FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING OVER £100
FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING OVER £100
June 29, 2021 5 min read
Blog by Dave Southall
When I was a child in the early 1960s it was just about catching fish, any fish, by any suitable method with a rod & line. Size didn’t matter; a half pound rudd or crucian carp was a monster. Then in my teens size was all important; I became a Specimen Hunter. Any carp or pike under 10 pounds was not worth catching & trout were only for the coarse fish close season. It was not until my late teens that I got into fly fishing, but then in my early 20s I was seduced away from fishing by rock & ice climbing.
After a 20 years lay-off from fishing a mountain-bike injury lead to a return to fishing in 1998, firstly for chub with bait but soon after with the fly for trout & grayling thanks to my good friend Steve who invited me to join him on a small still water trout fishery & then introduced me to the fishing on Yorkshire’s River Derwent. Once again it started with the desire just to catch fish, then the desire to catch good numbers of fish as a measure of my increasing skills.
Now, over 20 years later & with many thousands of trout, grayling & char, plus numerous coarse fish caught on fly gear I have mellowed & what I want out of my fly fishing has changed significantly. Whilst I still enjoy the days when I catch a good number of fish & I get a real kick out of catching a really big fish for the species or water, there is so much more that I want out of my fishing than just catching fish. So what do I want?
When Covid-19 is under some sort of control I will just be happy to be able to travel to one of the small North Yorkshire Moors streams & watch the wild trout rise in the company of a good friend. Hopefully we’ll catch a fish or two on a dry fly, but it will be enough just to be there.
I want time to watch the otter
I want to fish in the company of good friends
I want to catch lovely wild fish with light lines (7’ 6” Sunray Microlite rod & 1 weight Jeremy Lucas line)
Safety
The basics of tackle
Language of casting
Sensory awareness
Fly line weights, lengths & tapers
Rod lengths & weights
Leaders & tippet
Tackle to practise with
How to hold a fly rod
Circles 8's & straights
Remove all slack
Plane of the Cast
Triangle Method
Stance
Overhead Cast
Stop & Drop
Retrieving the Line
High Back Cast
Breaking The Wrist
Shooting the line
Loop Shape
Slipping the Line
Stroke Length
The Forward Delivery
The Shelf
Drift
Drift Versus Breaking the Wrist
Creep
Backslash Forwardslash
Speed Ramp
Body Movement
Intro to the Double Haul
Tackle for the Double Haul
Single Haul
Double Haul
Double Haul Fast Track
Cast Trajectory
Late Haul
Hauling Grip
Double Haul for Accuracy
Line Trays
Offset Alignment Guides
Overhang
The Lift
Pick Up & Lay Down Cast
Roll cast
Energy of a Roll Cast
Intro to Spey Casting
Switch Cast
45 Degree Single Spey
Backhanded Cast
90 Degree Single Spey
90 Degree Snake Roll
45 Degree Snake Roll
90 Degree Double Spey
The Running Mouse
The Silent Spey
45 Degree Double Spey
45 Degree Snap T
90 Degree Snap T
45 Degree Circle Spey
90 Degree Circle Spey
Body Movement
Spey Cast Hauling
Beating Obstructions Spey
Corkscrew Pick Up
Snap Pick Up
Roll Cast Pick Up
Double Spiral Pick Up
Snap Pick Up Variation
Aerial Spey
Cast Stringing