The summer always presents a challenge to fly fishermen and guides alike. Currently, several of the rivers I frequent are unfishable due to either drought or flood conditions. The most spectacular of these is the Goyt which has been in the news recently as it is could possibly receive the contents of Toddbrook reservoir should…

Ed & John chose one of the hottest days of the year to take on one of the U.K.’s toughest rivers, the Derbyshire Wye. The water was low and carrying a slightly mysterious tinge as there didn’t appear to have been any rain before our arrival. The bright sun and lack of flies kept all…

Hoylake Flyfishers Steve and his dad Keith spent a long awaited day with me on the river Dee on Sunday. They were there courtesy of Steve’s Stillwater prowess which won him first prize in the club competition held annually at Chirk fishery.   As we were setting up, Keith complained that he was usually the…

As Monday and Tuesday mornings were assigned to lessons, I had 2 more ‘free’ afternoons. Monday pm was spent on a very low river Goyt. The bicycle gauge was very high out of the water this time out. This made it tough to move around undetected and approach the fishiest spots without spooking everything. 0.16…

Today was to be a full day with both a morning fishing lesson and an afternoon casting lesson. But what should I do in the evening? First up was with Father and Son Richard and Dickie. Having already had a couple of casting lessons with me, they were keen to put their new found skills…

I’ve had an unusual amount of half day river lessons recently. I don’t suggest them for beginners but for those with some casting and fishing experience, they are a great way to iron out any wrinkles and focus on the stuff that will hopefully put more fish in the net. If I can book two…

After a luxurious weekend in the Peak District, I completed my ‘recovery’ with a short, ‘back to reality’ evening session on my local industrial river. Having resigned myself to the loss of my fly box, I felt it would be both mature and cathartic to return to the same spot with the sole intention of…

After the recent traumas, I was really looking forward to the weekend. On Friday Chiara and I attended the Cressbrook & Litton FFC’s Bugs, Bats & Burgers evening where entomologist extraordinaire Stuart Crofts again blew our minds with his knowledge of the insect life on the spectacular River Wye. After a brief and relatively fruitless…

Following a morning casting lesson, I headed once again to the river Goyt for the afternoon. Things started slowly but after a couple of fly changes, I found myself connected with that big early season Goyt Grayling I’d been hoping for. My euphoria was short lived as after a few twists and turns, the hook…