Merry Christmas

I would just like to take this opportunity of wishing all my clients , past, present and future and their families all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

Have a great time - keep counting the days to the new season!!!

Let it snow, let it snow!

Well this cold weather snap doesn't look like going away for some time! The forecast, generally for the North West is continuing cold conditions then more snow on Christmas day. I have now accepted that my usual Christmas visit to the "Ladies of the stream" will more than likely not take place! Pity but that's life! Maybe not much chance for casting practise either but boredom may overcome common sense over the next few days!

Time maybe for some "internet fishing" lots of great info all over cyberspace, on You Tube and Vimeo - I'll put links to the better stuff on here over Xmas

Although the last post before Christmas is tomorrow I can still email gift vouchers right up till Xmas Eve for all those late, late presents! Just get in touch.

Group lessons

Had a great group session today with Bolton Fly Tyers and my merry gang of trainees.
It was brilliant to see all the guys casting away with such enthusiasm.
It was certainly a win win scenario, with the Fly tyers learning and improving and the trainee instructors gaining valuable experience.

Bolton Fly tying group are a great bunch of guys who arrange lots of fly tying demos throughout the winter - have a look here for more info - http://boltonflytyers.blogspot.com/

Minus 8 and still practising!

Beyond the call of duty!

It's one thing getting guys to practise it's another entirely getting them to practise in a river at minus 8 degrees!

We had to break the ice before we could even get in!!

Now that's dedication or is it just plain insanity! You decide!

Fantastic day nonetheless, really enjoyed it!

Winter casting practise

Hi all been out this morning with my buddy Richard, doing some distance work.

Casting in a blizzard is great fun!! It's not the line bending his rod it's the wind!!

It was a bit chilly and a biting wind but got some satisfying casting done all the same. Richard's technique is improving all the time.

I used the trusty Angel TE MK2 #5 for a change, not used it for ages. I have been working on improving my tracking and the speed of the hauls. It seems to be paying off as I am now hitting 110ft plus on a regular basis and it wasn't that long ago that 100ft was the objective. So it is now onwards and upwards to 115ft then the magical 120ft -- I hope!?!?!?!

I must admit to being fairly hooked on distance casting particularly with a #5, which is the blue ribbon event in distance stuff.
Need to buy a couple new lines now and will probably go for the Barrio GT140 and a MED (Mastery Expert Distance) both are great lines with very long heads. The Barrio in particular at only £25.00 is an amazing line in comparison to the MED which is twice the price!

Group casting update
Only a couple of places left for the first class on the 18th Dec.
More will be arranged for early in the New Year - get in touch to reserve your place.

Group refresher lessons

I am going to do a short series of group casting sessions over the Winter.

The first one will be on Sat Dec 18th at 10.00am till 12.00 noon (others to follow in January) meeting at Curley's fly fishery.
These will be for all levels but particularly aimed at all of you who have had your first formal lessons with me over the course of this year.

The spaces on these will be limited and cost £25.00 per person for a 2 hour session and so represents great value for money.

I'll do a refresher on the basics of the overhead cast, then move onto wind direction variations, followed by shooting line and maybe double hauling and distance casting. For any of you interested in river fly fishing then we can also look at slack line casts for up, across and downstream presentation.


To reserve your place just send me an email  here  asap



Back from Wales

Just got back form a hectic but very enjoyable 4 days in Mid-Wales for the GAIA autumn meeting.
Great to meet up with some old friends form all over Britain and Ireland.
Thursday and Friday spent holding assessments Some were succesful and other will be next time around I am sure.
Saturday was the training workshops - every minute in this environment was helpful as we all strive to improve our performance as Instructors and finally Sunday was the associations AGM.

Back to reality this next week with lessons booked for most days at Curley's.

Wales again

Last weekend in mid Wales was a bit of a wash out as regards the rivers but we managed to find some sport at a large reservoir called Llyn Clywedog. It is about 1000 acres which to put into persepctive - Stocks is 300 acres!!

It is really stunning scenery and well worth another visit in the spring/summer. Good quality fully finned Rainbows.
This weekend back to Wales for the GAIA autumn meeting . On Thursday and Friday I will be assessing some hopeful candidates who have been training for the GAIC - the Game Angling Instructor's Certificate.
Saturday is our main CPPD (Continued, personal, professional, development) Day with lots of workshops going on. Followed by our AGM on Sunday.

Of course all this will be linked to some time at the Bar! - meeting old friends and making  new fishing buddies.

Will be back to some sort of normality next week with more 1to1 tuition.