Fly Fishing Tips

Many of our customers ask advice about fishing so I have been talking to some of the experts and trying to get some tips that will help us catch more fish. Fisherman are a rather secret group so getting them to part with knowledge is a tad difficult, here are some generous contributions…. Geoff Johnston from the The Eden Angler says: When fishing a team of spiders or wet flies across and downstream on a river keep your rod tip up at approximately head height or slightly higher. The advantages of this are: - (1) A high rod tip keeps line off the water allowing better presentation and control of your fishing flies (2) Improved bite detection - watch hanging line between rod tip and the water for any movement, sometimes this movement can be quite subtle and the sagging line may appear to lift or slide away at the point where it makes contact with the water - If this happens STRIKE ! (3) Improved catch rate - the hanging line between the rod tip and the water allows the fish more time to take and turn with your fly before any resistance is felt, resulting in more positive hook ups rather than the non-productive tugs that you feel when you have the rod tip to the water and the fly line taut. Geoff has also written a great article about fishing Lake Ullswater near Pooley Bridge. Geoff is also an AAPGAI (Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors) and many of our customers enjoy a great day out with him and get a few more fishing tips to boot. Declan Gelder says - "When fishing in low light conditions or dusk it is an advantage to wear polarised sunglasses with a good quality yellow lens, as it brightens up the background. If you are looking for a good all-round lens colour, amber/yellow would be a good choice." Declan worked for us in the shop for many years and was well known to all our customers. He has taken some time out to travel and was last heard of in Australia, we expect he will be back soon, he loves his fly fishing too much. He also enjoyed competing in the England Junior Fly fishing team. He must have been thinking of Australia when he gave us this advice about sunglasses. Howard Croston from Hardy Greys says - "Carefully closing the range between yourself and a targeted rising fish when river fishing allows you to more accurately control fly drift and positioning. Most refusals from educated wild fish are caused by "Drag" and poor accuracy of presentation. Reducing the length of your cast helps with both these issues and results in more hookups." Howard was part of the fishing team that won Team Gold at the World Fly Fishing Championships in 2009 and says his favourite fishing is on the River Eamont in Cumbria. The river Eamont is only 5 mins from the shop so if you fancy fishing there why not give us a call for some advice about beats. Howard fished in the England fly fishing team. We really appreciate these guys taking time out to give us these fishing tips and if you have some you are prepared to share please email us at flyfishingtips@johnnorris.co.uk and we will put them on here for others to see, if you are shy we can do them anonymously.