Have been following Alex's post about the Albury Estate & the previous one that Bill1 recommended about buzzer fishing which interests me as a newbie.

Have been tempted by so many articles about fishing various flies & glossy ads on various web sites that my fly box is bursting to overflowing with a rainbow of 'pretty' looking flies. I know it's the classic first timer mistake and most are probably a waste of space but I just can't help myself! Each time I plan a trip I tell myself I'll have a go with a simple buzzer but everytime I get there, out come the flashy lures - partly, I have to say, as I like to see them coming back at me under the water.

I want to give buzzers a propper go and reading the previous thread has given me some good ideas but I have a couple of questions: floating or inter line? Also I've seen people on here talking about the 'bung' - what is that? some kind of blob or take indicator? I've been pretty hopeless at spotting takes, relying mostly on them hooking themselves - is it the same/easier/harder with buzzers?

Cheers
Chris

By the way, if someone can tell me the correct way to add a link to a thread without having to use the quote buttons I'd be very grateful - totally clueless!!

Hi mate, i shall stick in my tuppence worth!!
There a million and one ways to fish them, heres mine.

When i fish buzzers, i tend to go for a simple set-up, simply cos it has worked for me.

I simply fish a floating line and a cast of three. I almost always have a black buzzer on the point with orange or red cheeks. Then in the middle of the cast i have usually an olive buzzer, and on the top dropper i like to fish a snatcher(this is like a wet fly tied on a buzzer hook) If i start taking fish on 1 of the three, for example the olive, i will replace the black buzzer with a 2nd olive!

As for the way to fish them, in a ideal world, i love a light crosswind, so that i can cast straight out, let the breeze swing the flies round towards the bank. I always have the line in my hand and sometimes do as slow as a figure of eight as possible without stopping, other times literally not moving the line at all.

The takes are very obvious for 2 reasons. Either the rod is literally taken out your hand or the line slowly draws away and because its a floating line you can see this happening.

It took me a long time to get into this style of fishing and have faith in it as requires alot of patience however once you feel the rod wrenching takes, it will convert you!

Buzzers are what fish feed on naturally, so have confidence in fishing and the takes will come!!

On a side note, i use the same set-up/technique with 2 diawl bachs instead of buzzers and can be equally effective.

For ease of explaining the 'Bung' its like a bubble float. Its a small indicator that floats on the water and underneath you suspend your cast of buzzers. I haven't yet tried this, however seen it used to deadly effect. Its ideal on flat calm days, you can vary and determine the depth the fish are feeding at and its normally fished static, cast it out and wait!
When it goes under, fish on!!

Hope this makes sense, everyone has their own method so there will be plenty varations!!

Tight lines and hold on to that rod!!

Thanks Mitchwell

i'll give your ideas a go next time I'm out. do you ever try it as the washing line with something bouyant on the point?

Great explanation from Mitchwell. You will get all sorts of super detailed instructions of how to fish buzzers and eventually your brain will explode!
All you need to know has been said. It is ultimately all about "feel". Stick with it and it will become a rewarding experience.
Do remember though, it is not the be all and end all as some may say. You can still have a lot of fun with a yellow dancer!

There you have some basic information on buzzer fishing. The classic across the wind method is great, but the stronger the wind the more you need to adapt. You'll need to learn to mend the line so as to slow the rate of drift, because buzzer fishing is slow fishing. You may need to put a heavier point fly on to act as an anchor as an example.

The bung was originally designed for a specific fishery and a specific set of circumstances, but like many other things it has been corrupted along the way. The fishery was Farmoor Reservoir, which is a concrete bowl with a max. depth of 33 feet. The puzzle was how to present small imitative patterns at depth, ie 10' and more, and still be able to detect the takes, because contrary to what you have been told, they don't all pull your arm off when buzzer fishing.

The classic bung technique is a long leader - 20' as standard -with 3 buzzers. The point fly needs to be fairly heavy though not big. Cast out across the wind, and as the line starts to belly, mend it to slow everything down. You may need to mend two or three times per cast depending on the wind. What you are aiming to achieve is to get your point and middle flies into a band of water around 10' deep which at Farmoor is around 10 metres out from the bank. From this point up to dry land takes can be expected.

Takes, as correctly identified, are when the bung slips under the water. When you do this method correctly you will be amazed at the number of takes you see as against the ones you feel in the hand, and you will realise that you have missed dozens of offers because you waited for one to pull your arm off.

You are now wondering to yourself, "20' of leader, I'm only using a 10' rod and there's this bung on the end of my flyline. How do I land a fish like that?"
The answer,of course, is to use a bung that will pass through the rod rings and that automatically prevents the use of most of the available bungs, none of which were around when I and my chums started using this method at Farmoor in 1977. You have to make your own and that Egg Yarn is as good as any, and a lot better than we started off with.

In my opinion there are two key aspects of fishing buzzers, or buzzer imitations such as Diawl Bachs and Crunchers :

1. Fish them slow.

2. Find the right depth.

The reason that the bung is so popular and successful is that it stops beginners from retrieving too fast and it allows the angler to suspend buzzers at a variety of depths eg 3ft, 6 ft and 9ft. This means you get three "bites at the cherry".

Where it can lose out is that, by definition, only one fly is at the taking depth. Once you have worked out that depth, there are ways that an angler can keep all flies at that level and so increase the chances of success.

Charlie

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Can you use a strike indicator followed by a couple of buzzers 2ft-3ft apart below with a gold headed buzzer at the point and fish it the same way.

So strike indicator, 2-3ft below 1 buzzer, 2-3ft below that another buzzer, and last on the point a weighted buzzer. Or is a strike indicator best fished with one fly suspened below it.

As with all trout fishing you can never use the words 'always' and 'never'. The above advice is all valid but I've caught more fish than you'd expect using buzzers with a steady retrieve. As a first easy step to wean yourself off lures try adding a black buzzer on a dropper five or six feet above your lure and fish in the same way you did before and I'd be surprised if you didn't pick up bonus fish on the buzzer. When I started doing it I expected most takes to occur 'on-the-drop' but I get as many on the retrieve.

SharkeyP

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Stay at home the Trout obliges.

All excellent advice!!

I have never tried the bung technique however i am going to this season.

The only thing i have to disagree with 'bobp' is that i certainly have had some savage takes when fishing buzzers, esp when the flies were static, however that is fishing and everyone will have 'their' way!!!

I have tries the washing method too...I like to fish a cdc on the point and just one buzzer or diawl bach inbetween the fly line and cdc. I love this method and have found the diwl bach to be best, for me....
I know alot of folk use a booby or a foam arsed blob instead of the cdc, however my thinking was simply a cdc looks more natural, possibly doubling your chances!!
Again, thats my way, there is no right or wrong. I am used to this way, caught quite well on it so find it hard to be patient with something different!!

Fishing amazes me in the way where i can have faith and get results with a method and for example my fishing buddy will never try it saying it has never worked for him! I am like this with orange flies, they have never worked for me and have no faith but he swears by having one somewhere on his cast....and they work for him!!

Its a baffling sport at times but thats all part of it!!!

I'd wait until late March early April. Give black buzzers a go at a time when they're most active. You've a far greater chance of catching then and it'll boost your confidence.

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