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…

With today’s clients choosing to postpone their day on the Dee due to yet more rain, I was suddenly presented with a bonus day… so I went fishing! But instead of North Wales, I headed for Stockport and the river Goyt which, despite the rain, was still fishable.   I wasn’t able to open my…

On Sunday, I went in search of my first legal Dee Grayling of the season. With the river at a good height and with more heavy rain forecast for Sunday night and Monday, I figured I would take advantage of the fast shrinking window of opportunity.   The conditions were heavy and humid and when…

For the past few years, the good folk of The Hoylake Flyfishers Club have invited me to one of their summer meetings and it has been my pleasure to hold a casting clinic on the field after the official club business has been dealt with.   Sadly, this years event fell foul of the June…

I was very pleased recently to hear from one of last years ‘Newbies’ Jeremy as it meant that he hadn’t been put off by his first fly fishing experience. Last September, he and his friend Chris were dealt a savage blow by the river Dee when after months of almost drought conditions, the river flooded…