bit, it took a couple more runs and started swimming upstream, so I followed it from the bank. After about 10 minutes it tired, and I managed to get it to the bank but there was no way I was going to pick that slimy thing up. Luckily it was so tired it just flopped about a bit and I tried to get the fly out its mouth with some long-nose pliers, but the knot snapped as I tried to twist the hook out. Judging by the look of the fly, it was buggered anyway, so I didn't try any more to get the fly back and guided the fish back into the stream.
Not before I got some pictures of it though...... ;-)))) Even while I was fighting it, I had one hand on the rod and managed to get the digital camera out of my fly vest pocket to take a couple of pictures. Then when I got it to the bank, I took a couple more.
I reckon the fish was between 4 and 5 kilograms......have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself. On top of which, the leader I was using was rated 2.5kg breaking strain...so it was a good fight and result. The thin red circle to the left of it's mouth is where I highlighted the fly, still in the fish's mouth.
After that, I had to tie on another leader cos the barbel tried to wrap me around some debris in the water and frayed it, so I also tied on another grasshopper imitation from my fly box and tried a while longer. Turns out, the hook on that version was very weak (it was actually a number 10 trout hook) and bent straight on two subsequent takes that I had. Ah well.......
It turned out to be quite an interesting afternoon and I'll probably do it again sometime that I need a break..... ;-))))
1 comment:
No. That's the short answer to the question...although I do love fish especially done on a barbie!
Post a Comment