Bassarisk

Kayak's are becoming popular in the UK for Saltwater fishing out on the open sea and estuarys. The odd few use them on large recreational lakes as well. I've never used a kayak, but regularly use a float tube/belly boat and can see what you mean about maneuvering and final adjustments when casting. We also get a lot of posts on the UK fly forums about this and also about stability concerns. I remembered a conversation I had with a UK fly casting instructor - he had been on holiday to America and used a kayak with a "pedal" system - he said it was great fun and allowed you to cast hands free, whilst still propelling the kayak or using the pedals to make last minute adjustments. I don't know if this is the same one he used, but I found this manufacturer online: Hobie Kayak Website As for stability options, I did read a good review on a kayak called the ultimate 12 native kayak - designed with a wider hull than most conventional kayaks (part kayak, part canoe they claim) - it allowed for standing up casting (sounds risky to me) - but not for rough waters I believe.....have a look, Orvis sell it and other companies online (the second link has a video of it)..... Orvis Ultimate 12 Native Kayak Ultimate 12 Native Kayak - Link 2

Ahhhhh......you want to be looking to Wales for sheep.......they are stopping me getting home right now........ I'm sure the third from right is smiling at me......the cute one (although they are all cute)...... On a web site I viewed recently it said there is about 2.9 million people living in Wales which only makes up 5% of the UK population - but on a positive note we have over 10 million sheep in Wales We used have a bit of a saying here in Wales: WALES - WHERE MEN ARE MEN AND SHEEP ARE WORRIED !!!!!! Welcome to Wales........as long as you are fluffy !!!!!

Can I ask please whats a stinger and fireline ??? The end result looks the business - I much prefer the hook trailing with bunny patterns, otherwise you get loads of nippy takes.

I quite agree ALB - but the main failure of the fly when this happens is the people who fish them static - as they do egg flies too. On a drifting boat if you fish out of the front of the drift, static booby fishing is hard to achieve (not that I'd want to) if retrieved straight away and fished on lines near the surface such as an SSI or Intermediate as you are always in touch with the flies. Personally I use them quite often and have had more fish hooked deep on dries this year than on boobies - that could say something though about my lightening fast reactions on dries....not I 100% agree - use with caution - don't leave slack line, but if retrieved straight away with a slow sinker and you keep in contention with your line - problems are minimised and they are effective.

Sorry for confusion - the foam used is a closed cell foam block that we cut into cylinders, sounds like the same stuff - but thanks for the offer anyway. Reason I asked about the poly balls was that I couldn't really tell from the photo and they aren't as good as foam products - as you probably know - so I was going to offer to send you some - but it seems you have some already Colours of foam blocks we use are black, white, yellow, pink, red, orange, purple and lime green - more colours seem to come out each year - as with everything in fly dressing !!

Good explanation by AB - but the washing line is not always restricted to floating line only. When I described the method using an SSI or intermediate - this is also the washing line. If you use say a 12 foot leader with a booby point and two droppers 3 feet apart - with the rest to the fly line - throw it out and retreive straight away - you can see the booby moving around in the surface film as it comes back - holding the flies up behind it - but slightly deeper than using a floater like AB said. Use the same cast and now let the line sink - the booby will stay high in water and the line will sink - but retrieving will now bring the booby down to a much deeper depth and fish in a different zone - but this is still the washing line method. If you think about it - using a line like a fast wetcel or di-7 will create more of a U shaped shape to the retreive because the line is deep down - but the point fly is floating - this is why you have less sensitivity and "gut" hook ups. Move up to lines like intermedaite and SSI's - the line and cast have less of a U shape now (if retreived staraight away) and are therefore straighter on the retrieve - better on sensitivity and making many more hookups in the mouth of the fish. As for the dressing of the fly - i.e. shorter, bulkier and an over wing - this is driven by reservoir fishing over here. Quite a lot of flies tied comply with competition rules over here - yes we have competitive trout fishing too and flies have to be able to fit in a guage for the full dressing (think its under an inch and a bit). You therefore don't have a lot of area to work with, so try to maximise the movement in a limited space. That said I don't have to comply with competition methods myself very often - but do like the smaller boobies - they aren't so much in your face Bigger flies arent always the ones that catch the bigger fish ? Can I ask you a question - you say your local fly shop sells booby eyes - we make ours out of ethafoam - using cylinder cutters. Previous to this they used to market booby eyes over here - but they were made out of poly balls and you had to wrap them in organza or womens stockings (then figure of eight them onto the hook) - what derivitive are the ones you were looking at buying ?

And you well and truely milked that one my friend ! They work well with intermediates and SSI's, we usually fish the booby on the point with a couple of wets behind or nymphs - sometimes the fish will look at fluttering of the booby in the top few inches of water and then follow the cast up and take the natural. Fishing the booby on the top dropper - with naturals trailing behind is used sometimes as obviously it's nearer the fly line - so fishes deeper. I'm sure a lot of people play with boobies over in Canada and USA........here we go...... But when we had our international fly fair last year in the UK, I mentioned it to a famous tyer from the USA and he's never heard of them - but was intruiged - hence why I posted - just in the hope of showing a new pattern to some people who'd never seen them before.........if it's a common fly over there now I apologise for re-iterating and telling old news

Yes as AB said - we have loads of straggle and fritz over here (cactus chenille). One that hasn't been mentioned on here and was the "tackle tarts" favourite last year.......straggle and gold & straggle and silver. Here's one of my reservoir patterns using straggle and gold - we use these flies for rainbows on reservoirs using sinking lines over here - the sinking line drags the fly around down on the retrieve and causes it to flutter around (its called a booby). I'm sure those of you that use floating lines and gold/bead head point flies appreciate the movement that is given when you retreive as the fly rises and falls - the method I mention is the complete opposite - the retreive causes a diving action - whereas the floating line causes an upwards motion. It's a common technique on a lot of reservoirs - but not for the catch and release people- as the fish often take the fly deep down - so if you plan on putting them back, never use these - just incase. A lot of UK reservoirs are put and take - so its effective on these - horses for courses ! Where catch and release is used in the UK, these can be banned incase they damage returned fish - but they can be very effective. If anybody is interested - do a search in the UK on booby/boobie fishing. Here's a step by step by Dave Downie of the booby fly (top UK stillwater/reservoir fisherman) ..... Dave Downies White CAT Booby Fly Step by Step Anyway - back to the original point........straggle and gold/silver mix is also very versatile and a bit different to some of the other varieties.

Touching post...... Congratulations and all the best for the future - happiness like you have found can put even a great pastime like fishing into insignificance.