Clearwater stalking has to be my favourite way of targetting trout. There's just something about seeing your target fish before casting to it and watching its response. The problem of smaller fish racing to get to your fly before the target fish can be a nuisance though to say the least and I'm forever drawing the fly away and re-casting as a result.
Are there any other stalking enthusiasts willing to share any tips? Do you have any particular favourite bugs/nymphs in your fly wallet?
Personally, I try and be as imitative in my fly selection as possible.

"Nothing with feathers on after 12 noon" from a bailiff at Avington was good advice given to me a while ago. After the fish have seen a few flies is the time that small examples of When All Else Fails, superglue buzzers, Damerham nymphs and so on can really score.

Stalking is one enjoyable method among many, but I must admit that the moment a big or very big trout that I have stalked gently but deteminedly sucks in the fly is mesmeric.

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

[QUOTE=JohnH;410544]"Nothing with feathers on after 12 noon" from a bailiff at Avington was good advice given to me a while ago.QUOTE]
That's interesting John,I shall have to remember that.
I see that you're from the Southampton area...used to live there myself until 5 years ago. Have you ever fished at John O'Gaunts? I used to visit the place every now and then...mind you, that was 20 years ago
My favourite water was Damerham...such a shame it's no longer available on a day ticket

I have never tried JO'G, Rich - I split my small stillwater time between Avon Springs and Holbury, because both offer good fish in nice surroundings and both have a pleasant river beat available as well as the lakes. I like a bit of reservoir fishing as well !

Agree about Damerham. Lovely spot, and I also wish it was still available on a day ticket basis.

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

When I fished small stillwaters I used to only fish on waters where I was able to see and target individual fish. Damerham and Allen's Farm (later renamed Rockbourne) were my early favourites but later I spent a lot of time at Rooksbury Mill, also now sadly closed. I liked Rooksbury because, as well as being 1 hour nearer to home, it didn't stock too many of the monsters but the average weight was high and the proportion of browns was higher than most, plus it had a nice river stretch.

My main tip for stalking is to concentrate on the margins in the places where it is difficult to cast or fish as 90% of anglers are lazy and will usually walk past these spots and as a result there are often a few fish in the area that are less disturbed. Also, not to use leaders that are too thick for the fly as presentation then suffers as the fly looks wooden and unnatural.

I developed a green PTN derivative nymph for use in the margins that would sink on an even keel, had no gold beads or tinsel and looked like a natural nymph. Fish would swim up to this fly and just inhale it and I caught 70% of my fish on it.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Can you give more details on how you tied this? The only stillwater fishing I do is stalking the margins and casting to specific fish which means I'm always on the lookout for this type of fly.

If there are any trees or bushes overhanging the water I really like using a small black beetle or ant imitation. Advantage is that you don't have to land the fly too gently as in real life these insects do make a bit of a splash as they land and struggle in the water. Come the right season and if there is high grass around the banks I'll start using a grasshopper pattern. For nymphs I stay away from anything with a gold bead or tinsel.

The tying is roughly as follows:

Hook: Jardine Living Nymph size 12, 14 or 16.
Thread: Green
Thorax underbody: 2 - 3 turns of fine lead wire
Tail: 3 or 4 stiff green cock hackle whisks
Body and wing cases: Green goose primary - about 3 fibres
Thorax: Green SLF (or similar) picked out for legs

It must be fished on an appropriate tippet, either 4x or 5x. If you get the amount of lead wire right the fly will break the surface film fairly easily and then sink slowly on an even keel. I get many takes on the drop but a little tweak often persuades a reluctant fish.

Send me your address by PM and I'll send you a couple.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Hi Sewinbasher, thanks for your reply. I didn't realise Rooksbury had closed, mind you, I've not fly-fished for a while and have only just re-kindled my interest in it again. You're right to mention the margins, nothing better than spotting a nice trout that everyone else has passed by. I try and use stealth when approaching and casting to fish. There's nothing more exasperating than seeing your prize fish bolt towards the middle of the lake because of a clumsy footfall or because it's caught sight of you. Having said that, I've also misadvertantly come across large fish that show absolutely no concern whatever when I've shown myself on the skyline.

Rooksbury closed as a trout fishery in the Foot and Mouth year of 2001, Rich. It was compulsorily purchased by either Andover town council or Test Valley for incorporation into a public "water park". Coarse fishing is still offered there.

We lost a number of other good fisheries that year - Langford, and Croxley Hall, for example.

There's some crossovers between river fishing and small stillwater stalking, and a point is well made by Neil Patterson that if you stand stock still by the waterside for long enough (20 minutes?) you qualify as a bush in the eyes of the trout

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

There were always some cracking coarse fish in there, Mill Lake in particular. On one occasion I was after very big brownies that had the fry penned up in the top corner and was having trouble getting past the 2lb+ perch that were joining in.

Whilst fishing on Mill Lake one day I saw a large tench of about 5 or 6lbs swimming along the margin. It was attended by a hoard of small roach which seemed to be picking parasites or slime off the flanks of the fish. I'd never seen that behaviour before and made me think about the tench's reputation as a "doctor fish".

There was also a huge carp that patrolled at the bottom of Mill Lake and frightened the bejazzers out of me when it appeared behind a fly.

I'm sure that there were coarse fish in Barlows but they didn't seem to be so obvious there.

__________________
“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary