Always Nice To Hear

I took Paul for a guided days fishing a few weeks a go teaching his about nymph and dry fly fishing, it was lovely to get an email off him with the kind words below.

 

“I spent 2 seasons teaching myself to fly fish on the upper Severn from books and YouTube. Practicing casting in fields, picking up the odd helpful tip here and there from other fly fishermen. I did not catch a single fish in that first season. But loved it all the same. It was more about getting a feel for casting and being in the river environment so not catching fish was ok. Second season my casting was improving (maybe not much!) and I was starting to consider approach, tactics and fly selection a lot more. It paid off and mid summer 2017 I caught my first ever fish on the fly, a beautiful Grayling. Thereafter I wanted to catch fish. Not just endlessly practice anymore! I managed a handful of stockies  since but very sporadic and more through accident than design. There were now just too many occasions where the fish were jumping and I just could not tempt a single one. Teaching myself had worked up to a point and was an extremely valuable process BUT there was a definite point where there were questions that I simply could not answer by myself.  The choice to head out with Andy was made at just the right time to give me that boost and encouragement before things got frustrating. We went to my favourite area and in one session caught more and bigger fish than I had managed in 2 seasons by myself. And on nymphs which were a total mystery to me up to this point!  Having gone out since I was able to replicate the success with another 9 fish and one monster rod snapping Grayling in one day and so on. Proving that coaching from Andy is spot on, providing the tools and understanding that change the game completely in a way that works. He keeps it simple, convinces you that it’s simple, and installs a great deal of confidence. The trouble with teaching yourself is that you never know if you’re doing it right or wrong. If you catch a fish was it chance or something you did right? If it’s not happening are you doing something badly wrong? It reaches a point where progression slows down or stops with all these unanswered questions. Andy clears all that up, removes the doubts from your mind and replaces it with confidence in your approach and trust in the process. It’s well worth doing and I’d say anyone trying to break into fly fishing would be well advised to go ahead and book a day sooner rather than later! It’s amazing value for money without a doubt, especially considering the lifelong benefit from just one day out. You can’t really put a price on that. Quite important for me is that he doesn’t do the work for you. Anyone can pay a guide to find the fish, select your fly, tell you how to cast and basically do all the catching for you. But Andy is a true teacher who makes you do the work so you get the learning. I’ll be heading out with Andy again asap to keep improving”.

 

 

Yours Sincerely

Paul Martin

Few Hours With Tony

Few hours on the Wye with Tony sun is out with a bit of an up stream wind, but quite a lot of fish rising so it would be rude not to, couldn’t see anything on the water surface so tried with a good old sedge to start and the fish seemed to love it for around 4-5 fish and then they switched off but with still the odd fish coming up here and there, it seemed as if they had switched off to my fly so I changed to an olive emerger and a fish came up straight away and nailed it so I thought I was onto something, but no another 3-4 fish and they started to ignore it which seemed strange, so back on with a sedge but a slightly larger one and absolutely nothing at all but the fish still were rising on and off, I stopped and really studied the water surface but I couldn’t see anything, so as a last ditched effort I thought I would try a beetle pattern and bingo they really seemed to like it and take it very confidently with another 4 fish being caught, not a bad few hour on the Wye.

Not Long Now

It’s been a very busy 2016 so not too much time for posting on my blog but things should start to get a little quieter as the weather alters, mind I really do hope we have a good winter this year not all the rain making the rivers un fishable ( fingers crossed for good river levels )

Lots of very nice people learning how to cast, river fishing techniques and generally learning how to enjoy the outdoors, loads of trout and grayling were caught and carefully released to fight another day, also amazing on many of the days the amount of wild life we saw, otters, kingfishers, buzzards, red kites and the amazing swimming squirrel that swam from one side of the river straight at us on the other bank, even making us move out of his way before he climbed up the bank and was on his way.

When I hve a spare few minutes I will put on my blog a few flies that have worked really well over the past few seasons.

 

Day Two

Day two with Toby and Gabe went well, a lot more fish caught and the fish caught were bigger to, again fish taking dries were few and far between but they really were getting there fill on nymphs.

Toby caught this lean browny but with a spade of a tail, he caught this fish in a lovely spot right underneath an over hanging tree, drifted the nymph in and bang straight away the fiish took the nymph as always it’s all about presentation.

The grayling were also loving the nymphs as well, I’m not sure how many fish came to the net as I lost count but another good day was had by all.

 

Interesting Afternoon.

Quite an interesting afternoon guiding Rae Borras of the Compleat Angler series that was on Discovery a few years ago. It was down to me to guide him on the upper Severn for Fishing TV, always a little daunting when there are two film cameras on you, it usually spells the kiss of death to the catching side of fishing. After nearly a two hour delay with a puncture we had rather a late start to the day which just added to my stress levels!

As we walked up the river there weren’t any fish moving, so I thought that was it! The first run we tried was a little slow, even though it is usually a bit of a banker for catching a few fish, so on to the next one and Rae caught a small brown right under the grass on the river bank. As the run got deeper I saw a fish move to take his nymph but Rae was just lifting off the water, so close but no cigar. Three or four more casts and it was fish on, it was a nice brown, around three quarters to a pound in weight.  The cream on the cake was the film crew was flying a drone over us for  a different angle of shot and bingo, a better fish came up and took the dry and the whole fight was caught on the drones camera.  I think that will be something to watch hopefully when the filming is all edited and put together.

One Of The Best Days In A Long Time

As the title says today was one of the best days on the river I have had in a very long time, it’s been blisteringly hot weather so I asked Ben if would like to meet up a little earlier than we said, he was up for it so we meet on the river at 6am and it was a lovely morning,  in around 15 minutes it was getting even better as fish were being caught and after the first run an amazing amount of fish were hooked I would guess around 30+, it’s not often I’m amazed when it comes to fishing but this little short shallow run was amazing they must have been sitting on each others shoulders, trout and grayling of all sizes.

The sun was now starting to burn through and I thought I would get Ben on dries as the odd fish was moving on the top, Ben was catching and missing quite a few fish but as the warmth started to build the fishing seemed to slow up, we tried a few deep pools with a couple of bigger trout, but by mid day it was starting to get un comfortable in waders so it was time to make a retreat for home, but an amazing morning was had and the time flew by.

Were Never Happy !

Another day on the rivers of Wales the high water has gone and now we have next to no water, as has been said before were never happy are we the main thing is lovely sunshine hatching insects and loads of fish, the river is 1cm from being the lowest it’s been on the EA’s web site gauge, so the river is really low and super clear so presentation is key, fishing at a little more range super fine tippet and of course good casting, the set up is going to be trio  dwo/ldo klink and two size 18 nymphs and 3lb tippet which worked exceptionally well for Drew with a mix of 15 trout and grayling coming to the net a few low impact catch and releases ( came off ) as well.

More Guiding More Bad Weather

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Day out with Bob fishing was good weather was poor, at the start of the day  thought it was going to be a very poor day as the river was coming up loads of debris coming down and very little fly life, it was a slow start till lunch time then things picked up fish on both dries and nymphs to be fair neither Bob or my self had any idea on how many fish he caught but grayling to just over a pound and trout to a pound and a half, with one trout a bit of a lump that unfortunately snapped Bobs leader.

Couple Of Days With Jack

A couple of days out with Jack from Nottingham, first time fishing in Wales and things worked well despite the poor weather.

Few words from Jack.

“Many thanks for a great day yesterday. Learning upstream and downstream nymphing with tiny nymphs, catching (and missing) beautiful wild browns to about 1 1/4 lb and grayling of the same size in lovely surroundings made for a wonderful day”

 

More to follow when I have 5minutes

Do Unto Others What You Would Have Done To You !!

While out guiding or giving casting lessons people always ask about the etiquette of fly fishing, reading the summary below that was posted on a Orvis web site seems to sum it up quite well to me.

The rules of streamside behavior are few and easily observed. Mostly they revolve around common sense, courtesy, and consideration of others sharing the stream.

• A section of water belongs to the first fisherman fishing it. It is inconsiderate to crowd him and just how close an approach is permissible is an obvious variable.
• A slow-moving or stationary fisherman has every right to remain just where he is. If you are moving, leave the water and walk around him, being certain not to disturb his fishing or the water he might be working. In a similar vein, a fisherman may be resting a pool or planning his next move. It is still his water, and you should not jump in without his permission.
• A fisherman working in an upstream direction has the right of way over someone coming downstream. Wading upstream against the current forces you to move slowly, cover less water, and you are approaching the fish from behind. The fisherman working in a downstream direction covers more water, more quickly, and has the potential to disturb more water. For instance, careless wading could send silt or debris washing downstream to alarm fish that someone else is working over.
• Many streams flow through private property. Recognize that access is a privilege, not a right. Respect private property. If unsure about access, ask the landowner politely. On farm properties: don’t trample crops, disturb livestock, or leave gates open.
• Leave no litter at streamside. In fact, get in the habit of picking up discarded monofilament, cans and other trash, carrying them out to be discarded properly.
• Recognize that skilled anglers and/or heavy fishing pressure with excessively liberal limits can greatly reduce the available fish populations in any stream section unless voluntary restraint is practiced. A legal limit is not a quota. Let your fishing motto be: “Limit your kill; don’t kill your limit.” Orvis encourages the catch-and-release philosophy of angling, allowing fish to mature, reproduce, and live to challenge other anglers in the future.
• Multiple recreational use of streams is common. We may share the resource with tubes and canoes. It is the responsibility of the canoer to recognize that the angler has established a position before the canoe floated into view. The canoer should try to pass behind the angler. If space doesn’t permit this, the canoer should float by quietly and with minimum disturbance.

In summary, behave on stream towards other anglers as you would like them to behave towards you. . .and welcome to the world of fly fishing.