Fly Fishing Blog - Sunray

The place that fly fishing occupies in my life is impossible to describe; deeply personal, as it is for any one of us. It has become somewhere I go, on waters I love so much, where I can do exactly what I want to do, without hindrance from anyone, or dogma, but rather where I can take experiences from so many years with a fly rod to the next level. I have always been fascinated by instinctive fishing, rather than mechanical technique, while always supported by experience. I have enjoyed the evolution of tackle in our sport and frankly endured the severely limiting nature of some of it over the years. We are so lucky nowadays, because the tackle is supremely good; so much so that there is little that is genuinely new, or significantly more advanced.

‘Duffers’ Fortnight’ in late May & into June is supposed to be when trout are at their easiest to catch on rivers that have good Mayfly (Ephemera danica) hatches, but this is not always the case. Whilst there are times that epic catches can be made, for those who believe that with the Mayflies will come suicidal trout feeding there can be disappointment & frustration.

Whilst I have come to prefer rods with a softish, progressive action for most of my fishing, when casting in a strong wind I find that a short, crisp actioned rod is a more suitable tool for the job as mentioned above. The short relatively stiff rod cuts through & beneath the wind & generates very tight loops when required.

Many of the waters that I fish hold what I would term ‘Well Educated Fish’. Now there are two very different types of educated fish, ones that I hate & ones that I love. Let me explain.

Well we’re into November & the traditional grayling season. Covid restrictions mean that I’ve had to fish locally. Unfortunately my closest grayling water, Driffield Beck, has suffered over the years from heavy cormorant predation. As a result there are very few grayling in the parts of the river that I have access to, but some are very big. This autumn water levels are low & the beck is clear so sight-fishing is possible making it easier to find a fish to target. On a good day I might see between two & half a dozen decent grayling to target.