Probably as a sign of retreating middle-age, age - it certainly feels as if I've long since approached and passed it - I’ve decided to taken up fly fishing again after something like 45 years. I did a half day casting course last year (or was it the year before … can’t remember - another sign of decrepitude) and mucked around a bit, practising on grassy patches since then. Last year, I plucked up the courage to do some actual, genuine, watery fish-hunting. I’ve also got together enough kit to start fly tying – with my increasingly presbyopic eyesight that should be a laugh!
There are some really good day ticket schemes available these days that allow you to fish some really interesting (read small, overgrown and probably difficult) wild streams and rivers - I don’t really want to fish still waters. You buy a book of tickets which gives you access to the water. You pitch up, fill in the required number of tickets, post them in a small box that is positioned at the location and go fish! At the end of the day you fill in a catch return and post that to. The tickets are £2.50 to £3.00 each and a day’s fishing will set you back between two and five tickets.
I've also now joined a couple of clubs: The Rossett and Gresford Flyfishers' Club and the Ceiriog Fly Fishers.
So, this is a section to chat about my learning adventures. Something about kit and something about days out fishing. A sort of diary with tips and tricks.