Leeries - so what have we learnt?

[FIGJAM]

Chris were you useing barbless hooks?

[Clintfly]

Ding... Ding... Ding... Round 3

[Chris Shelton]

Chris were you useing barbless hooks?

Honest answer...no. The reason for not having debarbed my hook is that firstly I didnt have the confidence that I would get something in the first place and secondly, when I found success, the only thing on my mind was euphoria. Having caught a few and a lot more confident of my hookups, I will be debarbing in future. I was just discussing it with Stephen this morning in fact.

[Chris Shelton]

I have lost two fish with barb and all though, for some unexplained reason. I put it down to a blunt hook, but they may have just been lightly hooked. There is nothing worse than losing a leerie after having one on for a while...damn, one works so hard for them....and chances are even greater that you just lost your last chance of the day!

[rols]

thanks chris for the honest answer.
that sat. morning we fished, the first thing i asked pierre is, are your hooks debarbed. i will reserve his answer, i have lost a good few fish, ( more on debarbed) ok so i've started round 4 perhaps, moer me on the chin quick.
this being the euphoria weekend you spoke of i did not want to lose one of these beauties, so yes i also had barbs. no fish anyway.
ps you mentioned that i did not move around too much on sun. morning. that time of the morning, after the all nighter, there was still some unopened liquid gold in the cooler box. at that venue you cant stray too far. ( from the gold, without it being snatched)
that excuse sound ok?
cheers

[Chris Shelton]

thanks chris for the honest answer.
that sat. morning we fished, the first thing i asked pierre is, are your hooks debarbed. i will reserve his answer, i have lost a good few fish, ( more on debarbed) ok so i've started round 4 perhaps, moer me on the chin quick.
this being the euphoria weekend you spoke of i did not want to lose one of these beauties, so yes i also had barbs. no fish anyway.
ps you mentioned that i did not move around too much on sun. morning. that time of the morning, after the all nighter, there was still some unopened liquid gold in the cooler box. at that venue you cant stray too far. ( from the gold, without it being snatched)
that excuse sound ok?
cheers

I am sorry Rols, my comment was not meant to be a dig at you. If anyone deserved a fish that morning, it was you. You were working very hard at it, but in a way, you also proved my theory about the one spot thing. The past two weeks have been a major learning curve for all of us and it continues. I will be fishing in the rain this morning..........just to see if the window of opportunity, (that has been so small upto now) opens up just a little. I can't wait! Waders and full rain gear will be the order this morning.....I love it!

[swsmith]

for the record all my fish have been caught on barbed hooks.chris be my witness that i never strugled once to remone the hook amd not once was there even evidence of blood.i understand the importance of de-barbing,but when you hook a fish like this you definately dont want to loose him.especially if you have been putting in the hours and hav not been rewarded.

[fish]

Just my thoughts on the coin's flip side,

The more guys fishing Sandvlei more often will only lead to more people having a collective interest in preserving the place. By giving all the tips, advice, spots etc. more people are motivated to get out there and cast a line, something which wouldn't have happened if it was kept quiet. The more guys visiting the spot the better the feedback and possible action taken against people stuffing up the place.

The odd fish will die when badly hooked, still a pity, but this is a given wherever people fish. The more people learn from others like you guys sharing this spot, the better they will understand and learn how to properly release fish. I can't foresee guys fly fishing there starting to take Leeries out, again the more fishers the more eyes on the ground.

It's always been a known fact that Sandvlei holds big Leeries, the only difference being lately the time of day these fish are caught and maybe the spot. It will go quiet towards winter. David Watt has caught more than 30 Leeries there this past season, John Grey and Glen Martin fish and land fish on a weekly basis.

Keep the reports and info. coming, I believe it's shared with the right people on this forum.

Cheers,

Philip

[ShaunF]

Just my thoughts on the coin's flip side,

The more guys fishing Sandvlei more often will only lead to more people having a collective interest in preserving the place. By giving all the tips, advice, spots etc. more people are motivated to get out there and cast a line, something which wouldn't have happened if it was kept quiet. The more guys visiting the spot the better the feedback and possible action taken against people stuffing up the place.

The odd fish will die when badly hooked, still a pity, but this is a given wherever people fish. The more people learn from others like you guys sharing this spot, the better they will understand and learn how to properly release fish. I can't foresee guys fly fishing there starting to take Leeries out, again the more fishers the more eyes on the ground.

It's always been a known fact that Sandvlei holds big Leeries, the only difference being lately the time of day these fish are caught and maybe the spot. It will go quiet towards winter. David Watt has caught more than 30 Leeries there this past season, John Grey and Glen Martin fish and land fish on a weekly basis.

Keep the reports and info. coming, I believe it's shared with the right people on this forum.

Cheers,

Philip

You raise some very good points Phillip. Hope to see an end to the information blackout, but would still suggest guys are careful about divulging too much information.

[Chris Shelton]

Some useless info here.....I blanked today......didn't even see a single swirl!

I think the low pressure cell has put the fish down