The bung

[coch a bonddu]

Are there any competition anglers out there and if so can I ask you what your thaughts are on the use of the bung. The bung is basically a sacrificial high buoyancy fly which is attached to the top dropper of the cast with either epoxy buzzer or nymph style flies tied on the point and second dropper. A cast is made and as with buzzer fishing the angler keeps in touch with the flies whilst maintaining a vigilant eye on the bung fly which is usually tied in flash bright colours for maximum visibility. Any movement on the bung fly indicates that a fish has taken one of the sunk flies. Many have likened this method to float fishing with a fly, should the method be allowed in competitions?

[skinhead]

Oi Oi,

I'm not a competition angler & have no wish ever to become one. As far as I'm concerned if I wanted to fish with a brightly coloured indicator for any species, I'd use a float rod & drown some maggots. To my mind it's not fly fishing. What next, rod pods & electronic bite alarms?

[Old Smoothound]

I used to be a match fisherman and I did experiment with this method on Blagdon Reservoir and on a local small stillwater.
The results quite plainly, pointed to it being a "deadly" method in the right weather conditions. Trout could be caught that would otherwise be "difficult" using conventional methods of fly fishing. I have to say I never use the "Bung" method. But have seen and do see people using it regularly on small stillwaters and reservoirs. To my mind if you have to hang flies beneath a "float" then you really are scraping the bottom of the barrel. But match fishermen are there to catch quantities of fish and fly fishing "Etiquette" sometimes goes out of the window when you are fishing to team tactics and time limits.

But in saying that Fly fisherman all over the world use sight indicators and "Floating" dough or flies on Rivers, so it is an accepted "method". But the water is moving and they don't just hang them there waiting for a fish to pick up the fly.

I have enough "methods" in my armoury to catch Trout. On Rivers I don't use a sight indicator but "wax" the end of my fly line with Dilly Wax, so it does not sink, I even have markers on the last 6 inches or so, so I can see it more clearly. As soon as the tip darts forwards or does something different then I treat it as a take. It works for me so I don't need to float fish for my Trout.

On Reservoirs I can still fish my nymphs and buzzers "static" when drifting in a boat or fishing from the bank. From the bank I use the wind to move my fly line in a natural way to imitate the natural hatching process of a buzzer. From the boat I can keep up with the fly line as we drift, and my boat partner will think I am retrieving my flies although I am not. Oh and it takes "skill" to do this.

But each to his own and I will continue not to use the "Bung".

As in life "there are many ways to skin a cat"!!

[fishypaul]

in my opinion its a little like the method for catching carp,
its a productive way of doing things that upsets the purists,
if it catches fish and is not cheating then good luck to them.

[coch a bonddu]

I think that I agree with Fishypaul in that if it is not cheating then why not. Think back to the day's when nymph fishing on the chalk streams was frownd upon by the then purists, today people understand that it requires a great deal of skill to fish the nymph correctly.
There is little doubt that competition fishing has helped to developed the sport as we know it, each season we hear of new inovations and developments all of which require a degree of skill on the part of the angler.
I am aware that not all anglers agree with competition fishing but surely to each his own.
Returning to subject of the bung can I now ask your views on the washing line method, this method requires that a highly buoyant fly is tied on the point with a couple of buzzers tied on the droppers, the angler once again simply keeps in touch with the cast, the buzzers are kept at a constant depth by the buoyant point fly and steady retrieve, the depth of the buzzers are dependant on length of dropper.

[skinhead]

Oi Oi,

Call me old fashioned, but again not a practice that I agree with.

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by coch a bonddu

Returning to subject of the bung can I now ask your views on the washing line method, this method requires that a highly buoyant fly is tied on the point with a couple of buzzers tied on the droppers, the angler once again simply keeps in touch with the cast, the buzzers are kept at a constant depth by the buoyant point fly and steady retrieve, the depth of the buzzers are dependant on length of dropper.

One of the best lines to use for this method is the "Slime" line made by Scientific Anglers.

You can fish 4 flies using this method if you wish.

Point fly Booby in a colour of your choice, middle dropper diawl Bach, top dropper buzzer..... Or the other way around for the nymphs.

Use a 15 foot leader with the flies spaced about 4 feet apart with 3 feet to the fly line. Cast out a good line...count down to the required depth (you need to know the sink rate of your line to do this) then slowly retrieve back towards you. The nymphs "hang" underneath the booby and it is a deadly method. N.B. The longer your leader the deeper the flies will fish.

If using 4 flies the set up is normally booby on the point, 2 nymphs then another booby on the top dropper, or another nymph. With the "extra" Nymph this will fish deeper in the water column, and with the "extra" Booby it will fish shallower. Obviously you will need to lengthen your leader accordingly.

Takes can be savage so hold on! By switching lengths of leader and weight of nymphs you can saty in touch with the fish as they rise and fall in the water column during the day, if it is sunny then cloudy etc.

The "method" is best fished from a drifting boat.

I use this method a lot when competition fishing and experiment with it on waters I do not know well. I see nothing wrong with this method. As its a great fish catcher in the right hands, as you are actually working the flies and not leaving them there for a Trout to hook itself on.

[coch a bonddu]

Fantastic advice Smoothound, I will have to give it a go this season as most of my fishing is from drifting boats.

[Miles]

Interesting stuff.

Maybe I'm at odds with the angling world here, but I'd like to see less of a 'division' between coarse and game, match and pleasure, imitative and lure angling. There are lots of ways of catching fish and as long as you treat our finned friends with respect and care, then use whatever suits you, within the rules of the fishery of course.



I was out on a small stillwater recently and after trying for a couple of hours with a variety of nymphs and not getting a touch, I switched to a couple of boobys on a sinking line and was 'in' straight away. Chatting to another angler, he was very dismissive of the booby and the method, but I'd caught and he hadn't ! Don't get me wrong, I mostly fish to 'get away from it all' and I do blank from time to time, so I don't have all the answers, but on the other hand I wouldn't pay for a ticket just to walk around the lake ! If a technique was just hauling them out every cast on the other hand, I'd be keen to switch to a less effective method to make the most of my time and bag limit. Maybe I'm missing the point here though.....

A certain amount of what we do is unchanged from Juliana Berners 'Treatyse' from the 17th century. On the other hand the tackle manufacturers are investing quite a bit to make better rods, reels, lines etc. If someone wanted to fish with a cane rod and silk line, then that would be okay wouldn't it ? Are we cheating using carbon fibre rods and pvc coated lines ? Otherwise, why is a piece of foam so different from deer hair for example ?

I think the thing that is interesting about angling in general is that each has their own favourite methods, for whatever reason, maybe in different conditions. I think ground baiting a trout lake is taking it a bit far, but otherwise it wouldn't worry me overmuch if someone was fishing a worm off a float in the same water. But.........

Good ettiquette is giving space to other anglers, not harming fish, respecting whatever rules the fishery imposes and not being greedy. I think that's more relevant to the enjoyment and more worthy of debate than bungs and boobys versus dries and wets !

[Miles]

By the way......

It might sound a bit naive, but how do these competitions work ? I know nothing about fly fishing competitions, but recognise that anglers could be catching quite a lot of fish, sometimes upto 20 ? If so, are they all killed and taken ? That's quite a lot of trout, so what happens to it all ? Is it sold/given to a sales outlet at the end ?

I'd always have thought that competitions were catch and release, but how would you verifiy that what you'd caught was true, when you were half a mile out on a reservoir ?

I'm not really the type to go for any sort of competition and try to fish C&R when available (or taking one or two per session at the most) but I guess a big competition could remove several hundred fish in one day. Is this the case ? Just curious really, that's all.