Trout and Grayling will eat just about everything that swims in a river at some time in their lives. Part of the fun of fly fishing is trying to work out ‘what’s on the menu’ on the days that you’re on the river. Not all fishermen it seems, are so keen to battle with this…

I’ve been very fortunate over the past few years to spend time with some of my personal fly fishing heroes. I can now add David Southall to that list. Whilst we’ve met several times at gatherings and workshops, we’d never got around to arranging any time on the water together.   At last years BFFI,…

I love working with clients of all abilities but I was particularly excited to receive an email from some experienced fly fishers from Holland recently.   Group leader Peter, was returning to Wales with first time visitors Will, Peter 2 (henceforth known as P2) and Ad, for a five day fishing spree. They thought that…

  I shouldn’t really complain but whilst this summer has been great for the sun worshippers, it’s been a challenge for us fisher folk. Part of the joy of flyfishing is being able to regularly experience the great outdoors. That however, means that you just have to take what mother nature throws at you and…

Adrians birthday weekend celebrations included his first attempt at fly fishing. The previous nights revelry meant that the group was slightly more manageable than a group of beginners/improvers this size might usually be.   Brothers James and Michael had fished with me once before but the river was in flood and the day produced only…

In stark contrast to Friday’s Fly fishing ‘Man-fest’, Saturday was the annual meeting of the “Chinny club”. The name is of course an amalgam of Chiara and Ginny, her ex colleague and occasional angling buddy and is in no way meant as a reference to the amount of ‘chinwagging’ that occurs!   My role here…

A more relaxed river day today with a fellow CADAC member on the fabled Berwyn Arms beat. Not perfect conditions but certainly much better than the last couple of months.   The water remains ice cold and with the blustery wind and some of the trees already on the turn, it felt like summer was…

I can’t tell you how impressed I was with returning American client, Michael. He and his wife Barbara were arriving in England on Friday to attend a family wedding the following day. They were planning to return home to Connecticut on the Monday but he had somehow managed to squeeze in a days fly fishing…

It’s easy to lose touch with people even though these days we have so many more ways to communicate. Whereas once a phone call or a letter was acceptable as a valid attempt to contact someone, this has now been diminished to a text or a ‘like’ on Facebook. We are busier and it takes…

As July draws to a close, I can honestly say that it has been one of the toughest months fishing and certainly THE toughest months guiding I’ve ever experienced.   Bright sunshine and high temperatures are uncomfortable for fish so they avoid them by taking cover during the day and feeding when it’s cooler at…