Gettroutatnight
THE sun doesn’t set until after 9pm these days, temperatures are up and it’s past time for evening sessions to kick in.
The Fario Fly-sponsored boat leagues are kicking off on waters, like the Lake of Menteith near Stirling, which means some serious and some social competition with the chance to pick up skills, prize money or even put yourself in the running for international honours with the Scotland teams.
If you’re not quite at competition level or fancy a leisurely fish, an evening casting at rising fish in the sunshine after work is hard to beat. There are some fantastic fisheries scattered around the country. I’m looking forward to my first Curry Club night on Harelaw in Neilston, near Glasgow. It’s hard to beat a night’s fishing and a feed plus they’ve got a new chef at the on-site coffee shop.
On nights like these you just want to keep it simple and get catching. Remember more flies doesn’t mean more fish, casting further doesn’t mean more fish.
A single fly on a 12ft leader will be easier to turn over, will tangle less and at the end of the day that means you’ll catch more. Presentation is key. There’s no point casting 30 yards and landing in a crumpled heap when you could make a smoother cast 10 yards shorter and be fishing the whole time.
Balance out your setup for smoother power transfer, make a few false casts and get your fly in the water rather than trying to muscle out an extra bit of distance collapsing the loop and putting knots in your leader or worse.
The buzzer hatches are well under way as well as the upwing olive species. Sugar cube buzzers, CDC shuttlecocks or hoppers are all good bets, they all fish in the surface film.
Read the direction of rises and cast them out in front of feeding fish, if there’s nothing obvious happening fan casting out giving your flies a count in each spot before lifting off and recasting will hopefully do the job.
A generic fly in the right spot does better than the most carefully chosen pattern but always make sure to degrease your leader, use whatever mud you like to get that leader through the surface film.
When you’re checking or changing flies reapply the mud. If there are kinks and knots in the leader just replace it, and remember presentation is king
As the evening wears on, an overcast night might push temperatures down and kill off the evening rise so don’t discount your pulling patterns or even sinking lines just yet.
A single snake, a blob, a buzzer under the bung might make the difference if it feels like the fishing has switched off.
When you’re boat fishing you’re able to drift on to the fish, off the bank you’re often casting beyond feeding fish if you try to cast to the horizon.
A belly full of curry and a nice relaxed attitude might just give you an advantage and let you slow down to enjoy the evening.