Devon School of Fly Fishing Team blog

I don’t know if you are the same but, for me, getting ready for a fishing trip works in 2 stages. I like to know I have everything that I am going to need and then I get excited in the last few days before I go and then pack everything at the last minute and spend the trip to the airport worrying I haven’t got everything I need or perhaps, if I do, is it enough?

I am pretty sure I have everything and am generally pretty well prepared. I have decided I don’t need too many clothes which means I have more room for gear…just in case!

The really funny thing is flies. This is especially the case with bonefish. I have hundreds that I will be taking but all I actually use is 6 or so that sit in my shirt pocket along with some nippers and spare tippet but its a good feeling to have the others with you just in case , right?

I was told that a particular pattern is working really well on permit right now but you can’t buy it in the UK at all. I’ve looked and it isn’t available but you can bet I’d have had a dozen of them just to be on the safe side. I wonder if the fish know?

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A good friend lent me a book the other day that he thought might be of interest to me. It is called ” A fishing life is hard work” I don’t know if you have read it or not but is pretty quite eye opening. It is about a guy who worked in the fishing industry and fell out of love with fishing until he had one of those epiphany moments and things started to change.  I think it got bad as it was at the stage where he would drive over a bridge and not peer over…man, that’s bad!

I often worry I am going to lose the truck in the river when I drive over a bridge and try that tricky move of driving and watching the river. I have been know to stop on a bridge and get out for a quick look which, although tends to happen on quieter roads has made me unpopular with other road users. I think they just don’t get it or perhaps they have fallen out of love with fishing.

I am often asked if it is difficult turning your favourite pastime into a business and after a fair time now I can say no. If it is ever the case this changes then it is time to move on but how could you tire of seeing a stunning caddis hatch or watch one of your pupils make a cast that brings the big boy up for the fly?

If you are under the illusion that as a guide you go fishing every day or you are aching to grab the rod from your guest and make the cast then it could probably be the worst job in the world!

I met with Darren, Nick and Lance yesterday for a 1/2 day of  flycasting tuition. Nick and Darren are relatively new to fly fishing but had a really good grounding and along with Lance an insatiable thrist for knowledge. It is great when you have people so keen and they picked things up really quickly. This meant we could cover lots of topics and go into mechanics a little more deeply. I was amazed how controlled they were given the amount of rising fish there were on the lake!

They stayed on for a fish for the rest of the day and I hope the things we covered helped just a little bit. I found out it was Darrens birthday so a very happy one Darren, I hope you caught a big one!

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The great thing about fly fishing, for me anyway, is there are so many different aspects to it that make you keep coming back for more. There are so many variables that mean nothing is ever quite the same and there is always a new challenge awaiting either a day on the river or lake. I am sure you are the same. At the end of the day you walk away thinking about what has unfolded during the time on the water and thought “I wonder if I tie a smaller fly would it have worked better” or perhaps if I tweek my leader a bit I might have got a better turnover. It is these sorts of things that keep the discovery, or perhaps a better word is learning, process never ending.

On that front I was talking to a good friend who is off to NZ in a few days time. I sent him a few local patterns that I had including cicadas, willow grubs and some of Stu Tripneys excellent foam patterns. He asked what I had used most and it turned out it was a klinkhammer. Not because I always tie one one (in fairness it is pretty much at the top of the list) The really interesting part is that I didn’t tie it on due to force of habit. It was for a couple of reasons. Firstly having watched the fish they looked to be on emergers and secondly I thought “I wonder if they have seen this fly much?” I hadn’t read or heard much about them down there and it seemed to work pretty well for me. The other time this happened was in Colorado and it was a similar case. Is it a fly that hasn’t had a lot of exposure away from Europe? I’d be interested to know.

I went out yesterday for a practice and wanted to play with some spey casting. It was a bright morning and I fancied some music and a drive too, so I headed over to Kennick. Kennick is a 50 acre lake right in the middle of Dartmoor and is one of the prettiest places you could fish. It is well managed, has a great club and some nice guys who fish there. I don’t get to go there as often as I should but I always enjoy it. A few friends teach there and it isn’t a bad place to catch your first fish!

Anyway, the lake was almost frozen over but I found a little section of  clear water and played for a bit. I loved it and pretty much had the place to myself .

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It feels like we have broken the back of the closed season now and I hope it isn’t wishful thinking, or me being too previous, but it feels like the opening of the season isn’t too far off. I have some work to do on the river but once the weather settles I’ll be able to crack on and get everything ready.

The good thing about this weather, if there is one, is that I have pretty much replenished the fly boxes and rows of flies are ready for action. I can’t wait!

Everything is doom gloom and bad weather right now but the good thing is that our fly fishing school is still open! Deespite there being not too many fishing opportunities here right due to everything being frozen there is still room to work on the casting ready for the new season.

Andy came down on Saturday and wanted to work on his casting a bit. He has had an operation on his casting shoulder and has been working on casting with his non dominant arm. You know what? He has done a pretty good job so far and it is all coming together really well. We covered loads and he has lots to play with. I reckon he’ll be a demon with his right arm too (he’s a lefty).

Steve saw us  Christmas week and sent us a really nice mail.

Hi Pete,

Just a quickie to thank you for your time and tuition on Friday. (Bloody cold!!) But much appreciated….. and after a practice on Sunday, the double haul is almost there, the roll cast is mastered and change of line direction is a walk in the park (believe that and you will believe anything!!)

Cheers for now

Steve

www.devonschoolofflyfishing.com  Fly Fishing Tuition and fly fishing guide in Devon

Well, fishing has had to take a back seat again after all the snow. I was due to go Tuesday and glad I didn’t as getting home would have been a bit hairy.

As a result I have been casting and playing with a few things. It is great to go out and throw a few loops and can be good fun to do so with a buddy too. The only downside of this is that all the good intentions tend to go out of the window and the tape measure comes out and and bit of good banter as you take it in turns to see what you are made of!

The tape measure can be sobering for the first-time distance caster as throwing a full line and a 10ft leader doesn’t actually equate to 100ft. It is quite a long way from it. I don’t tend to do this much of late as I find the body doesn’t enjoy it as much as it used to and lets face it there are few, if any, situations you are going to want to see the backing flying out of the tip ring.

I always thought this would be the case when it came to bonefishing but I have been amazed over the last few years how short a distance a bone can be caught. If anything I’d say a well presented 40 to 50ft cast will always put you in with a shout.

Up against the tape- photo by Lee Cummings

This is where the practice comes in, not just for winter trips somewhere exotic but getting you ready for the new season whatever you like chasing with a fly rod.

For me 15 to 20 minutes of good casts pays better dividends than going out for 2 hours and trying too hard to get it right. When I practice I’ll tilt my casting plane over to the side and have a look at my timing and loop control both hauled and unhauled. By throwing everything over to the side it becomes much more visual and allows you to see everything that is going on. I’ll then make a basic overhead cast in the normal casting plane. It is the foundations of all overhead casts and is easily overlooked. It is then I’ll play with a few Roll Casts and Speys. There are now loads of Spey Casts to play with but I’ll work on the ones that are most practical for fishing situations we encounter on the streams in Devon and the ones I teach most. I’ll then add a few mends, hooks and curves and see how it looks and see how it feels from there. If there has been something that has niggled then I’ll go back and give it a bit of work.

At our fly fishing school I’ll teach repetition (with plenty of breaks) as this helps to encourage muscle memory and when my student tries it out for the first time alone their body says “Hey, I remember this”

At the end of the day though the fish decide whether it was a good cast or not and this is what it is all about. It is nice to throw a nice loop in the field but throw in a rising fish in a tricky spot and try telling me that isn’t more exciting.

I’m not advocating to go out for everyday in the months before the seasons start. Life is just too short, but try it now again and you might be surprised the difference it makes and it is really, really good fun!

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I wanted to sneak a fish in before the new year to sort of see out 2009 and to try out, or do I mean christen, a new rod?

The weather was against us, turning cold and wet and the splashes of water on the truck as I headed off to meet a buddy told me there been a fair bit of rain overnight. I never have a doubt in my mind though, if I’m going fishing, I’m going fishing no matter what.

I really enjoy the company on the way up there, it is a couple of hours but I always enjoy chewing the fat and talking fishing. It sort of stops me from having the loud music and my appalling singing that accompanies it. It is lucky I am not self conscious as it probably looks a little strange to other drivers seeing me singing and drumming on the steering wheel although I suspect a fair few of them probably do the same.

We had a unanimous vote not to pull over for a bacon sandwich and coffee in favour of fishing. The thought had crossed my mind as traffic was light and we had made good time.

When we got there we peered over the bridge and the water was a bit lower from the last visit but still pushing. Looked like it was still a case for the heavy stuff.

We fished hard and long and there were times when I couldn’t feel a thing in my hands but didn’t care. As long as I could cast and tie a fly on I was happy!

Darkness came and we left wet and cold but contented and we had a few too.

A very happy new year to everyone and the very best of fishing in 2010 to everyone.

www.devonschoolofflyfishing Fly Fishing Tuition and guiding in Devon

I was going to write this and suggest a list of things that would be cool to accomplish in 2010. There are certainly lots of things I really would like to do and to experience and will hopefully get the chance in some cases but is it always good to set yourself targets? I guess sometimes this is the case and can be rewarding to tick things off as they happen but I want to enjoy the ride and whatever is thrown at me. It can sometimes be the little things like that drag free drift to THAT trout that you would never have thought of listing but all the little things add up along with the big things too.

Sometimes it all comes together, a UK fish to remember….

I think that is why I like being a fly fishing guide. No two days are ever the same and all the fun and challenges that go with it are always different.

I think someone once said that “it’s an adventure” and I’m going to make sure I enjoy every moment I get on the water be it working, fishing alone or in the company of good friends.

Have a great festive period and I hope a fish filled 2010!

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There is that funny feeling you get when you get a report of the river you are about to fish that says “it’s sort of fishable”  The next question is “what do you mean by sort of fishable?” the answer was along the lines that the the clarity was good but the height was bad. Not so bad that the river was over the banks but bad that most would probably give it a miss. I’m not one of those who won’t and nor are my fishing buddies.

When you picture a chalkstream you see an image picture of crystal clear water and a nice even flow with a rising fish every now and again to make it perfect.

When I got there this wasn’t exactly the case. After all the rain we have had there were still flooded fields and the springs had been filled to the maximum and were pumping water back out into the river as quick as they could. The river was up and really pushing. That having been said it was a day’s fishing and nothing was going to get in the way.

Four of us had arranged to fish and special guest was Jim. Jim lives and guides on The Coln in Wiltshire and I wanted to show him the bit of chalkstream I fish.  We jumped in and water that is usually shin deep that was now thigh deep. I hung with Jim for a bit and watched the maestro in action but decided, with some prompting, to grab my rod and have a go myself.  I worked the slacker margins with a couple of heavy bugs and managed to pick up a grayling as The Dude joined me in the river. He’d spotted a slack line the other side of the river and manfully waded across to try his luck. The water got too deep and strong for us to continue so I jumped out and Ray did some pretty cool climbing up a dead tree his side.

Lunch and a chance to warm up!

The fishing was pretty tough but we all did ourselves justice. I had a spell where I thought I was going to get into a sensible pod of fish but after a couple in as many casts and one off and then one landed that was it. The rest of the day I picked up odd one and twos but that was about it and think that was the story for everyone.

 I was hoping for a few more for Jim as he has been slamming them on The Coln this year and I really wanted to show him fishing  as good. The light was starting to go and we ‘d decided to end the day in the pub but Jim and I headed in search of just one more. Needless to say he came up trumps.

A bright pink bug in size 8 worked best for me and I think Toby too but Jim fished a more subtle pheasant tail in a 14 and I would have guessed The Dude did the same. It sort of reminded me of a time I was fishing there once and there was a nice lunchtime hatch and the guy I was fishing with and I had a long debate about whether to fish a 16 or 18 Para Adams  to the rising grayling. We bumped into another fisherman at the end of the day and told him how we found the fish didn’t want the 16 but hit the 18 happily. We asked him if he had found the same but he said the big shrimp pattern he’d used had worked just fine.

Darkness but time for just one more!

I’d tried a different brand of burger for lunch and although tasty I thought the meat to roll ratio was just slightly the wrong way round but they were pretty good. All in all it was good fishing, great food and excellent company.

Winter Beard Watch- Gave it a trim on Sunday and took a bit too much off although it is still hanging in there.

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It is that time of the year. I’m not a bah humbug sort of person and certainly get in the Christmas spirit but sometimes it takes just a little bit longer for me to get there.  I don’t get what all the fuss is about when it comes to Christmas shopping. As I see it you either do it in Feb which is a no no in my case as when it comes to December I will have forgotten where I had hidden them so as a result it is a last minute seat of the pants affair. I assume this is how all men shop as it leaves little time for dithering about what to buy as if you have done this properly then you have no time to go home and think about what you should have bought. As I see it Christmas shopping should take no more than 1 hour and should include a coffee stop of some sort.

I’m told I am a nightmare to buy for but as long as it is fly fishing related it will be a good choice. There are some really good DVD’s around this year and my fingers are crossed that they might feature. There is nothing better than sitting down with a mince pie  (told you I was getting in the spirit of things) and watching some fishing.

I have already treated myself to a little present and bought a new Hydros fly rod. It is a pretty sweet piece of kit and I am looking to try and catch a grayling or two with it soon.

I was talking to Alan today and we both admitted that we really like sorting out flies and getting them organised for the coming season or sometimes even just a fishing trip. After all of the unfishable weather we have had I can’t say how many flies I have tied but it is a lot. I have thought about and refined a few things and churned out the ever faithfuls. There is something for everyone in there and I hope the fish feel the same. This means the fly boxes are pretty well replenished already and are primed, ready for action. I am just about to commence on some bonefish patterns.

The weather has settled now but I was down casting where I work and the river was still carrying some colour but the height is dropping right out. A few pics of the “office” below.

Winter beard watch- We seem to have bonded and got used to living together. Not sure this will be a long term relationship though.

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I had hoped for an outside chance of some grayling fishing today. Alas the river is in the same state as last week but I am told that the weather might be calming down just a little bit from Thursday onwards.I met up with Andy on Saturday and we did some casting which was great fun. I can wait and the fish are going to keep.

  I popped out this morning to see how The Taw looked slightly higher up from where I work and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. The photo is from a stretch of water belonging to The Crediton Fly Fishing Club. I have been a member for years and this is one of my favourite places to fish. I didn’t get much of a chance to fish it last year but I have made a deal with myself that I will try and put it right next season. It is a great club and I guess this is down to the members who are a welcoming bunch with some pretty nifty fishers in their ranks too. It is probably a bit weird but I really enjoy the bank clearing sessions that they have before the season. It is a nice way to burn off some of the excesses of Christmas and to catch up and talk fishing.

I have probably mentioned it but my 17 year old daughter Charlie has a boyfriend. I have dreading this for a while and had planned how I was going to “interview” him. I have always felt that I would need a pipe for this. I don’t smoke but thought it would make me look a bit more menacing. I sort of planned how I would lean on an imaginary mantlepiece with my pipe and ask him his prospects but would only really need to know the answer to one simple question. “do you fish lad?”. I thought adding lad would also make me sound a little bit more frightening. There would have been a sharp intake of breath and a draw on the empty pipe if the answer was no but I am sure Charlie would have prepped him and said that if the answer was infact no that he had always wanted to learn. It turn out that she has known him for a number of years and so have we and it is the case he is a really good guy. I guess it saves me a trip to the tobacconist.

Lack of fishing has meant if I can’t do it then I am going to read about it. I have just finished The Earth is Enough which is a really sweet book and makes just enough of a pull on the sentimental heart strings.

Winter Beard Update- Used trimmers and feeling more comfortable. Toyed with amputation Sunday but will stick with it for the time being.

www.devonschoolofflyfishing.com  Fly Fishing Tution and Guiding in Devon