Steve – Page 3 – Steve Yeomans

Fly Fishing Tech Hacks Part 2

In the first part of this series, we looked at modern takes on fishing journals, how quick, easy and phenomenally useful these can be. If you’ve not read it, check it out here.

Here, in part 2, I’m going to suggest options you can use to update/improve fish location. This is possibly the single most powerful area of fishing you can improve. When you know where the feeding fish are, you can ensure your fly spends more time there. Net result, you will catch more fish!

Firstly, it’s become common place to use everyday software like google maps and google earth to find fishing venues. Then take a closer look at waters before you visit for the first time. Very often you can see some significant features that hold feeding fish before you ever visit. This is a tremendous asset, you have ideas of where to go before you leave home. Couple this with a quick search for up to date fishing reports and you are well on the way to a successful trip.

Once waterside you can find additional features (old school style) by looking into margins with polaroid sunglasses and also plumbing the depth. One way of doing this is casting a sinking line and counting how long it takes to reach bottom. You can also use you fly rod or a plumb line from a boat and make notes from viewing a venue in high and low water conditions over time. (Note you can use the modern journaling technique discussed in part 1 effectively for this too.)

The header image for this article is from my 1997 fishing journal (old school) and shows a sketch from a lake I fished a few times that year. It includes a number of key features I discovered, all of which appealed to feeding fish.

Today you can map water much faster and find many more features easily using a portable fish finder. Previously the must have gadget for boat anglers, they’ve been available for several years as a castable device that sends feedback directly to your phone. A real shortcut to the learning curve, so you become much more successful sooner.

It’s easy to knock the use of these devices, if you you feel that way about them, don’t use them. A recent experience I had proved interesting to me at least, this is what happened.

I was waterside with a client taking his first day of fly fishing. Another angler who knew me approached us, having enjoyed a successful morning. He was super enthusiastic about how much he had learned in very little time, after recently starting to use a castable fish/depth finder. What he used it for was to analyse areas where either he saw fish, caught fish or observed others catching. Nearly every time he located a holding feature. He felt that after fly fishing occasionally for over 30 years (self taught) he understood fish location and it’s importance.

I was delighted to hear this and congratulated him. As he walked away however my client asked if I felt cheated. After all I have spent decades building up layers of watercraft knowledge for many venues. He felt earning this the “hard way” would be better. My reply was and remains, we have numerous options of acquiring such knowledge and always have had. The other angler had waited 30 years to realise the most important function in fly fishing success, he deserves his new found knowledge and perhaps reflects on what might have been, had he found it earlier! The fact my clients choose to hire me is to shortcut the learning curve and make the most of limited time. The technology is just another tool in your box.

The fact we have more options now to choose from is a good thing. It means people can learn faster using methods that work for them. Most people do not choose to devote 10% of the time to fly fishing that guides and top anglers do. So being able to achieve reasonable success in limited time with technology aiding you can only be good, right?

Fly Fishing Tech Hacks Part 1

The intension in this short series of articles, is to highlight some fast, easy technology hacks I’ve found/developed, to massively short cut the fly fishing learning curve. Perfect if you don’t get much time to fish!

To kick off here’s a really quick and easy one that only grows in value with time.

Most of us carry a camera of some form with us in our daily lives now. In most cases it’s a standard part of our phone. This makes snapping a good quality photo while fishing easy, right. Capturing moments that help us relive special memories. Sound familiar?

It’s a small step in your thinking then, to add value to each fly fishing trip. How? Every fly you use in a day, you hook onto a fly patch or something similar, to dry out, before putting it back in your box. When you stop fishing, take a picture of the flies used that day.

Ok, by creating an album solely for these images, you build a visual record of flies used, dates are automatically generated, so you know what time of year it was too. This action alone is very helpful in refining your fly selection for future trips and gives you confidence (a vital ingredient).

You can take it a stage further though and create much more value. It’s quick and easy to tag the image with your location, then note conditions, your catch and anything else you may think useful. This final step transforms your record into a digital fly fishing journal, that is always on hand, immensely useful to reflect on, very quick and easy to record (making it much more likely you do it) and an information mine.

Over time this ultimate database only becomes more useful as it builds. You really notice the difference on the tough days. Just stop fishing for a moment, refer to the images. See what worked or indeed did not work under similar conditions previously.

Hey presto, you just made making a change that is likely to help you catch, much more likely!

All this takes much less time and effort than the words written here and their is only upside for your fly fishing. Remember those tough days when you don’t catch? You see the most benefit then. One fish caught when it’s hard, is worth way more than ten when it’s easy!

Enjoy

SJY

Winter Projects Part 1 – Casting

At this time of year (early November) I have developed a habit of reflecting on my fly fishing year thus far. A mini review, identifying anything that needs/could be improved or new ideas to be tried/tested for the next year.

Five years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to train myself to cast as well with my left hand as my right. This was not something I had done seriously before. I can cast at any rod angle through 180 degrees from right to left, right handed, so the left side I tended to neglect. However, it dawned on me that should I seriously injure my right arm at any point, it would not only impact my fishing, but my business too. This gave added impetus to doing something about the situation. Call it scenario planning, if you like.

Each year since, I have spent a small amount of time in total, on a little and often basis, training my left arm to fly cast correctly. I am now convinced that while it’s not as good as my right side yet, a concerted effort this winter, could see me cast better left handed than right!

Why? My hypothesis (and that is all it is) points to me training my left side from scratch, using correct technique and proven training methods. On the right side, I made every mistake under the sun, gradually resolving bad habits over the years as I learned through both doing and seeking out help from professionals. It will be interesting to see what happens. Have any thoughts on this? Please leave a comment if so.

So what fly casting projects could you take on this winter? Increased distance, improved accuracy, learning a new technique, using different equipment for specific situations, etc. The first step is to identify what you want, then go see a professional coach. This will align your wants and needs. You will also gain an invaluable pathway to achieving your goal.

Once you have this, it’s then down to high quality practice!

Best wishes for your winter goals.

SJY

Bowls of Jelly & Fish Spotting!

Wondering if I’m using dubious substances while writing this? That’s understandable from the title, the answer’s “no”, just stay with me, all will become clear, I promise.

Looking at this post’s header image, it’s likely you can see a fish. It’s also likely you recognise the fish to be a rainbow trout. (If not, take a closer look at the photo, see it now? Great, you just learned something!)

Now ask yourself why you see that fish? Very often the answer is, you see a fish because you are looking for a fish. This is classic “Prey Image Theory“, we know what the thing we are looking for looks like, so we look for that image. This is one of the key reasons why you miss seeing so many fish when looking into clear water!

Take this everyday life example that clearly shows the error.

bowls of jelly and fish spotting — Welcome to my fridge.

The story starts with me walking into the kitchen to make a drink. As I move towards our fridge, Andrea (my wife), casually mentions she made a black cherry jelly for fun earlier, its setting in the fridge. As I open the fridge door and look in, I grab the milk and look for the jelly, (see image above). I finish making my drink and do the typical husband thing, “hey Andrea, I don’t see that jelly in the fridge, where did you put it?” the response is the time honoured wife to dumb husband response, (Andrea walks briskly into kitchen, opens fridge door) “there, in the cups!”.

At this point we depart from the typical husband wife storyline, I experience a massive “light bulb” moment and we both burst into fits of laughter at me failing prey image theory, big time.

You see, in the fridge contents photo, what I saw, 4 nice cups that contained the delicious jelly. Once I knew the jelly was in cups, I saw jelly, before that, I saw cups, not jelly. The question is why?

The answer is because when I think of jelly, I think of a bowl of jelly! That’s how my mum and my nans’ all made jelly and how we often do too. So my prey image is a jelly bowl. I completely missed the jelly because I looked for a large jelly bowl and saw cups, among everything else. As soon as Andrea updated my prey image with information that she made the jelly in cups, I got it immediately.

What the heck does this have to do with fly fishing?

Well whenever you go looking for fish with an image of that species held consciously/subconsciously in your head, you make that same error again and again and again.

In fact you make that error continuously and will do forever, or you do something about it and correct the error!

How? Stop looking for a fish! Instead, look for signs. If you look, you will see. Just like Derek.

Have fun

SJY

Performance

As a regular or new visitor to this blog, you may have noticed the subheading reads “Performance Fly Fishing”? You would I hope, agree, after reading a few posts, the overall objective here is to help raise your fly fishing performance.

For some reason that I find astonishing, it’s taken until now for me to write a post specifically on performance. So as it’s taken this long, let’s get on with it!

I often extoll the benefits of practice. It has a very strong role to play in improving performance. You can find some great pointers on this here!

However I am going to return to the areas of mindset and perception now. They have a huge influence on the outcome of any fishing trip. For example, it is often said how beneficial a day’s fishing is. Relaxing, restorative, healing, are all words regularly used to describe a day on the water. They are also words associated with feeling tired, run down, sick. Not situations in which we are likely to perform at our best.

So in the above scenario we feel good post fishing trip (which is important and a good thing), yet we likely did not fish as well as we could have. People tell me everyday, “It does not matter if I don’t catch fish” or “just being here is enough, catching is a bonus”. Sometimes they do mean what they say, most of the time they don’t. If they did there would be no one moaning about not catching on internet forums and social media groups! I would also be redundant.

This post on the other hand comes at fly fishing performance from a proactive perspective. I even say “If this sounds like a business/career planning exercise,…”. It’s been 2 years since I wrote that post as I write now. In that time I have immersed myself further in using common traits of “elite performance” taken from many fields, and applied it to fly fishing.

This has taken my own fly fishing to new levels of what I personally want to achieve. I’ve also used it to make me a better guide, coach, instructor, mentor, and hence provide a better service to my clients too.

Understandably, not everyone wants to take their fly fishing this far. That’s fine. However, applying principles used everyday in many sports and business to your fly fishing, will bring you so much more than just catching fish. Trust me, thousands of people have!

Have Fun

SJY

Three Great Dry Flies

It’s been a while since my last post which is lazy on my part. To make up for it, I’m sharing 3 classic dry flies which are particularly productive for us right now (mid Spring). They are highly effective throughout the season during hatches and often outside hatch periods.

Enjoy the videos below and be sure to read my notes at the end of this post. I give you the Parachute Adams, F Fly and Shuttlecock!

All three of these flies are well known, standard patterns if you like. The key is not to simply tie them as shown in the 3 videos above or for that matter in any other videos.

Instead, tie them so they remain the immensely successful, general representations of fly life they are, while making them sufficiently different to say eat me instead of run away. Essential when a fish has seen the standard fly many time previously!

Enjoy.

SJY

Getting it Wrong!

Somewhere in the image above is a trout, a very big rainbow trout to be exact! Where, I don’t know. Here’s why.

I am standing on a small point jutting out into the lake, looking right into a small reed fringed bay. Through the clear water, I spot a large rainbow trout, cruising between weed beds in search of prey. Suddenly its mouth opens, there is a huge flash of white underwater, as a nymph is inhaled into a cavernous mouth.

By now I am stepping towards the fish, anticipating it’s cruise path as I move. At the same time, my eyes remain glued to the fish, I know it’s vital to maintain visual contact. I unhitch the fly, begin stripping line from the reel so I can deliver my cast accurately and quickly once in position.

Ready to cast? No. The damn fly line has wrapped over the rod 3-4 times (see photo, you may need to zoom in to the rod tip). This is normally rectified by rotating the fly rod. However I can see via my peripheral vision that the line won’t completely free. I reach forward to free the line, still focusing on the fish. You must be kidding me, the line won’t free!

I take the gamble, looking away from the fish for perhaps 2 seconds while I focus on the rod/line and resolve the tangle. I know the risk involved in doing this, when you look back you may not be able to see the fish. However I’ve tried everything else to free the line and it’s this or nothing!

Line free, I look back to the fish. It’s not there! I scan the water, I don’t see it. I expand my search, still nothing. I focus deeper in the water, nothing. I wait patiently for the fish to return, big trout often cruise a beat repeatedly, I’ll get another chance I tell myself. 20, 30, 40 minutes nothing. I move on, calling back multiple times during the day, nothing.

Sometimes the smallest error makes a huge difference. In this case the difference was a high percentage chance of catching a stunningly marked double figure rainbow trout and not doing so. For me nothing fundamentally new was learned here, I just reinforced that something I already knew was indeed correct!

I hope this helps you land that trophy fish rather than endure the pain of lost opportunity!

Thanks for reading.

SJY

Lake v River

Whenever people seek me out to help them enjoy fly fishing, a common theme is their perception of a day on the water. The runaway winner is a mental picture of standing in a river casting a fly line (wearing waders is something most people are keen on, that’s another topic entirely). Yet in the UK, most fly fishing over a year is done on stillwaters, ranging from small pools to large reservoirs and natural lakes. Conversely in the USA, fly fishing rivers is dominant, despite having a tremendous stillwater resource.

For me the really interesting observation is, most UK fly fishers would suggest river fishing to be harder than lake. While most US fly fishers would say lakes are harder to fly fish than rivers. No doubt this is largely down to a combination of the familiar being easier and our own interpretations.

When it comes to fly fishing in general, I remember the path to casting well, as a long road. It only took a huge leap forward when I accepted practice would make a huge difference. However, casting only matters if you know where the fish are! Once you know what fish need, their location in a river becomes easy to decipher. The visual cues are everywhere. Watch any experienced river fly fisher and they pick holding water effortlessly.

Look at a lake! It’s equally readable, the visual cues enabling us to pick it apart are there, they are however a lot more subtle. I know for me the visual aspect of fly fishing is a huge thrill. So it would not surprise me if the subtlety of watercraft on lakes made many people less interested in lake fishing or even perceive it to be nothing more than “chuck and chance fishing”. That of course is a big mistake and the reason so many people fail on stillwaters!

Stillwater Fly Fishing – Your Guide to Success from Fly Fishing Lessons TV on Vimeo.

In reality rivers and lakes provide the fly fisher with absorbing challenges, they are just different and place different demands on our skill set. So if lakes are a mystery, checkout the video above.

Enjoy the journey!

SJY

A Tale of Two Paths

The paths we choose in life have a major impact on everything we do. This remains exactly the same when we go fly fishing. Take a look beside most popular rivers and over the course of a season, two distinct paths form year in year out as shown in the image above.

When viewed like this, it’s easy to see that moving up and down a river via the “Anglers Path” results in you catching more fish. Taking “The Numpty Path” ensures you spook the majority of your quarry before ever unhitching a fly from the keeper ring!

However, their are times when taking the numpty path can be forgiven: –

You just don’t know about this. (You do now!)
Taking a position on the numpty path stealthily to observe or fish from.
Scouting a piece of water you are unfamiliar with and not planning to fish immediately.

When we find ourselves behaving similar to the points below (and we all do sometime(s)), it’s time to laugh, chill out and learn: –

We get over excited and go charging along the river looking for a “big un”! Typical of early season, a special trip or anytime you’ve not fished for a while. Overcoming this tendency will help you hugely make your precious, limited fishing time more productive.
We become too focused, it starts meaning far too much and the net result is we get clumsy and make mistakes like getting too close.

Finally not taking into account other anglers and walking too close, impacting their fishing. The odd accidental stumble across an unseen comrade is allowed providing an immediate and honest apology is made. Continual uncaring stomping along the bank with no consideration for others, means you are a complete numpty! Sort yourself out.

Thanks for reading!

SJY

Stillwater Fly Fishing Podcast

Tom Rosenbauer interviewed me on the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast to share some of my thoughts and tips on fly fishing stillwaters. Listen to the recording here.

Enjoy!

SJY

Proof of the Pudding…

It’s the middle of Mayfly time here as I type, life is wonderfully hectic and I thought I’d share this image with you.

If you’ve read my thoughts on celebrating mayfly time as perhaps the best opportunity to catch trophy trout on dry flies, this photo encapsulates those musings and is “proof of the pudding”!

As usual however, it’s not all plain sailing. Many waters are experiencing mayfly hatches later than average this year, probably due to a colder than normal spring suppressing water temperature. As a result, being adaptable waterside has proved valuable as is so often the case.

Thanks for reading and tight lines.

SJY

Buzzer Fishing Tips

Buzzers or midge pupae are active in most freshwater most of the year. However, mid to late spring sees some of the most prolific hatches and feeding activity, certainly for stillwaters. The great news for anglers is, most of this bonanza is relatively large in size 12-14 hook size. For much of the year naturals are significantly smaller.

While there are many patterns available to suggest the naturals in various stages, it’s also worth having something a bit different for when it’s needed. Check this short video out for fly tying ideas and clues on how you might fish your fly better!

Thanks for reading!

SJY

Hot Flies, Strawberries & Cream!

Throughout childhood, my Grandad told stories of his own fishing exploits. Some of these were classic fisherman’s tales, to tease me. Such tales usually resulted in a monster being caught, the magic formula? Strawberries and cream!

Being completely obsessed with all things fishing, I read everything I could lay my hands on when not waterside. So, when reading a number of carp fishing articles in the 1980’s, I was astonished to see huge fish caught on strawberries and cream boilies. I thought, maybe gramps was not winding me up after all!

So where am I going with this and what does it have to do with fly fishing?

The well publicised captures of these carp, caught on strawberry and cream flavoured boiled baits, resulted in many carp anglers using this bait for quite some time.

When the latest hot fly pattern is broadcast in the fly fishing media, exactly the same thing happens.

The irony is however, when everyone uses the same fly/bait, it rapidly becomes a lot less effective. Typically, the people who used it originally, did so to offer the fish something different, to get an edge. Once it becomes the norm, that edge is lost.

Very often by the time most anglers hear about a hot fly pattern, the originators have already moved on to something else!

Think about that, it might just come in handy!

Thanks for reading.

SJY

Mayfly – An Alternative View

Here in the UK, May/June is when everyone wants to go fly fishing. Depending on where you are in the country, a very special hatch takes place, a fly referred to specifically as, “The Mayfly”. This would be comparable to the Hexagenia hatch in the USA.

Mayfly are big in comparison to most other flies available to trout during the season. This results in abundant hatches lifting many trout to the surface to feed. An epic feast, a dream for dry fly fishing enthusiasts the world over, easy fishing, duffers fortnight they call it!

SO what’s alternative about the above? Nothing, I’m just setting the scene, this is mass perception and it’s wrong!

During the Mayfly hatch period for a water, their maybe a golden period when trout have really started feeding aggressively on them. Duns hatch in abundance and a relatively small number of anglers have fished the many artificial flies suggesting mayflies. This is the easy fishing, it does not last long and it’s random luck if you are there when it happens. So, make the most of it!

Going fly fishing at Mayfly time with the expectations of the above paragraph, sets you up for disappointment. By simply adjusting your perception you will enjoy your fly fishing more and catch more fish with time (Note – if you did not just click the link to associated article, I suggest doing so now, you will get far more out of this).

Another point that has bugged me for a couple of years is why call Mayfly “duffers fortnight”? If it sets people up to have a bad time rather than a good time, they won’t comeback. Any argument that fishing is easy, is a poor one.

Further more, I don’t find the term duffers fortnight particularly inspiring . A bit of a PR disaster at a time when every angling body in the country is attempting to boost participation.

See my point? A more inspiring approach both personally and professionally is to think of the mayfly hatch as the best time to catch the trout your life on a dry fly!

Now that sounds like an exciting, interesting, yet achievable challenge to me. After all, why do we go fly fishing if not to challenge ourselves to some degree? If you just wanted to catch a fish, you would fish bait.

Thanks for reading.

SJY

Twenty One Seconds!

The video above (produced jointly with Don Stazicker) is just twenty one seconds long. This scenario plays out daily on waters around the world for many species, not just trout.

The implications for your fly fishing are vast.

My advice is watch it multiple times, think about what you’ve seen. When you have a few ideas or you’ve tried making changes, comeback and watch again. Our perspective changes with each new experience, plus 21 seconds is not a huge amount of your valuable time to take up.

Thanks for reading!

SJY

Fish are Fish

Modern fly fishing is about more species than simply trout and salmon. Many people have seen how bass, pike, carp, in fact, most species of fish can be successfully caught fly fishing. I started to seriously target other species on fly during 1993. Since then I’ve caught many fish species in freshwater and saltwater.

However, I understand it must be daunting if you only fish a few days each year, to spend precious fishing time doing something completely different. The good news is, the majority of the time, it’s not that different, fish are fish!

To be clear here, I’m not saying all species behave the same, that would be ridiculous. What I have found in my experience however, is that a few key points are common across most fish species, most of the time. These can be used like a comfort blanket, providing confidence to try and hence achieve some success, enjoyment and learning that you might otherwise never experience.

What are these magical “key points”?

Study your quarry, learn its habits, likes and dislikes. Like this for example.
Fish waters and times that maximise your chance of success.
Setup your equipment so you present a fly in a way it makes easy to eat.
Fly selection comes from point 1. Plus, if conditions for a fish species are good, larger flies are often fine. If conditions are tough, reduce fly size.
Using all the above, put your fly where the fish wants it, when it wants it, how it wants it. If you achieve this without a fish knowing you put it there, even better!

This checklist makes targeting most fish on fly very achievable even for the occasional angler. Especially if you do a little preparation off water. Yes you can shortcut the learning curve and hugely enhance your success by using fishing guides. However the above skills remain invaluable, making your water time more productive. Your guide will thank you for it too. It’s always good when clients are prepared!

Do you have any points to add to my list? Add to comments if so.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

SJY

Oops

The above sight is not something any fly fisher wants to experience with a much loved rod. However rod breakages happen, it’s a fact of life. The above resulted from the impact of a weighted fly on the rod. This is something I see all too often and it can be easily reduced with a little thought and attention.

The vast majority of times a fly strikes a fly rod are down to casting error and two in particular. First, the fly line and hence fly, are on the wrong side of the rod during casting, resulting in impact. Second, slack line during the casting process for any number of reasons results ultimately in the fly striking the fly rod.

All these errors are easily corrected, so if the above sounds familiar, look into correcting the problem before it costs you a lot more. The fastest solution is a review with a professional instructor, followed by the “P” word.

Thanks for reading!

SJY

The Head Game – A Key to Fly Fishing Success!

Today we are constantly advised on the “power of positive thinking”. So it’s unsurprising when we visualise our next fly fishing trip, perfect conditions, fish eager to eat our flies, us catching lots of fish, catching big fish, etc. This visualisation becomes even more acute when we have large time gaps between fishing and when the trip is a particularly special one.

Positive visualisation is beneficial from the perspective of motivating our preparation. However, allowing your head to turn visualisation into expectation is lining yourself up for disappointment!

As I write, we’ve just had Mayfly time here in the UK. It’s the hatch everyone wants to fish and is a classic example of the paragraph above. Each year fishing is booked weeks and months in advance to fish the mayfly hatch. Yet each season I see many disappointed fly fishers while waterside, guiding my clients or fishing myself. These despondent fly fishers have mostly hit a day when weather/water conditions or the fly hatch/fish response don’t match up with their ideal. The result? They don’t bother fishing or they fish for a short while (generally before the hatch would start anyway) lacking confidence, before packing up.

Why does this happen? Simple, they have an ideal, positive expectation in their heads and it’s fixed. This closed thinking leaves them in a mess, with only a disappointment scenario when reality fails to match up.

How do we change this for the better? By retaining a realistic, positive visualisation and not allowing it to become our expectation. Look forward to the trip, use your excitement positively to prepare. What gear will you need, is it all working well? Practice using it. Get help with any new skills you need. In the final days prior to fishing, monitor conditions.

All this takes limited time, helps you connect with your fly fishing away from the water, improves your enjoyment and confidence. Awareness of conditions pre-trip, means you know what to expect and adjust your thinking. If conditions are going to be poor, it’s helpful to think “catching one fish today is like catching ten when conditions are good”.

Above all, remain adaptable when waterside, preparation ahead of time helps, however remaining observant and open to change while fishing is the key to your success!

Thanks for reading!

SJY

Getting Better

One of fly fishing’s great joys is it’s variety of opportunity. Even experienced fly fishers have more to learn. The key to recognising this is opening your mind. Once you accept that CONSISTENT success is not about luck, you are ready to move forward.

Each year I set a goal for my fly fishing, then put a plan in place to achieve it. This enables me to evolve both professionally and in my own fly fishing. The benefits to myself and my clients are huge and highly enjoyable. If this sounds like a business/career planning exercise, stay with me, it’s meant to, the structure effectively keeps me on track.

In my own fly fishing, nothing gives me a buzz like sight fishing. To visually locate, observe, stalk and capture a fish deliberately, induces an adrenaline rush to satisfy anyone. So for 2017 I set myself the goal of further improving in this area.

I’ve always been a self directed person, I like to find things out for myself. I learned much of my fishing knowledge through practical fishing experience, reading, watching video and listening to interviews. One day during my previous career, a very wise colleague (and mentor) advised me to “seek and learn from people better than myself” when looking to progress in any aspect of my life. This I’ve always found hard to do. Not due to lack of opportunity, but because of me. When I have heeded this most precious advice, it’s produced amazing results in less time.

So my plan to achieve 2017’s goal also incorporated another challenge, enlist the help of someone I know to be the best within this field. The person for the task was an easy decision. I’d been learning from him since I was 6 years old, through magazine articles, books and video. The man I’m talking about is legendary fly fisher Peter Cockwill.

Having previously met Peter during a Trout Fisherman magazine feature, I felt a day spent learning from his vast experience (and their is not much in fly fishing Peter has not done and done successfully) would be simply awesome. As it turned out the hardest part was matching up our diaries!

Having just enjoyed that day in Peter’s company, I can say without a doubt I have gained from it. He pointed out a couple of areas where I could refine my approach and imparted an absolute gem of a tip for deceiving big trout. Yes, we caught fish, but the day was about much more than that. It was time spent with one of the sport’s gentlemen, who is an awesome angler and has the ability to pass on his knowledge.

Me, well I achieved part 1 of my 2017 goal, now I have to put what I’ve learned into practice!

Thanks for Reading

SJY

Improving Your Fly Fishing – A sight fishing case study

If anyone is more enthusiastic and full of joy for the sport of fly fishing than Derek (see above image), I’ve yet to meet them! He has several decades successful fly fishing, across many aspects of the sport behind him and still wants to learn more.

I’d known Derek for some time, when one day he asked, would I be able to help him enjoy sight fishing as much as he used to? Like myself he loves visual fly fishing, especially the thrill of watching a fish eat your fly. We agreed it was worth a try.

Firstly, we looked at his current sight fishing skills, highlighting key elements for improvement and how we would achieve these goals. Derek then ensured his glasses were up to date so his performance was not impacted by improper eyewear.

We reviewed his equipment to ensure everything maximised his ability to enjoy sight fishing lakes and rivers optimally. His fundamental fly fishing skills and knowledge were sound, however I saw potential to enhance his fish and bite spotting skills. We corrected these with two simple practice activities.

Almost instantly Derek showed significant improvement in this aspect of the sport. He’s gone one to catch numbers of large trout from stillwaters and rivers to such an extent that the only question is, “who is more overjoyed about this change, Derek or me?”.

Take a look at some of his subsequent sight fishing successes.

sight fishing river brown trout — Sight fishing river brown trout.

Want to see improvements like this in your fly fishing? Click image to start!