Beginners Lesson - River Nith, Friars Carse Hotel

Full day Beginners lesson up on the River Nith at Friars Carse Hotel.
The client Carl Wood has huge amounts of experience fishing for carp and decided that he wanted to add fly fishing to his skills so that he could travel light and go stalking for them in the future.



Started the day going over all the equipment, set up, flies etc. We then got into the casting on the hotel lawn, overhead first taking into account wind directions and dealing with these accordingly. Good session, considering that Carl had not used a fly rod before he soon started to get the hang of it and realise when things were going wrong.

Break for lunch and a time to recap over things we had covered then it was back out this time onto the river at Marsdens Pool to go over and practise the roll cast. Covered all wind directions so when we move on to putting things into practise we shoud be fine.

Carl coped well with these casts so it was time to put things too the test and we moved off up stream to the Riding Stones to fish through down towards the hotel. Started with a small brown czech nymph on the point and a pennell on the dropper, first cast and a fish took the pennell, a small wild brownie only to come off at the net, a good start. Fished slowly down the pool with a few fish rising but no further offers. The wind at this point was down stream and quite strong so it was testing Carls ability as a first time caster but all credit to him he stuck at it and coped well.


Change of flies and the luck changed which was just what we wanted, olive nymph onto the point and a small wet fly on the dropper and he started to get some offers, just as he covered the faster water around the boil. At least half a dozen offers resulted in 2 nice fish, a lovely marked wild brownie and the Lady of the Stream, the Grayling. Both quickly photographed and safely returned to the river.

For a complete beginner to fly fishing Carl did really well and was well chuffed in capturing his first fish 'on the fly'.















If you fancy doing the same don't hesitate to call, I can't guarantee the fish but I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience of trying.

Next stop for me is the mighty River Tay, hope the fish are biting.


If your out there fishing this week Tight Lines

Visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk.

Practice & More Practice

I managed about an hour on Sunday at Platt Fields in Fallowfield despite the freezing cold and strong winds, the wind was that strong at times that there were small waves on the lake - not conducive to good practice.

Wednesday saw me up on the River Ribble near the Aspinall Arms for a double session with my mentor. Double handed first for 2 hours, again it was absolutely freezing especially as I was stood in the water this time. Gusting downstream wind and squally snow showers were the conditions for the morning session.
Quick break for lunch and a very warm drink, I thought my toes had fallen off they were that cold.
Now the Single Handed APGAI session started with Chris. Conditions looked at one point as though they may be improving but we were just lulled into a false sense of security, the clouds rolled in and the snow showers came again. The winds hardly reduced all day so it made the casts interesting to say the least but you never know what you may get on the day. Session finished soup & sandwich and hot coffee called for.

Sunday and it was back to Platt Fields, weather was a lot better this time, bright blue skies to start with even though it was still cold. A good session with the double handed rod but still room for improvement.

Check out the Frairs Carse Hotel web site for what will be the first of the Fly Fishing Courses that I'll be running. http://www.friarscarse.co.uk/hotel-fishing.asp


If your out there fishing this week Tight Lines

Visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk.