Does the fly matter? The CRACKPOT study in evidence based trout fishing

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the importance of the type of dry fly (artificial floating fly) in catching trout (brown and rainbow) in an English chalkstream. SETTING: River Kennet, Berkshire. DESIGN: Five anglers on five separate occasions spent five hours using a randomly allocated fly from a sample of five types. PARTICIPANTS: Five anglers of considerable but varying experience, determination, and opinion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number, weight, and species of trout caught. RESULTS: One fly (Black Gnat) performed significantly worse than the others. The fly most successful in catching brown trout was the Cinnamon Sedge. CONCLUSION: The possible prolongation of doctors’ leisure time consequent on the use of unproductive trout flies has resource implications for the NHS. Urgent funding of a definitive, large multiriver trial is needed.