Tuesday, March 16, 2010 You are looking down on this stretch of river for the first time. There are no rises and no discernible fly-life. It is 2 degrees Celsius, late afternoon.
What would be your initial approach to this stretch?
Fly Fishing, Welsh Dee in Fly fishing thoughts, Landscape, Photography, Streams Sunday, March 7, 2010 Well, today I went to the river after a long absence for Winter. The air temperature was 0C and occasional pockets of snow still lie in the hollows.
Working on the theory that trout coming out of a hard winter will be conserving energy in the slow waters, I tried weighted nymphs and clyde-style wets near the banks and under trees. But no signs of trout, not even a small tug.
But it was great to get out again. Saw two pipistrelle bats hunting in the daylight, some needle flies, courting ravens.
Got out of the water unable to feel my hands and feet.
Here is a photo of today's Welsh Dee.
Corwen, Fly Fishing, Welsh Dee in Fly fishing, Landscape Sunday, June 28, 2009 So many different reasons, of course, with countless books and blogs having been written on the subject. Common reasons given include "closeness to nature," relaxation, food, sport, comradeship and a psychological "calling" akin to a primordial hunting instinct, the last being a bit questionable, in my view.
There is, I think, a more fundamental reason. It is knowing something very deeply, not just intellectually but experientially. The intersection of many things at an instant: the trout's behaviour, the structure of the river and its currents, the shape of the river bed, the weather, the fly life, the expert use of rod and fly-line, the tying and presentation of flies, your own limitations, the sound of your own heart-beat, the structure of your own consciousness.
Fly fishing, in its deepest sense, is a phenomenological inquiry. Hence the need for restraint as well put at Classical Angler .
Friday, May 29, 2009 What better place to be than a drift towards Pump House Bay at dusk?
Coorib, Fly Fishing in Corrib, Fly fishing trips Saturday, May 2, 2009 These days I try to take as little with me as I can when fishing the river. A small tin of flies, some tippet, a spare leader, a spare jumper and not much else. Freedom to move, making do, working with what you have got - spending more time looking and less time rummaging in fly vest pockets.
This goes for life too, this web-site included! Way too cluttered - so I am going to simplify right down to bare essentials. Maybe then I will not feel that I never have enough time to do a decent job of things.
Fly Fishing, Simplicity, fly equipment in Fly fishing