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I started fishing with a size 24 short shank CdC IOBO Humpy & for an hour had repeated rejections from the fish. They would often come & inspect my fly only to turn away at the last moment.

Fishing blobs stillwater style. The humble blob fly is a pattern that is commonplace in most Stillwater anglers fly boxes. Iain Barr blobs are popular as are Fulling Mill blobs. Every competition angler has them in their fly box, right next to the diawl bachs. Here is how to fish the blob using floating fly lines and sinking fly lines.

The French leader was ideal because it allowed me to reach spookier fish from distance with minimal surface disturbance, as well as utilising European nymphing techniques in the deeper pools and pocket water, where the faster moving water enabled me to get closer to the fish.

Some of my best fly fishing comes during the dog-days of mid summer. All that is needed is a careful choice of where & when to fish.

I cast again a little further ahead than I thought necessary and began a very slow figure of eight retrieve just to keep in touch with the fly as I could not see the fish or their reaction. A few moments later the line went tight, and all hell broke loose!