We attended the contined professional development day of the North West Group of the Game Angling Instructors Association at Stocks Reservoir last Sunday.

There was a great turn out on a very blustery day and some great presentations were given to help all instructors to become even better at what they do. Ben and his Stocks team put on a superb lunch with plenty of refreshments for all.

These cppd days are usually open to the public and are very well worth attending as some of the country`s finest instructors are on hand and all events are great fun and usually hands on if you fancy a go .

 

Looking forward to the next one.

At the end of April we attended a fantastic weekend at Burnsall on the lovely River Wharfe trying out the Italian casting style. Everyone had lots of fun trying to understand this different concept under the very patient guidance of Massimo Magliocco and his great team of top Italian instructors from Flyfishingmasters.

A really great weekend in good company.

Now is the time that most fly anglers are thinking about getting out and about again as most stillwaters have been restocked and the fish are waiting. Also the rivers open for Trout fishing in a few days.

If you have not been out fly fishing for a few months now is the time to consider a tune up on your casting techniques. Its no good paying for your permit and finding you can`t fish properly because the wind is in your face or perhaps blowing hard over your casting shoulder or you are constantly unpicking “wind knots” etc etc.

Why not book a short casting lesson with us to ensure you get the most from your fishing as if you can`t reach the fish you will be wasting your time fishing.

Fishing is at a standstill with most waters frozen over. Lets hope we get some mild weather soon and get winter behind us then we can make a start fishing again. After all the torrential rain in 2011 and the very wet winter all lakes up here in the North are totally full so should fish well at the start of the traditional Trout season in mid March . Privately run fisheries are open all year weather permitting so once it thaws why not give your local fishery some much needed custom.

Vera and I attended a meeting of the North West Casting Club at Oak Royal Golf Club, Withnell today along with other like minded anglers interested in casting. We all had great fun trying out many different rods, lines  and casts which varied from presentation to various Spey Casts. It was certainly different casting a heavy line on a powerful pike rod and then trying out a small 7` brook rod. Totally different casting styles and power applications needed to ensure decent casts with both outfits and I`m sure we all had a great time testing and casting the rods.

Here we are in Autumn and we wonder whether we live on the same planet as the weather people. Throughout the year on the news all we heard of was the record hot dry Spring and Autumn heatwave temperatures etc.

In South Cumbria we had a cold, wet and windy Spring apart from a few sunny days around Easter and the rest of the year so far has been wet and mainly very windy. In the so called Summer months we had an occasional odd two or three days where it was warmer and we had some sun. It certainly has not been good fly fishing year in this area but hey who knows we may get a drier , less windy spell soon

We have just spent an enjoyable day acting as two of the controllers for the Junior Talent Pathway whereby  talented  teams of young  fly anglers from the North East and from the North West competed against each other.

Conditions were not good with a strong, blustery wind and virtually non stop rain throughout the event. This tended to put the fish down but it certainly did not dampen the spirits of the competitors who all fished hard despite the awkward wind. Many an adult would have packed in and gone home but these younsters gave it their best to the very end which was very pleasing to see and some nice Trout were caught.

6 very enthusiast lady fly fishers from the North West visited Cocklakes Fishery Nr Penrith today where Vee & I taught them how to cast with the fly rod.  They had a fantastic time in glorious sunshine and learned about the fly fishing equipment, how to assemble the tackle, managed to do the pick and lay down cast with great success and progressed to shooting line, false casting and also  were taught the roll cast.  Their nimble fingers managed the knot tying with ease and after four hours they had progressed so well that no trout in this county will be safe.  We found the ladies very attentive and keen to learn and they are now ready to join in the fun when the NW Lady Fly Fishers go fishing at Bigland Hall Fly Fishery in October.

Wow !!  What can we say.  The ladies had a fantastic session and one lady even hooked a carp on her first cast.  The weather and fish cooperated and we ended the day with a total of 11 fish netted and released, the largest common carp just short of the magical 10lbs.

The carp were a good mix of Mirror, Common and Koi and looking at the grin factor we know the ladies had a super day out.