I don't think I've ever caught on a double booby set up (5' apart on a 10' leader)
on a Di-7 fast sinker for early season trout.

Am I alone in thinking this strategy does not work as well as a single booby on a shorter (8') leader? Any suggestions or ideas why this may be the case?

Thanks

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JD - midland reservoir fanatic

single booby on an 8" is even better

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Chris

Gott weiss ich will kein Engel sein

Double booby is far better than one in my opinion. I have, and still do, fish boobies alot and very rarely fish just one. I would suggest that your spacings are not ideal. I tend to fish one at 3ft and the other at around 13ft (measurement from the end of the fly line). 5ft and 5ft is too close together and will scare alot of fish. 5ft is also not close enough to the bottom for early season fishing IMO. The one at 13ft will pick up any fish cruising up in the water whilst the one at 3ft picks up any fish sulking deep. You'll find that both will catch at diffent time of the day.

Since i've been fishing Farmoor regularly i have leant that there is actually quite alot that goes into fishing boobies properly......deadly when you get it right.

I don't fish boobies regularly, but I have fished them two at a time in the past. Usually about 6' apart, and it does work. I'm not sure it works better, or worse, than any other booby method, but then I'm not an expert.

I did once have the oddest experience at Farmoor fishing two boobies. I had the usual "tap-tap" of an interested fish, then nothing and I thought it had lost interest. A few seconds later and with no warning at all everything just locked up and I had a fish on. As it was coming to the net I could see it was on the dropper but I couldn't see the point booby trailing along behind the hooked fish. I thought maybe I hadn't tied the knot correctly and the first fish had pulled the fly off.

When I got the fish in the net I saw the nylon leader coming out of the fish's mouth and round in a loop back into the fish's mouth again, and on closer inspection there in the back of its throat were two boobies. It had obviously eaten the point fly, seen the dropper and swum up and eaten that too. I was retreiving very slowly so it wasn't a case of leaving it static as goes on a lot these days. It does, though, make one think about how often a fish might take the booby into its mouth, swim towards you a couple of feet and then eject the booby without you being any the wiser.

This happend to me twice in a day this year! Only ever had it at Farmoor.....i've also seen it happen to the forums very own Pitsford Pirate! I'm still surprised he didn't lose it!!!

Would have thought that if the intention was to get booby down deep, then the shorter the leader to the first booby the better, any booby tied after first, will be fishing higher up in water column, which just might give you more coverage, but it would also mean first booby didnt fish so deep.
regards
bert

I agree, Chickenfish, but I have to add : even more deadly when you do it wrong. I stopped fishing boobies on long leaders after deep hooking too much fish to my liking. Fishing almost 100% C&R I rarely use them anymore, but when I do my leader is never longer than 5 feet. When fish are taking higher I'll change to slower sinking and intermediate lines with the same 5' leader length. Don't get me wrong : in competition angling it can be important to fish two boobies in different water layers to find where the fish are taking. Personally I don't have the need and will even shorten the leader up to 1 foot if I continue to hook fish too deep (ie more than 1'' inside the mouth). I know it doesn't cast well but the fish are better off.

Best regards,
Johan

Johan

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Johan Janssens

i fish mine similar to chickenfish ie at least 10ft apart but usually have a nymph or buzzer between them.A couple of long tugs then a long pause and the buzzer will rise up nice and slowly with the boobies

Nick

Thanks for the replies, lads.

I notice Rob Edmunds advocates a single booby on a 8' leader for early season Grafham, which is where I'll be heading later this month on the boat.

Considering the venue, do you have any further ideas as to how to present a booby (boobies)?

Also, now I think of it, any advice on which colour would be best (Black/Green seems to be the standard)?

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JD - midland reservoir fanatic

Hi there i would lean towards a tequila blob boobie at 4ft and a cat boobie at 14 ft all about trial and error m8