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ISSUE 142 - THE FISHING PAPER 3
Rolling eggs with a frozen tip Ben Booth
The fish took off under the cages, stripping braid from my reel at a great rate of knots; the fight really was on. Things started to turn in my favour as the fish drifted out from under the nets and I started to gain a bit of line. Shortly after that, I made the mistake of holding the fish in the current, which allowed a bit of weed on the tip ring to freeze, meaning I couldn’t retrieve any line. Eventually the line was freed and the fish came to the bank. The rainbow trout weighed in at 13lb. Malc and I had arrived at the canals and had been greeted by one metre of snow and a minus 10 air temperature, the conditions were what you would call ‘challenging.’ The spot we chose to start the day had produced many high quality fish on recent trips, so the expectation of a success was high. The technique we had chosen to use is commonly known as egg rolling. This technique allows you to fish an egg fly right at the fish’s level and is extremely effective during the winter months. As this type of fishing is ‘touch’ fishing, it is critical your reel is loaded with braid so you can feel the subtle takes. At
the end of your braid, attach a 2m leader of 11lb or 13lb fluorocarbon. At the end of this, attach a ¼ ounce barrel sinker and a further 1.5m of 11lb or 13lb fluorocarbon to the other side of the barrel sinker. My favourite fly to attach to the end of the line is a size 12 peach coloured glo bug, as this is the closest colour to a natural egg as you will get. Next, cast on a 45 degree angle and allow the ¼ ounce sinker to drop to the bottom. Once it has reached the bottom and you can feel it tapping along, you walk downstream with it, making sure you stay opposite where the line goes into the water. The fish usually grab the egg rather lightly, so make sure you strike any time the sinker feels like it is hanging up on the bottom. This technique has accounted for some of the largest trout to ever come out of the canals and is well worth perfecting. The trip was certainly made a memorable one, as we landed a total of 37 high quality rainbow trout, as well as a few nice salmon. An added bonus was, nobody else was fishing the canals, but I suppose you had to be a bit mad to fish in conditions as cold as they were.
Can anyone guess why nobody else was fishing?
Boothy suggests putting all your eggs in one basket this winter.
Malcolm with a magnum 'bullet' of a fish that fell victim to a little egg rolling.
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