IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:

Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com

Myths & Legends

Our October 2000 contribution from Lesley Crawford

'The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but obtainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope' John Buchan

Trout fishing is riddled with cute little old wives tales specially devised to encompass anything remotely connected to the sport. Choice of flies, the weather, where and when to fish; you name it, fishermen have got a saying about it! - A plethora of superstition, myth and legend surrounds angling for trout. Quite why this should be so remains a mystery, other great nationalistic outdoor pastimes like golf don`t even come close. Have you ever heard a golfer say he is selecting a club because the winds in the west and the colour's just right for a dull day?

Its got to be something to do with the fact that our fishing is never an exact science, you might or you might not catch trout and anything that might assist the quest has got to be tried (at least once!). Our angling has so many imponderables attached to it, little wonder so much mystique has grown up over centuries. The outcome is never certain, so much so that anybody can call themselves an expert angler for that special hour/day/week when they manage to get it all exactly right. It strikes me that its often very difficult to see the fish for the froth, so let's dissect a few of the more well known fishermen's tales...

`Bright fly, bright day, dull fly for a dull day'
In anything regarding fly selection this must be one of the most well known quotes. Trouble is, its just as effective in reverse. The theory behind it being that the clarity of a trouts eyesight is disrupted in bright light (true) and that the fish will see a gaudy fly better in sunny conditions (not true, it cannot see very well, full stop). Equally on dull days trout see any fly (bright or dark) much better, hence you can sometimes reverse this saying and still get good results!

`Bright water, bright fly, dark water dark fly'
This is a corruption of the above but it actually works quite well. Bright in this context refers to clear water while dark water refers more to the peat stained variety. A silver or gold bodied fly like a Wickhams, Silver Invicta, Teal Blue and Silver or Butchers usually works well on the point fly in clear water while dark flies like the Kate McLaren, Black Palmer, Pennel are normally very effective in peaty water. However, the theory can be sometimes be reversed to good effect. A trouts eyesight is completely different to ours but it has been established that fish do see the colours black, blue, brown and red better than other shades. Pity you can't tell them that, especially when they are playing hard to get!

`You can't catch trout in brilliant sunshine'
This follows on from the above for trout will always shy away from bright light. Shine a torch into a dark pool and trout will scatter, if they had eyelids they would blink, if they had hands they would automatically shade their eyeballs. Unfortunately they do not have these human appendages so their only option in very bright light is to turn away from it. However to say no trout can be caught in sparkling sunshine is completely wrong. If the light is on the fishes backs OR the sunshine is being experienced early or late in the season when the suns rays are more deflected off the water, these conditions will make little difference and your catches should still be reasonable.

`Wild trout do not shoal like rainbows '
Lots of nonsense has been written over the years concerning brown trout and their apparent shoaling activities. Undoubtedly, brown trout are solitary territorial creatures, however from time to time they do give the appearance of congregating in a shoal. A particularly lush food source for example mayfly or bibio being funnelled at a narrow point in a loch/river will always see many trout concentrated together to gulp down the bounty. Equally different ages of trout will appear to be in groups, this is particularly obvious during sea or brown trout smolt migrations when yearlings will come together to enter the main river or loch. Also mature trout of similar age will gather in quite some number at the mouths of spawning burns in late September/October time. The important thing to remember is that once these various events in the trouts calendar have past, the fish will disperse back to more solitary positions.

`The best trout lie off the windward shore'
This legend has grown up around the fact that insects will be carried down wind and collect on the windward shore where the trout can feed at will. This is OK if the gale bound shore happens to normally have good feeding and has plenty of trout in its vicinity. However if the wind is sweeping down on to a bald deep sterile shore with a normally poor food supply and little shelter then there's little chance any trout are going to be there! And even if you are fishing a normally productive bank, trying to cast into the teeth of a Force 8 gale will leave you knackered in the space of minutes rather than hours. Forget casting exhibitions at game fairs, showy casting in a light breeze is very different from throwing a line in the hurricanes experienced in the north!

'With wild trout a degree of matching the hatch is necessary'
Not really! Brown trout will take anything provide it look remotely edible and does not scare them. Even when you determinedly create exact imitations trout will confound you. I've fished beautiful small sedges and artificial midge only to find the trout I had so cleverly caught were full of baby frogs! A colleague went one better when he found trout caught from his local burn had been busily eating rice pudding scraps from a local hotel. Ho hum...

`Fish between 2 points'
This is truism which works quite well (most of the time!). Where a loch or stream has a number of obvious promontories these will break up the uniformity of the shoreline and create mini currents and micro environments which harbour good trout fodder. Where there is food and a degree of shelter there will be trout and therefore you should always be on your metal when fishing `between 2 points'.

`You can only catch sea trout at night in pitch darkness'
Not always the case thankfully especially if you find night fishing a tiring spooky and frustrating business. Sea trout are not always that cautious and can be caught on any dull breezy day providing they are there and you are not that obvious in your intentions.

Myths dispelled?? Maybe. Oh oh I've just thought of more . Did I tell you the one about there being `No mayfly north of the Watford Gap' - Tosh and bosh that one, or what about `Red sky at night'

Tight Lines

About Lesley Crawford

Lesley has fished for brown trout and sea trout from a very early age and her enthusiasm for these beautiful Scottish fish shows no signs of diminishing. She is well known as a leading angling writer and photographer with prodigious articles in a wide range of publications including Salmon Trout & Sea Trout and the Scotsman.

Lesley is a REFFIS qualified fishing guide and arranges bespoke wild trout angling holidays in the Northern Highlands. Her first major book `Fishing for Wild Trout in Scottish Lochs' (Swan Hill 1996) was a runaway success and the long awaited follow up `Scotlands Classic Wild Trout Waters' (Swan Hill) will be published in May 2000. Order your copy now.
Read more about Lesley at www.wildtroutfisher.co.uk

Also within Fish & Fly...

September 2000: How many times have you enjoyed great success with one particular pattern on your favourite water only to return in a day or so to find said fly hardly raises a trout never mind hooks one? Lesley Crawford on fly selection for wild trout

August 2000: Caithness - Land of Limestone lochs Lesley Crawford does a bit of flag waving for her home county

July 2000: The more I fish for wild trout the more I realise just how unpredictable their behaviour can be... Lesley Crawford on wild trout behaviour

June 2000: If you are a traditional wet or dry fly fisher, first attempts at nymph fishing often meet with mixed success... Lesley Crawford on Fishing the Nymph for Wild Browns

May 2000: We all know fishing is a relaxing yet challenging country pursuit enjoyed throughout Britain and that there are few finer escapes from an over stressed world. It would be great if our children could follow in our footsteps. Lesley Crawford looks at how we can encourage youngsters to take up the sport

April 2000: Lesley Crawford looks at how both the trout and angler react to weather conditions - Wild Weather

March 2000: Lesley Crawford takes a light-hearted look at how to get the most out of your wild trout fishing holiday in Scotland. A Survivor's Guide to Trout Fishing in Scotland.

February 2000: Lesley Crawford takes a seasoned look at various tactics employed by past masters in Scottish trout fishing and ponders how best we can apply old skills in the new millennium. Out with the old and in with the new. 

January 2000: Visiting the Highlands of Scotland for the first time you might be forgiven for thinking you have arrived in loch fishing paradise. An introduction to fishing for trout in Highland lochs from Lesley Crawford.