Run the final Fly Fishing course of 2016 at Friars Carse Country House Hotel on the banks of the River Nith in Dumfries. A loan angler this time as a couple of people had to drop out at the last minute but still it was a great course even if I say so myself.
Ian Gregson who does a lot of salmon fishing was on the course to get to grips with Spey Casts using his double handed & Switch rods from either bank. After the obligatory prelims of H & S issues we got down to looking at his basic casts and making some minor adjustments. Overhead cast was Ians go to method as where he fishes he had plenty of room behind so it was going to be a challenge for him to use other casts.
Left hand up on the double hander was the first challenge with a 'I cant do that' cry, just do one of your right and then switch hands & go off left - Worked OK, better than he thought so a bit more practice and it was really good. Now it was time to get on the water and try some more.
Next we checked out his Roll Cast (both sides) and then we went into reasons why we would use Spey Casts then finally to the actual cast. Given the wind conditions and the bank we were on it was decided that we would use the Circle C, left hand up as we would eventually be fishing down the beat that way.
As you can see it wasn't long before he had perfected it.
We had a great couple of days together fishing through different pools and varying the casts to include Doule Speys and Snake Rolls which did give a bit of issues and do still need some more work but all in all Ian did brilliantly, the only thing missing was a fish & that wasn't for trying, we did see quite a few fish but he left them for me I'm sure
Time for me to have a fish alongside my good pal & Instructor Chris Hague who had come up onto the beat for the first time, he soon showed me the way by catching a few nice trout and a sea trout all on the salmon fly but I just had that feeling and with my favourite fly of the year a Gold Willie Gunn tied for me by Custom Tied Flies I was about 20 yards behind Chris who had just shouted to me 'get the camera ready I'm going to catch one ' - but he didn't, he just warmed it up for me.I let the flies fish close over the top of the Sleeping Stones lie and as it dropped over the back there was a strong solid take and the fight was on. I shouted to Chris that I was in and I'm not quite sure what his reply was but he kindly waded out just in case the fish bolted downstream.
A few minutes of serious head shaking and the fish was ready for net which was just as well when we lifted the net the hook fell out. It was a hen fish of about 10lb and just starting to show the signs of colour change but still nice, quickly measured and photographed then safely returned to the water to continue her journey to produce the next generation of salmon. Thanks also must go to Peter Behan who managed to get me some nice photos.Next stop the River Dee in Llangollen.
For more photos and details of fishing course visit us on our Facebook page - Cheshire Fly Fish or www.cheshireflyfishing.co.uk
