Beach Casters

The lesson yesterday was with Stuart and Wendy McNair from Preston. Both of them are very keen on sea fishing with powerful beach casting rods. It is normal to expect people who do this sort of fishing regularly to find it difficult to make the transition over to fly fishing. Why? because the technique is so very different and more so on the application of power.
However, once Wendy and Stuart recognised and understood these changes we made terrific progress.

The roll casts were executed with good control and accuracy and the overhead casting was very good. Starting off with a basic overhead we soon got onto false casting and shooting line.

With all these casts we looked at the safety factors and variations of each cast taking into account the very nasty Westerly. This was just as well because when it came to actually fishing the wind was horrible but using the wind behind technique with the roll cast both of them were able to get a good line out with more than sufficient distance and more importantly without putting themselves in danger of being hit with the fly line or the fly.

So in spite of the conditions I was happy with the way the lesson went and we achieved all the original objectives and hopefully Stuart and Wendy will go on to do and enjoy more fly fishing in the future.

Father and Son

Had a great lesson today with Gareth who lives in Switzerland and his Father, Bill from Bolton.
The lesson went according to plan untill the casting, Bill was good but Gareth was exceptional for a complete beginner.

The main reason for Gareth's performance was that he is one of those rare people who have the ability to control the movement of the wrist from the onset. Most people instinctively cock the wrist whilst trying the overhead cast and it requires a bit of patience and for some a lot of practise to overcome this fault. Gareth however had almost instant control and was therefore moving the rod with only his forearm and shoulder and started to cast some impressive loops straight away.

I teach hundreds of people over the course of a year and probably only about one in 50 have this control, the rest of us mere mortals have to work a bit harder but get there in the end.

Gareth is just visiting on his annual holidays before going back home to Zurich. He did tell me that there are Brown Trout in Lake Zurich but at 500 ft deep you might struggle using fly fishing techniques but got to be worth a go!

Windy conditions

Today I had a lesson with Anthony from Manchester, a complete beginner. The weather was awful, high winds from the West and very heavy rain and so I had my doubts that we would be able to do the lesson. Rain is not so bad - clothing can protect you against that but strong winds are another thing entirely, especially with a new starter. However we started the lesson with an explanation of the tackle, knots, leader set-ups and fly selection with a bit of entomology thrown in for good measure.
At this time there looked to be a little break in the conditions so we ventured outside. The roll cast went well once Anthony started to stop the rod high, so we progressed onto the basic overhead cast. Then the rain came and the wind picked up. Fortunately Anthony was used to the outdoors and so the conditions didn't put him off and he wanted to continue and in the end he was able to put a good straight line out in spite of the conditions.

High winds can cause problems for any fly fisher, no matter how good you are at casting. Most leisure anglers go the the upwind bank to cast with the wind behind them - this is not the best thing to do!
The prime position for a right hander is to stand with the prevailing wind coming from the left so that the wind keeps "danger" (the fly) downwind of where you are stood. If you are left handed then position yourself with the wind coming from the right.
You will get a decent line out casting across the wind but you won't be in danger!!

Try it!

Gift Voucher

Had a lesson today with Kevin from Bolton who was bought a gift voucher for his last birthday.

The lesson went very well with Kevin getting to grips with the technical demands of casting. As with all beginners it boils down to the wrist - using it in the roll cast and not using it for overhead casting. Practise makes perfect and I hope to see Kevin putting what he has learned to good effect in the near future.

Unfortunately the weather was horrible, heavy rain interrupted with spells of slightly less heavy rain! As the saying goes there is no such thing as bad weather just inadequate clothing!

It would be good, however, not to have to rely on the "good clothing" sometime in the future!!!!

I have another beginner tomorrow but maybe have a go for the Salmon on Wednesday (day off) if the rivers stay up. Here's hoping!

The new golf??

Good lesson today with a really great couple from Rochdale, Ryan and his wife Kirsty. They went through my usual day lesson, and ended up with a few hours fishing time. Both of them were casting very well and achieving a decent distance with control and accuracy.
Unfortunately the fish were not in a good mood - water temps way up - fish way down but on another day they would have had fish I am sure.

I am teaching more and more couples and partners to fly fishing I wonder why?
Is it because its is a good healthy sport that both can do equally?
Is it because one or the other doesn't want to be left at home and so joins in?

I don't know for definite but it has been said that fly fishing is becoming the new Golf - both sexes able to do it well, any age, any ability and enjoy doing something different together!

Family Fly Fishing

Hi all, had another good lesson today with Steve from Bolton with his Son and his Son's friend.
After a little explanation about what fly fishing is, the equipment we use and the fly selection we have, it was off to the water for casting.
I immediately started them off with the Roll cast which is fairly easy to learn but more importantly gives them the ability to get the fly out onto the water safely, in most conditions. They all did really well and so we then moved onto all the other variations of the roll cast taking into account wind direction etc.
We then spent some time on applying this cast to actually fishing, retrieving, playing the fish, fish handling etc. In addition to the vital aspects of "watercraft", where to fish and what to look for.

All in all a good introduction to fly fishing and hopefully giving them all the encouragement to take up this great sport long-term.

I am often asked to teach kids fly fishing and I guess it's one of those areas that promotes a lot of discussion within Instructor circles. My take on it is simple - Kids need to be at least 10 years old and an early teenager better still. In my experience children younger than this are better off having a go at coarse fishing where the technical demands are not as great and the probability of catching fish are greater.

I whole heartedly encourage parent and child lessons where they both learn together - it's a fantastic opportunity to do some bonding and get the kids away from the game consoles and PC's, get some fresh air. Even if the parent is a fly fisher already I will still get them to come along and participate in the lesson. There is no point at all in my teaching the child to do certain casts safely if the parent can't keep them on this path afterwards, through lack of knowledge on their part.

Hey, but that's just my point of vue!?!?!

Single handed spey casts

Had a session with two of the guys training to become GAIA instructors today on the River Ribble.
The main focus of our attention were the spey casts that need to be demonstrated during their final assesment.

Spey casts are obviously associated with the double hander and salmon fishing but they also have a large part to play in any river fishing, single or double handed. Single speys, double speys, snake rolls and snap casts can allow you to cast when you have limited space behind you, awkward upstream or downstream winds and you need to change the direction.

Some of these are quite simple to do others will require a little practise to get them right but all of them are worth the effort.

Application of power

Had a lesson with Mike from Manchester who is a regular client of mine.
Mike has recently invested in a very fast actioned  and powerful rod and was having some difficulties in "taming" it. The key in this case it to let the rod get on with what it's good at - casting a line - don't try and do all the work yourself!

The main problem with fast actioned rods are that they can magnify any slight problems with tempo and/or power application which encourage a concave movement of the rod tip and result in tailing loops.

Just a little bit of regular pracitse and Mike will be casting like a dream with his new "wand"

Mike has siged up for my Salmon trip next month on the river Tyne and we have organised a little double handed casting practise  before this trip.