went down the forth & clyde canal this afternoon for a couple of hours trying for the toothy fellas , no joy....... again lol,im havin bother casting the flies im only using a 7/8 weight rod and a shakespeare glider floater with a 3ft sink tip-dont think this is gettin the fly where i want it? gonna have to buy the correct gear ,if anyone on here fishes this cana succesfully for pike on the fly fancy giving me some pointers

whilst i was fishing i was surprised when all of a sudden a cormorant popped out the water about 100 yards away from me has anyone else seen them on this canal???

Yes, I've seen them Suppose you could look at it on the bright side as a sign of a healthy fish population! for now anyway!

You really need to get a specialist Pike line or a shooting head, as a standard trout WF taper just won't cut it Blobs. One mistake I made as a newcomer was also making my leader too long - this will also affect effective turnover of your flies.

Dougie

yeah dougie i couldnt believe it , not very good for the future fishing!, aye! im only using a leader of about 6 foot i can maybe cast about 15 yards but its really hard work i noticed the water clarity is miles better than the union! i will defo be going back once i get the right gear sorted out

I would say a #9 line is the lightest you can get away with Blobs. I use a #10 on a #9 rod on the canal. Don't be scared to use big flies, or you will just get jacks. As Dougie says, keep the leader short, especially if you are using an #8 line.

I find an intermediate a better choice than the floater for the canal.

Alex
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Roll Blunts

9/10# line/rod, to turn over pike size flies. inter is better than floater.

jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Hi

Ive caught jacks on the F & C around Falkirk on my 9' 8# using big rainbow flys, yes the F & C is often very,very clear packed with roach and perch ! Its like fish soup

Just cormorants Other day near bonnybridge i saw 8 cormorants , 2 mergansers , and 4 gooseanders worst still ive seen alot on the river carron eating all those lovely wild brownies

I think it would be reasonable to have an open season on cormorants say Oct-Feb on inland waters Perhaps its time they should change the law

Englander

cheers dudes! gonna have to go and buy a new rod and line,wire traces and tie some massive flies for this weekend then damn!

something needs to be done about them, surely they will be wiping out a lot of fish! especially on the carron

Before Xmas I was catching a fair few Pike down on the forth n Clyde...see

http://urbanflyfisher.com/825/

I reckon the water is a little too murky now for the fly to be effective, something I have learned is that if the pike is to take your fly it has to see your fly. Well, I suppose there is always one that will still take my fly in murky water but certainly a lot less.

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http://urbanflyfisher.com/

yeah i read ur blog alot mate , you fish a different area from me but i would imagine it all fishes the same, if anyone fancies showing me the ropes some time let me know
cheers