fishing – Steve Yeomans

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

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

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