Me again, with another (possibly stupid) newbie question, so apologies in advance if this is a daft one !

I recently read that a good way of fishing boobies is to "fish them deep".
I recently ordered some blobs and boobies, and very colourful they are too. But surely with the big foam eyes, they float? So how does this work?

Again, sorry if I am being stupid, but I'm just trying to learn, and I have learned a lot on these forums so far.
Thanks again,
Gary

To fish them deep, fish them on a fast sinking line with a very short leader - I usually start at about 5 ft then shorten it if required.

Let the line sink to the bottom and then retrieve with long pulls with long delays between them.

What should happen is that the line pulls the booby down and then the foam makes them try to float back to the surface during the pause. Can be a lethal method on its day.

Another method is to fish them again on a fast sinker with a short leader and fish them static - It's not really cricket in many peoples eyes but again lethal in the right conditions - just be sure the water your fishing allows this method and definatley don't do it whilst fishing catch and release as the fish usually take the booby deep down their throat using this method.

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Gary

In order to fish boobies deep you will need a fast sinking line - something along the lines of a DI7. You attach a single booby to your leader which can vary in length from a couple of feet up to 10 or even 12' on occasion. I would suggest about 4' as a starter. You then hurl this out as far as you can and allow the whole lot to sink to the bottom. How long this takes depends on the depth of your fishery, but could be up to 2 minutes. Once you are sure the line is hard on the bottom commence your retreive which needs to be very slow with occasional twitches to make the thing tweak about a bit down on the bottom. Takes will usually be signalled by a tap-tap on the line. Do not strike at this point. Keep your retreive going until the fish commits himself and everything locks up solid. You may find that some fish swallow the booby and you then have a choice of performing a bloody autopsy there and then on the bank, or tying on another booby and getting your other one back when you get home. That is basic booby fishing. There are a number of variations which you can pick up as you go along.

Thanks to both of you for the fast and concise replies.
It makes sense now ! I only have a floating and an intermediate line so far, I was wary of using sinking line as I was a bit wary of getting things stuck on the bottom !
From a few comments on here, it seems booby fishing is frowned upon by certain anglers. Is this because it is seen as a bit unsportsmanlike for some reason?
Thanks again for the help.
Gary.

Bob, you mean it starts at 6 inches and goes up to 2 feet! I use a six inch leader, the idea being because the booby is trying to float, the length of the leader is how far off the bottom the fly is. If the fish are on the bottom you deon't really want the fly to ever be more than a couple of foot above them.
I think the static method is more frowned upon than the fly. The fish swallowing boobies fact can be very poorly explained/ understood. Fish don't swallow them because they are boobies, they swallow them when they are static. Fish a booby fast and a buzzer under a bung, the buzzer will be swallowed more, guarantee it. But nonetheless, as previously said, don't fish them catch and release.
People that do try to discourage others from fishing such methods should p**s off. It's a perfectly fine method of fly fishing. There are many reasons as to why some people don't like it, and they should keep those to themselves, try telling them you don't agree with what they do and see what they say! Fish how you like, within the rules, and enjoy it. I love fishing a variety of methods. If i fished single dry all the time i'd be bored within a week.
You can fish boobies on an inter, try trimming the eyes a bit, so they aren't quite so buoyant. Only problem is it will take a while for the booby to sink on the inter and if you're in more than 10 feet of water it's pointless (although through the winter rainbows generally hit the shallows)! I would reccommend a Di 5/7/8 if you plan on using this method a lot, or if your fishery is deep.

Hi Gary,
all is not lost, you can still fish the booby sub surface on the inter by adding a sinking poly-leader. I've used this method on reservoirs that shelve away but are still shallow (and rocky) close in. The fish might be 6-8 feet down and reachable with a weighted fly but you can avoid most of the snags with a buoyant fly and your retrieve will stay longer in the feeding area.

You could fish even deeper with that set up, but the drop would take a long time. Put a Di3 sinker (or faster) on your Christmas list!

SharkeyP

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Have to say, I don't agree with that theory. So many people think that because the booby is buoyant, it will be trying to 'pop up' to the surface whatever depth it's fished. Really what happens is that in more than half a dozen feet of water, weight of water pressure counteracts the relatively minor degree of buoyancy afforded by the foam eyes and the fly assumes something more like neutral density. The idea that with a 6' leader on, the fly will sit vertically up, 6' off the bottom is incorrect - once the fly line is pulled to bring the fly down to the same plane, it will hover there or thereabouts (assuming you're fishing over a reasonable depth of water).

M

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stockiebashersltd,

I know some people use "leaders" as short as 6", but as I use boobies rarely and when I do it is at Farmoor, I have found that a leader of around 6' with two boobies 3' apart works well enough. This length of leader allows the boobies to move around even at a virtual dead stop retrieve. A leader as short as 6" is likely to spend most of its time buried in the algal growth on the concrete banking, even if static, as it is amazing how much current is set up on a 240 acre oval shaped reservoir. On a small lake currents will not be as much of a problem so the shorter leader may work better.

Gary,

The reason that boobies are frowned upon in certain circles is because they work and catch fish. As a method it has been corrupted to a large extent from the original just like the indicator, but they both work well on their day. There are those on this forum who frown at just about every method of catching trout. They ignore the fact that the sport is called "fishing", and would probably prefer it to be called "sitting by a lake getting wet & cold" or "sitting in a boat getting sunstroke". Heaven forbid that some of these Jonahs should actually catch something as I'm sure it would provoke a serious crisis of conscience from which the only beneficiaries would be a therapist!

Enjoy catching fish by all legitimate methods. Don't get stuck on one method, but try all ways and means. Fish as often as you can and keep a diary.

Boobie fishing is frowned upon in my opinion because a) You can catch a lot of fish on them and b) The fish tend to take the fly deep down its throut, you might luckily catch a lot just mouth hooked but every now and then you,ll get one which has practically swallowed the whole fly which is a disaster if fishing catch and release. A slow retrieve generally helps combat this problem. ck

I believe this is incorrect. If you cast out an intermediate line, it will stop sinking when it reaches its neutral density, due to the upthrust of the water and increased pressure. Your explanation suggests it would sink faster the deeper it goes. When something buoyant sinks, it tries to float even more, as the density and pressure of the water increases, but that of the booby does not. Meaning that in relation, the booby is even less dense. try swimming to the bottom of your local pool with one and letting go!
I don't know if there are any physicists that can confirm either way???