I went to Westlow Mere near Congleton, which is run by Congleton & District Fly Fishers yesterday with Canadakid and was joined later in the day by his brother-in-law Mark.
This place is a cracking fishery, well run, maintained and well stocked. To date I've yet to come across another fishery with stock that fight as hard as these babies do, until you get your first glance at what's taken your fly you would think your in to a fish of a much bigger size.
Now I'm not here to advertise the fishery or slag them off, because I can't. I have no complaints about the fishery, staff or it's occupants...
What has got my goat is my supposedly fellow angler especially any of you who fished at Westlow Mere (your excluded ck) yesterday and made complaints about me and the tactics I chose, to the fishery baliffs!
Those complaints were that I was "breaking fishery rules and cheating".
To those people I would like to say...
Get a grip
Get a life
Get a new hobby
The fishery dose not allow the use of indicators, sightbobs, bungs, indicator yarn, float do whatever you want to call it! They are banned!
I KNOW
One fella did have the balls to point this out to me but soon was off to report me to a fishery baliff who was further up the bank! He could be seen by ck and myself pointing in our direction and saying aloud "yeah the one on the right".
Another fella, I'd say around my age with his teenage son was overheard replying to the son after the son asked "whats that orange thing dad?" "a float, an indicator, it's f'ing cheating".
In a usual days fishing as you and other anglers move about we exchange nods, hello's and the inevitable "have you done out" and the odd conversation just didn't happen! With the exception of two scouse lads who did ask "what fly did you have that on mate" a few times, sooner hadn't, being a Manc and a Man U fan, well you can't resist can you!
People just walked on by and ignored me... I can live with that...
I had my tactics inspected by a fishery baliff in the morning after he told me there had been a complaint made, and in the late afternoon another baliff asked me if I was using a sightbob, who was offered a viewing but was happy with my explanation. On return to the lodge to complete the catch returns book the first baliff who inspected my tactics greeted me with a smile and "you've caused some trouble today". Both baliffs were in the lodge and they told me they had a lot of unhappy anglers complaining about me and my tactics. The first baliff telling the other in front of a couple anglers that he had a look at my setup and I was doing nothing wrong. He then if I recall correctly said those that complained were jealous, because I was catching and they weren't, there was nothing stopping anybody else from doing the same".
Now for those that don't know I'll tell you, my first preference for fly fishing is fishing a dry fly and the surface with emergers and suspender buzzers, if that's not happening I'm usually working a team of buzzers or nymphs, as a last resort and usually only certain times of the year I will open the lure box. My tactics when I visit Westlow are the same and on the few occasions I have been since my first visit in December of last year when temperatures were -7.5*C and still caught 6 rainbows and a brown with buzzers, suspender buzzers and the odd lure.
On my last two visits with ck my main tactics have been to fish a team of 2 or 3 buzzers either static with the ripple and breeze or two twitch them back allowing them to rise and fall a few inches in the water, but very slowly. On the previous visit the yellow marabou tailed buzzer accounted for 20 quality rainbows at a depth of 8 feet and a significant number for ck too. On yesterdays session the yellow buzzer worked well in the sunshine later in the afternoon but the red marabou tailed bloodworm/buzzer worked during the duller part of the day in the morning.
(pictured below with a selection of other suspender buzzers I've tied and use but never had any complaints or accusations from anyone or anywhere).
Both flies were fished on the point of team of three and the offending black suspender buzzer with orange foam post fished on the top dropper, which saw a number of rises and taken fish on other visits. I did utilise the black suspender buzzer as a reference to indicate takes and to hang my point fly at a depth of eight feet after locating the depth they were feeding at however, but surely it has a hook and
has taken fish... It is a fly? Not a dry fly no, nor the prettiest of suspender buzzers but that's my definition... Do you agree?
On both occasions I've finished top rod for the day or thereabouts with a quick look over the catch returns whilst entering my details at the end of the day.
I've never experienced this before or this behaviour from other anglers, all right you always get the odd grumpy sod or the regular who never speaks... But to be accused of cheating because I was the only one to catch consistently and catch well throughout the day...
I finished the day very happy indeed to have upset so many of you and safely return 15 rainbows from all round the far end of the deeps, and will happily watch you all again stripping back your lures to no avail, blaming everybody else but yourselves for the reasons why you didn't catch!
So do you think I was breaking the rules, or cheating? Should I continue to use these tactics and suspender buzzers?
Were you at Westlow Mere yesterday? Did you complain?
Just had to get that of my chest...
Woz
Get a grip
......well with the moaners at their work they will prob put management under pressure and say its still fishing with a sight bob
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