My first fly fishing lesson

[Twiddler]

Last saturday my friend Peter Jacobs invited me to my first fly fishing lesson at his syndicate stretch of the Hampshire Avon in Downton.

I picked Peter up around 9am, loaded the gear into the car and off we went.

We stopped at Britford/Salisbury, as he wanted to show me a lovely stretch of the avon which can be fished on a day ticket, after that we had a quick stop at Witherington farm to do a little tackle tarting.

It was a lovely and sunny day, sadly not the right condition to catch trout, cloud cover would have been better, so we decided to have a quick pub lunch, in the hope that one or two clouds might take mercy on our plan.

Sadly this was not the case and Mr sun kept shining bright and cheerful.

Nevertheless, we decided to give it a go, after all, this was more about me having my first lesson, a fish would have only been a bonus.

Here some pics of the Avon





My friend Peter








This man must have nerves made of steel, as all my attempts of getting my casting right turned out to be a disaster, I lost 3 fly and nearly took Peter's eyes out lol.
This fluff chucking business is hard work and it must take lots of hard practice to get it right.

Needless to say, we didn't catch anything but it was a great experience and i will certainly try again. Maybe I will buy myself a cheap beginners set and practice casting in my back garden before I let myself loose on the poor trout lol


The syndicate has around 120 members but we did not see a single person fishing, even though most of the members do fly fish.....I can't understand it, it's a beautiful stretch of the Avon with fish like grayling, trout, dace, some roach and even barbel up to around 5lb.

One thing I know for sure, once the closed season is over I will be fishing the avon there, on a guest ticket of course

[Norfolkboy]

Looks a cracking piece of water Claudia, shame you had no fish, but like you say that wasn't the point of yesterday.

Had a quick go with a mates set up the other week and it's quite difficult isn't it. I must have had 1 decent casts in about 20.

Something I'd like to do more often though.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Must admit I must give fly fishing a go soon - cracking picks and read thanks

[pingu]

nice report twiddles

wasnt realy my scene either give me a 12 ft rod and 6oz lead lol

[Greenheart]

So the flies was'nt biting eh. Better luck next time Claudia. We shall have to sort out a date & i'll take you to Worton for some more lessons. Stillwater fly fishings a bit easier to learn.

[Twiddler]

Originally Posted by Greenheart

So the flies was'nt biting eh. Better luck next time Claudia. We shall have to sort out a date & i'll take you to Worton for some more lessons. Stillwater fly fishings a bit easier to learn.

That would be really great Ian as I really want to have another go...I can imagine it's great fun to play a fish on a fly rod.....AND you an fish rivers during closed season

[Vagabond]

Its worth sticking at it - its a bit like learning to ride a bicycle - seems impossible at first, then all of a sudden you can do it. Nice pics

[tat]

Keep at it,Claudia.Once you master it,it's a doddle lol.Not that I've mastered it yet tho'.
The Avon,my dream river.

[MichaelSAnderson]

Thanks for sharing your story, Claudia. You definitely picked a lovely spot to fish.

Mike

[master_angler11]

Thanks for the story, nice pictures.