Hi All,
hopefully in the correct place.
I have been boat fly fishing for a couple of years now and if i am lucky get to go once a month.
I normally always fish Draycote and would love to catch a Brown Trout.
Obviously i catch rainbows all the time just would love some advice on increasing my chances whether this be by fly, line (different depth etc) or style.
I am not the best caster in the world (pretty rubbish actually) and always fish from a booat normally with a partner, we tend to drift a lot and have had some great catches both on the surface and deep down this way.
So any help with flys and technique would be appreciated.
Pictures of flys would be great as i don't identify then so well by name

Hi KC.

I am usually fairly lucky with brownies, and i'm a strong believer that it's not a question of what, but rather where. Browns tend to favour structure be that contours on the lake bed, dams, bays, overhanging vegetation etc. target these spots to the detriment of drifting over open acres.

you can improve your chances by fishing at fry time, or early morning. It's rare to find a brown in the heat of the day.

If not on the top, i tend to get them on the drop offs or in shallower bays. fish fairly heavy flies deeply and slowly.

Obviously you'll still get more rainbows than browns, but try a few of the above, and you'll hopefully bag your first.

Thanks for the advice i will definatley be trying this tactic, and method of fishing when i get the next chance to go.

Brownie Basher I agree with your advice.

I used to fish the fly from a hired boat on Loch Earn and there were certain areas I learned over time where I could catch good browns, but in other areas it was all rainbows.

I too fish from a boat in loch earn and too many times do i see people hiring a boat out for an hour just to fish at the nets thinking they will catch more.
There is good spots to fish and there isnt actually one in my opinion.

As for advice i would talk to the locals for good flies to use. Nobody actually knows the best time to fish for them but i prefer early morning or late at night.

if there is a drop off under the water fish with intermediate or sinking line and you have to keep a close eye on your line because the fish are down deeper and dont always come to the surface once theyve taken it.

Hope you get a big one.
Grant

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I dont care the size of it as long as its a fish

For once you get good straight advice, when i used to post on forums regarding reptiles that i bred i got so many conflicting answers, i seem to get the feeling that certain areas are more likley to hold a brownie than others.
Maybe in summer when i can do a full day in the boat i can do an early morning sting in these features mentioned then maybe a bit of drifting in the afternoon followed by an evening shot at the features again.
I do like to mix it up when fishing.
I took an old fly rod and got some sea flies and was mackrel bashing in Shuna loch earlier in the year cathing a mackerel on the fly was so much more fun than catching them on feathers 4 and 5 at a time.

It's odd with them broons. if you want one badly,you'll probably have to foresake the good days of 'bagging up' and take your boat to the out of the way spots, or wander the banks looking for a likely spot. if i had to pick a 'standard' favourite area it'd be the ends of the dam, or at the water extraction tower. you'll probably get nothing, but maybe... maybe... i remmeber fishing the tower at Grafham and seeing a brown roll, it was almost the size of a huge carp but i was close enough to see the spots. now i love a stockie brown and stalking a 20lb brownie at avington is nervana for me, but that one, all otf 20lb, had something surreal about him. i remember him as if it was yesterday.