Fishing the buzzer in still water

Fishing buzzers(the pupae stage of these flies) can be an exciting way of taking trout. Fishing either a single buzzer on the point,or in teams of two or three on floating line can be a deadly approach at almost any time of the year,but more especially during the warmer months.

If fishing a ripple,the easiest way of fishing them is to cast out and across and allow the wind to simply pull the line around in an arc,watching for any movement of the line or leader.A very very slow figure of eight retrieve can be used,but slow is the key word.Allow the flies to come right round into the margins,an always neglected area.

In calmer conditions,the figure of eight retrieve can be employed,with the occasional slow draw,to imitate the pupae rising and falling in the water.

With both methods,watch for takes on the drop or takes coming when pausing after a draw. Sometimes takes will be a mere twitch,others will be rod wrenching takes or a gentle glide away of the line.

Using a team of two or three buzzers will allow you to determine the feeding depth,and just one fly can be used if wished once the depth has been found.

Quite often the fish will take the buzzers quite deep,this is where the Superglue or epoxy buzzer comes in useful,being heavy they will sink like a stone and get down to the fish.If the fish are plainly close to the surface then a greased leader can be used,and or a lighter pattern.

Another method is the sight indicator or  Bung. Usually a small ball of foam or other material is attached to the leader(moveable) and is used as a float. Useful again when the fish are higher in the water,as a greased leader need not be employed. Again takes can be anything from a dip of the indicator to a full blown crash take. Don't just leave it static,twitch it and figure of eight it along if there is no breeze.Some indicators employ a hook- a good idea,as fish will often attack the indicator,the only drawback is that they have to be fished on a dropper and are not so easy to move,without re-tying.The indicator/Bung can be deadly. Quite often the fish will be 'mad on' and not at all tackle shy.If they are feeding close to the surface,the bung can be fished as little as a few inches away-to keep the buzzer close to the surface,where the fish are feeding,and they will quite often attack the bung itself.

Page 2 >>