​Musings from Meon Springs ‘catch and release’...

By Chris Taee, a Member of Meon Springs Fly Fishery and a regular on the Meon Beat

I’ve probably had more than my fare share of time on the catch and release waters at Meon Springs this year, which has been a lot of fun -  even if it can get a touch frustrating at times.
 
Firstly, thanks to Brian Richardson for his advice to go small. I rapidly armed myself with plenty of barbless 18, 20 and 22 nymphs, which have been by far the most effective way of catching fish, rather than just practising my casting!
 
Picture attached of my fly box which might give some folk a bit of help when choosing types of fly to use. I think pretty much most all of these have caught fish.

Some of techniques:
 

• Slow twitchy retrieves have definitely induced takes.
• When the wind blows, longer casts that form a belly in the line on the water can almost be left to drift with the odd twitch to attract a fish.
• Fishing up or down the margins. In other words, casting almost parallel to the bank and retrieving close to the edge. I may be wrong but I think this has been particularly effective on the Browns that ambush.
  
• Also, fishing at the right depth. I normally start deeper and adjust to where I see fish feeding. Obviously, any hatch (and some only last 20 minutes) I immediately try a dry, but I’ve not mastered the art yet! The few I’ve had take the fly, have been great fun though.