End Of Season

Well for me the 2014 salmon season is over even though a few lucky anglers will still be out fishing for them down south.

Spent the last 3 days fishing on the River Nith whilst staying at Friars Carse Country House Hotel. We arrived on Thursday just in time for breakfast which set us up for the day and was soon tackled up and off to the river which was running clear albeit a little on the low side, still a few fish had been seen and things looked promising.


We started up on the Shank Pool after seeing a couple of fish move in the tail, first cast and Mat was into a fish which after a quick head shake was off. We fished down the pool until we got to the Riding Stone then walked back up to the top of the Shank and fished it through again getting another good pull in the middle of the pool - but no fish.

Moved down onto the Island Pool and fished all the way through Policemans and into Fyffes which had produced fish earlier in the week and always looks as though it will have something to offer. We fished it through really slow but nothing as we left to go back up the beat Ray started to fish it down and later told us he managed a small salmon from the head of the pool.

Friday we went and fished the Lower Castle Beat at Drumlanrig Castle. We'd taken the full rod quota so we just drew lots (after a quick tipple) to see who was up and who was down with a switch round after lunch. Decided that the Doctors Pool looked the best bet for us and we soon had the flies in the water, fishing just below the first two croys and tight to the far bank we were pleased to see a couple of fish move in the clear water. A good clean fish crashed out, then another shortly after and as we moved down the pool another half dozen showed all really tight up against the far bank but sadly none of them wanted the fly.

Quick lunch back at the hut and a few warming drinks and it was off to the upper section for our afternoon stint, we went right to the top of the beat (Carronfoot Pool) and as we were getting rods off the car  a couple of salmon crashed one of which looked a good double and was lovely and silver. It wasn't long before Alans rod was bent double as a fish took hold after a few big shakes of its head and a very fast move upstream it was gone only for another big fish to explode out of the water under the bushes on the far bank, one of us had to get a fish to the bank before long. Despite our best efforts we managed none but a great day made better by the news that one of the party who was fishing the bottom of the beat had managed to grass a nice clean 8lb fish right in front of the hut.

Saturday was the last salmon day of the season and we were back at Friars Carse as the guests of the hotel manager. It was a great day and again a good number of fish were seen but none were in the taking mood so it was down to a fine evening meal for the party and a fun game of indoor hook a duck fishing with some nice prizes on offer, altogether a great way to end the season.


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Need To Get Fishing

Busy week teaching so thought I'd get out and have few hours fishing for myself. Headed up to local club water and typical just as I got there the heavens opened and it was blowing a gale so no chance of getting out to fish.

Off to the River Nith next week for the last 3 days of the salmon season. 2 days on Friars Carse and 1 day on Drumlanrig Castle beat hopefully the rivers in good nick and there are a few fish about that are in a taking mood, you never know.

Tight line to all those who are still managing to get out fishing.

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Double Handed Assessment

It's been a while since my last post due to spending a great deal of time
getting ready for another assessment with GAIA (Game Angling Instructors Association), this time in Double Handed techniques.

The assessments took place on Friday 7th November on the River Dee at Llangollen in Wales and was followed by various demonstrations and workshops on the Saturday which ranged from fishing for grayling with nymphs, trotting, flies for the Dee and rod building.

Arrived Thursday afternoon to get some final practice in on the river, session went reasonably well despite the windy conditions but at least it stayed dry. Friday arrived and I was scheduled to be on the river for about 1.15pm so it meant a long time hanging around. Weather was overcast with fine rain and no wind in the morning but that was about to change, the wind picked up and the rain became heavier so not ideal conditions for all of us taking assessments but you just have to get on with it and make the most of it.
I'm pleased to say that I meet the standard that was required and have now been awarded the GAIA certificate in Double Handed Techniques.

Next thing is to get some fishing done then I'll gradually work on taking the APGAI Single Handed qualification in 2015.

Tight line to all those who are still managing to get out fishing.

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Chasing Tunny Tuna

Spent a great day out on the water with Steve Traves owner of AMI Outfitters and Capt. Rusty Chinnis on his boat chasing tunny tuna (false albacore).
We met up with Rusty at Mar Vista and then headed out through Longboat Pass into the gulf searching for diving birds and explosions of fish.

This was a first time experience for me fishing off a flats boat and on that I was really looking forward to.

Steve with his Tunny Tuna. Photo courtesy of Rusty Chinnis.

The day was hot & clear and the sea looked flat but as soon as we got off shore the swell picked up and made life interesting. We chased pods of fish for a good while but infuriatingly as soon as we got into casting position they went down, eventually Steve managed to get one to stick for a while before it broke free. I managed to get a couple of fish to have a good look at the fly and briefly had a small one  before it broke free. A change of fly to a top water gurgler and Steve was in again this time he managed to get the fish to the boat.
We kept chasing the pods which seemed to be getting smaller and I managed to bring to the boat a Spanish mackerel, not what I really wanted but still a tug on the line.

It's been a great learning experience for me today, the need to speed up my initial cast to try and get the best shot and probably more important how to cast better from a rolling boat. I definitely will be having another shot at this when I'm back next year

A few days left before I head back home across the pond after another great three weeks here on Anna Maria Island with new friends made.

Tight Lines.

A Day out On The Water

Well what can I say, just been out with captain Chad Gamble of Hook & Ladder Charters and yet another memorable day we've had, there is always something different about our trips.

Met up  at Coquina South boat fish ramp just after lunch, 82 degrees, overcast and very little breeze should be good out there.

Went looking for some action with the snook who had played out in the morning but were not on a cooperative way in the afternoon.

Moved a few times and tried various methods and began picking up fish, speckled trout, slot sized came to the boat, numerous nice size jacks and ladyfish but the best was yet to come. We finally managed to get a school of red fish on the feed and managed to hook into and land some nice fish.
Infuriatingly I managed to loose the 2 best fish of the day both of which were considerably over the 'slot' size - ah well that's fishing.

We were just about to move to another spot when we notice that we could no longer see Sarasota due to the wall of heavy rain that was bearing down, so an extremely quick run for home was in order with us all donning waterproof jackets but too late was the cry it hit us and we were all soaked but hey it's just another adventure with our good friend Captain Chad Gamble.

As aside I also lost bragging rights to my wife Joyce who managed more trout than me as well as the biggest red fish to be landed - drat the ones that got away.

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Ladyfish Galore

Heavy rain has hindered the fishing but luckily that seems to have now passed trough and the last couple of days has shown an increase in catches of various species but mainly ladyfish, great sport on the fly. Some of the fish have been over 2lb but trying to keep them on when the just love to jump, twist and turn is something else.

Rip tides are forecast for tomorrow so extra care needs to be taken whilst I'm out.

Good friends Gordon & Sharon arrive tomorrow so they'll be some company when fishing, though I'm sure he'll be after far far bigger fish than me - Sharks. No doubt we'll spend a few evenings on the beach together seeing what we can get.

Sunday morning  is catch up time with Captain Chad Gamble of Hook & Ladder Charters great fun to be out on the water with, will post how we get on.

Tight Lines to all those fishing this weekend.

FIshings Not Always Easy - But Its A Joy To Do

Have fished the beach for a good few hours each day using various fly patterns with some success especially to the white and silver patterns. A few bait balls have started to appear and hopefully this will bring the bigger predatory fish within casting distance.

Weather has been changeable to say the least from warm and balmy at first light to blistering heat by 9.30 through till mid afternoon and then the thunder starts and the clouds back up the lightning puts on a show and the rain just pours down and puts a real downer on the fishing.

Was going to try the spinning rod this afternoon as the surf was high and I thought there may be a chance of a snook patrolling the surfline but another storm front just pushed on right through so it looks like its put and end to that.

Ladyfish, pinfish, small jacks and skip jacks have all been greedily taking the fly and a few ladyfish of decent size have thrown the hook during their aerobatics, it all makes for good fun on the fly.


Called in to see AMI Outfitters costal Gear & Apparel on Pine Avenue, Anna Maria today and had a quick catch up with Steve the owner, great shop and really nice people. Steve has started doing complimentary Tide Tables which can be a great help, they also have lots of other useful information on them.



Was handed a Dupre's Spoonfly to try out, lets hope it works.

Tight Lines

I'm Back On Anna Maria Island

Arrived back on Anna Maria Island, Florida late yesterday 2hours behind schedule to technical issues with the aircraft.
Managed to grab a quick meal at The Sandbar Restaurant before heading back to the house foe a few cold beers.

Today has been extremely warm and humid and after the necessary chores managed to grab some time to go and fish this evening but as we all know things don't always go as planned.

Rain clouds were forming over Tampa area and a few light spots of rain were starting to fall when I began fishing. I was soon getting bites that then turned into a steady flow of Ladyfish, good sport but would have liked to find some snook.

Things were going quite well until the heavy rain came through followed very closely by serious thunder and then lightening, it was now time to exit the water and leave the fly rod tucked amongst the sea oats whilst I attempted to shelter against another clump of sea oats. Decided to head for home after about 30 minutes sheltering and there was no sign of the rain, thunder & lightening abating and 4 hours later its still raining. Thunder and lightening has now stopped and just the odd flash can be seen way out at sea so hopefully it will be fine enough to get out first thing.

Tight lines

Beginners Fly Fishing Course

Spent some time at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith earlier in the week delivering a fly fishing course. All the clients were new or limited experience in the art of fly casting.




We met up late on Sunday and enjoyed a nice meal in the restaurant before moving into the Nith Room where
Wendy Gibson http://www.fliesbywendy.co.uk/ demonstrated the art of fly dressing which they found fascinating. Clients were then encouraged to have a go.

Monday morning and we went through the types of equipment and how to set it up along with the safety brief etc.

Overhead cast was first on the agenda making sure that varying wind directions were catered for with the emphasis on keeping it safe. Basic shooting of line and line management were explained in preparation for fishing later in the day.

The afternoon session started down on the river with the demonstration of the Roll Cast again making sure that changes in wind directions were dealt with.

It was then time to put what we had covered into practice and see if we could manage to catch any fish. Given the lack of rain it meant that the river was very low which not ideal for fishing was great for beginners learning to cast.. A few small trout, grayling and parr came to hand which was good for all except one rod which was part of the challenge for the next day to make sure all managed to catch something.

After dinner fly tying continued with some nice 1 feather patterns being tied by Wendy, amazing.

Tuesday morning and a recap time on the lawn before heading back down to the river where we looked at Jump Rolls  and Mends. Putting it all into practice was the next challenge and all managed to catch today in fact it was great to see our lady angler not only managing to catch her first fish but then plucking up enough courage to hold and un-hook it.

We had a great time with good company and plenty of laughs.

Watch out for Course dates at the hotel for 2015.

Off for a session with my mentor on Monday with the Double Handed rod, that will be the last before I head off to the

USA when I'm back on Anna Maria Island - hope the fish are biting.

Tight lines for all you fisher folk

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Family Trip

Had a trip up to Perthshire with the family last week and managed to get a days salmon fishing on the upper Tay on Bolfracks.

Water was at a really good height and running nice and clear but after a long hard day we had managed only one small trout. Really frustrating as it looked absolutely perfect but that's what can happen when fishing for salmon.

In fact we only saw a couple of fish all day and even when we walked other sections of the river there were very few fish seen.

Junction Pool of the Tay & Lyon

Junction Pool down to Millers & Shepherds

Reports from lower down were that the river was running very coloured after the recent rains so this may have been the reason for the lack of fish pushing up into the clear waters of the upper section.

Some lessons booked in for the coming weeks along with some double handed sessions with my mentor, then it's back up on the River Nith for the 2 day course I'm running at Friars Carse.

Tight Lines to all you fishers

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Return From The Nith

Back from the Nith without any major success, river was really low and conditions throughout the 3 days were blazing sunshine and really hot, given some rain and you can imagine the river being full of fish.
Still we were there and made the most of it, spent some time each day working on various double handed casting techniques which hopefully will become invaluable later in the year.

There were plenty of small grayling, brownies, sea trout and parr about to keep you on your toes with the odd decent fish mixed in.

Back out each night for a few hours but even the few big pulls failed to result in a fish to the net, strange it was almost as if they were just hitting the tails of the fly and off.


Took time out on Tuesday to do a quick lesson with one of the staffs sons, he got the grip with the casts very well.

A few pointers for another of the hotel regulars on the Wednesday before I packed up and headed back down the motorway.

Last few days has been busy with repeat lessons as well as continuing my own development with the double handed rod.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

River Nith

Practice has been the thing of late and will continue this next week BUT I'm off to the River Nith for 3 days fishing as well so some time to fish.



New set of flies to try out, they look good, tied by Custom Tied Flies



The river like most is very low so it will be a matter of finding that bit of fast water and hope that there are some fish about, there's always the chance of some sea trout and if not hopefully the brownies will be eager.

Tight lines to those out fishing.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

River Tyne

Beginners lesson with Peter in the early part of the week it went well and I'm sure he'll soon be out catching fish.

Very early start on Wednesday to get up to the River Tyne on the Chesters Beat. Slow traffic on the motorway and A roads meant that it took a good while longer than anticipated.

Chesters is split into 2 beats Upper & Lower with 2 rods on each so it meant that we switched round  on the lower beat so we all had a chance to fish it.

River was very low and if we hadn't had to book so much in advance we would probably not have gone, if you're ever going to fish here take note of the release of water from Kielder reservoir, evidently you really want about a 9 cumec release and then wait 24 hours for the river to be at a good height (that's if its not been raining) best height for the river is between 1 and 1 3/4' . Still we were there and made the bets of it, some big fish were seen in the various pools but none of us managed to touch a thing, plenty of trout were rising during the day so we may have been better fishing for them.
Wading was interesting in parts as there are some large boulders/rocks so great care is needed when wading.

More lessons booked in for the coming weeks and I'm hoping to get time on Wednesday to go over to Platt Fields in Manchester to meet up with the lads from the Manchester Casting Club, it seems ages since I've been over.




Tight Lines for the coming week.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Happy Clients

Helped out at local fishery on Friday with some instruction for a Corporate Day they were having, second year the clients have been.
A great bunch of people who despite having never fished before and the conditions being warm and sunny with no cloud cover they stuck at it.
It was just a shame that there were only 2 who managed to catch, but that's fishing for you.




Keeping busy continuing with my own practice on double handed rods as well as fitting in clients lessons (single handed), its been great fun and all seem to have enjoyed it and gained some insight into this graet sport of ours. Another lesson tomorrow and then its off to do some fishing on Wednesday with a trip to the River Tyne, fishing Chesters Beat on the North river. Never fished it before so should be interesting, hopefully we'll get a pull on the line.

Friday I'm planning to get a spot of fishing in up at Lamaload, one of my local club waters, not been up there for a while with being away so it will be good to see what's happening up there.

Already booked a few days up on the river Nith for July so hopefully the river will be in good form.

Tight Lines for the coming week.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

Homeward Bound

Well the 3 weeks have finally come to an end and a great time has been had here on Anna Maria Island.

Rods were all cleaned and packed away when I took the last stroll along the beach to Bean point. The water was low enough to get out to what's left of the sandbar, about 2 feet of crystal clear water covering and area at least the size of a couple of football pitches.
We were soon followed by a shoal of permit who were following behind and picking up offerings from the sand that we had disturbed, if we stopped they just kept swimming round our feet.

We spotted some nice snook cruising through the back of the waves by and managed to get quite close to them before they darted of.

All of this and no rod to fish with, still it's all stored in the memory bank for when I'm back on this beautiful island in September.

Next task is getting some serious practise in with the double handed rod ready for the next trip after atlantic salmon.

Tight Lines to all fishing this weekend.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

AMI - Part 4

Spent the day chasing tarpon, snook and bass down in Placida, Florida with  Leslie Holmes , had a blast jumped at least 7 tarpon a good few snook and even managed to move some bass all great fun on a #6 fly rod, small flies with a guy who really knows how to cast and make the fishing time enjoyable.

Scariest moment was when we spooked an alligator out of the reeds, then it had the nerve to come seeing what all the commotion was when the next Tarpon was hooked.



Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

AMI - Part 3

Not done much fishing over the weekend as the beaches have been a bit crowded but can now get back to it.

Have noticed that about an hour before sunset each evening small tarpon have been within casting distance from the beach. Low water tonight probably explained why, the drop off was quiet steep. Managed to get a couple of casts off to some last night and tonight but there was no interest.


The last few nights around the same time there has been something really bashing into other fish but all just out of casting range, typical.


Small jacks, and ladyfish have at least kept some action going on, still its not bad when you've got the place to yourself, nice

Lets see what the next few days bring.

Tight lines.

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web site www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter

AMI - Part 1.

Arrived safe and sound in the USA for the first of two trips this year. Anna Maria Island is our base, as the locals say 'its a sleepy little town with a fishing problem', say no more.

Beach was busy with weekend visitors so the fly rod had to stay out of the way until they headed for home, then the clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico could be safely fished.

A few ladyfish obliged in the short session, not very big but still good fun on the fly rod.


Early morning beach walk and spotted a few small tarpon rolling through, nice. Even though some were well within casting distance none could be tempted. A few of the early morning skiffs were anchored up just off shore and they weren't having any luck either. My wife had gone for her early morning walk whilst I fished and took great delight in telling me that up near Bean Point she'd just watched a small pod of Tarpon rolling for about 15 minutes then they went - not what I wanted to hear.

Early evening and it was cast time again, a couple of good pulls that resulted in nothing then the ladyfish put in a brief appearance.

I managed a couple of shots at some small Tarpon the were very close to the beach but they just weren't interested, still there's always tomorrow.



Tight Lines

Check out our late season course at Friars Carse Hotel on the River Nith

For more photos and fishing course information visit us on our Facebook page Cheshire Fly Fish or web sitewww.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter