Boobies

[A fluff chucker]

Hi smoothhound,
Hope you pick this up.

Thanks for your tip about using coral boobies. I want to tie some and therefore wondered if you felt using a marabou body or a fritz body of similar colour or contrasting colour, what's best?

Today took a limit 6 rainbows = 15lb. :) + some smaller and brownies returned. All on black boobies with black fritz bodies tied on normal size 10 hooks

A guy (national welsh fisherman) yesterday was doing well with a booby + another nymph. Do you know if the booby goes on the tail? Today I've been using a short (18") leader as the fish are pretty well on the bottom - not much room for a dropper?

Anybody else out there got useful info on boobies - keep it clean!

Cheers. A fluff chucker

[Old Smoothound]

[quote=A fluff chucker]Hi smoothhound,
Hope you pick this up.

Thanks for your tip about using coral boobies. I want to tie some and therefore wondered if you felt using a marabou body or a fritz body of similar colour or contrasting colour, what's best?

Today took a limit 6 rainbows = 15lb. :) + some smaller and brownies returned. All on black boobies with black fritz bodies tied on normal size 10 hooks

A guy (national welsh fisherman) yesterday was doing well with a booby + another nymph. Do you know if the booby goes on the tail? Today I've been using a short (18") leader as the fish are pretty well on the bottom - not much room for a dropper?

Hi fluff chucker,

Booby fishing is not all about fishing on the bottom. Welsh international was probably fishing the Booby on the point on a 5-6 foot leader with the nymph on a dropper halfway down. Visualise this ......Booby floats high in the water, nymph is halfway therefore looks like a buzzer on its way to the surface... the fish will either.... hit the booby or if not they will turn away and hit the nymph on the way back down.

The trick with Booby fishing is the retrieve..... the quicker you retrieve the deeper the booby fishes and vice versa.... very slow retrieve the higher up. It is best to vary the speed until a rainbow hits the fly, then keep on this retrieve until it goes quiet again. Then change the speed.
Whatever you do when you feel plucks from the fish, do not strike keep the retrieve going, then when all goes solid lift into the fish. Rainbows hit the Booby from the side and behind and sometimes they just nip the tail.

I use a DI8 for all my bottom fished booby fishing, but also on clear intermediates (slime line) but this last year have had great success on a floating line... booby on the point and 2 nymps behind. Kinda fishing upside down from normal bottom fishing... if that makes sense.

When loch style boat fishing I use 2 boobies and 2 nymphs on a 20 foot leader! in 14 feet of water.

I hope this helps.

[Ben]

i never knew you could bottom fish when fly fishing
learn something new everyday

[A fluff chucker]

Hi Old Smoothound,

Thanks for the info; it is clear now. I'll give it a go next week and let you know how I get on.

Cheers. A fluff chucker

[A fluff chucker]

Would only take boobies today - cold. Tried the two flies; olive nymph etc on dropper, but only hit the black fritz booby. Brace of good rainbows

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by A fluff chucker

Would only take boobies today - cold. Tried the two flies; olive nymph etc on dropper, but only hit the black fritz booby. Brace of good rainbows

Well done.... the Booby strikes again....!!

Check out your post tomorrow!

[A fluff chucker]

Coral boobies are a hit.

Cold day no fish moving but I get a good brace of 2lb rainbows and Doreen had 3 hits and one of which was a Biggie - unfortunately line broke just above the hook before landed. She will now keep an elastic band on her spool of leader rather than jamming it in the spool slit as I'm sure the latter can damage the line.

Nobody else caught anything !

Thanks Old SmoothHound for your tip on Coral Boobies.

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by A fluff chucker

Coral boobies are a hit.

Cold day no fish moving but I get a good brace of 2lb rainbows and Doreen had 3 hits and one of which was a Biggie - unfortunately line broke just above the hook before landed. She will now keep an elastic band on her spool of leader rather than jamming it in the spool slit as I'm sure the latter can damage the line.

Nobody else caught anything !

Thanks Old SmoothHound for your tip on Coral Boobies.

My pleasure Fluff....

Glad you had a good day. Sorry to hear Doreeen found out the hard way.... never use the slit on the side of the spool... it does damage your line.... any small nick in it spells disaster! ITs a good idea to use a rubber band. I always use Fulling Mill fluro carbon and it comes with its own little band to hold the line. Job done!

Did your fish come on a slow steady retrieve or did you jerk it back, or stop slow, stop slow retrieve??

Had they been feeding on Daphnia?

[A fluff chucker]

Hi Old Smoothound

The truth will out!

One was caught fair and square on a slow retrieve and stopping for the booby to rise a little (stop slow). The other was static - I was having a coffee at the time and I'd just cast out and left it.

Doreen's were all slow stop.

Unsure about Daphne

Going again tommorow and poss Monday - your'e welcome any time you want. The fishing doesn't get any easier now till April that's when the club start restocking again . I think February may be closed prior to AGM in March.