I have posted already about the actual fishing part of my trip to Wales. I had a great time on the weekend though it was my second time on the course having attended the event in November last year which had much the same format. I felt that as a relative “newbie” to river fishing after a 30 year break and also never having fished for Grayling, that it would do me a lot of good in going last time. It did and I learned tons but inevitably there are aspects that go over your head that with a years experience on rivers and still waters, raises further questions that only practical experience really answer. So I signed up again…… that and the fact that last year was a total hoot, a really good laugh and a lot of fun in good company!
I fish alone most of the time, being a bit of a Johnny no mates on the fishing front
I fish alone most of the time, being a bit of a Johnny no mates on the fishing front, so having a spot of company for a change does me good I think. You can read about the day here.
Friday was not actually part of the course, but I knew that last year a few of the guys met up ahead of time on the Friday and went for a fish. As it was Hywel and John were going out for the day and they were kind enough to allow me to join them, thats an experience in itself having a day out with two of the countries top anglers! We fished some sections I had heard about previously and it was a good day. Later in the afternoon one of the other guys on the course joined us, Mike, and we fished the day out together.
As last year, we all got together on the Friday evening and aquaintences were renewed. Rob Evans turned up, he was on the course last year – you might know him as one of Hywels “beginners” on his Flyfishing masterclass- look here if you need reminding. Rob is now an International class river angler himself, but aside from that a thoroughly nice bloke and a really good laugh. Another chap from last year, Peter, joined us and regaled us with tales of fishing on the Test for Grayling (lucky sod) and finally a couple relative novices ( I beleive) Rex and Dominic. A couple of other chaps joined us who were friends of Hywel’s and Johns with International experience and once a few beers had been consumed the stories started flying. It was really funny, and without going into too much detail or naming names and awful lot of stories were told where the closing line was ” and then I shat myself!” really, really funny and not the sort of things you see in the” Trout Fisherman” magazine articles every month…..!
We also used the opportunity to kit up with some free flies John gave out (stunning Grayling flies he ties) and a bit discussion on indicator set ups. Having a bit knowledge on this from last year I took one of Johns Hanak Czech Nymph indicators which are very easy to see on the water. I also bought some flies as I had lost about a kilo of tungsten on the bottom of the river on Friday!
John Emerson shows Dominic use of the Czech Nymph method
The days fishing comprises instruction from John and Hywel on nymph fishing technique, casting from Hywel and some more specialist Czech techniques from John, you spend a lot of time in the water though and John and Hywel are very attentive in keeping you right on anything they see you doing wrong. When I seen a fish rise and decided to go for dries Hywel came over and showed me a few techniques to get a longer drift out of my dry fly, very very useful and something I will remember now and in future. I also wanted to spend more tie on the French leader set up which to be frank went by me last year as I had really got to grips with standard Czech Nymph fishing at the time. I think the French leader is definitely something I will use more as I found it allowed me to cover more water and was less hard on the shoulder and arms over a day. The rod for this though I think needs to be long and soft to get the best from it and I do wonder if my 4# Grey Streamflex was bouncing fish off on the stiffer leader set up.
The evening session in the hotel was John showing us how he ties some of his very cool flies and he was kind enough to demonstrate how to tie a split CDC wing- something thats been doing my head in for a year! He also showed us many of his unique patterns and how they are tied. The opportunity to buy some of the hooks and other materials for these style flies was also offered and I stocked up on Barbless Hanak Dry Fly hooks and a few Jig hooks also which I find are great for bugging. I also took some of the hard to get Spectra dubbing as it was available. He also has some nice coloured Tungsten beads but funds were running low by this point in time!
Day three was an opportunity to fish more water and hopefully get that big fish while exploring other set ups, maybe have a go with the range of Hanak rods John had brought along and try things out. You can read more about the days fishing here. I especially liked the new Hanak French Leader set up John had brought along which was rigged to a French Leader 3# rod. The new leader was very easy to see and for me this was a big advantage, Hywel and John spoke and demonstrated that in conjunction with the correct rod set up you were able to get as much as 9 metres of reach with it. I wasn’t able to do this myself but certainly was getting 6 metres with my own set up, but the new one was much easier to follow and track. The new leaders should be on sale I beleive in the New Year. I will post something if I become aware of it myself.
The Class of October 2011
Speaking for myself I felt my fishing had improved a lo tboth in a year and over the weekend and was encouraged by both Hywel and Johns comments. I would encourage all anglers interested in modern techniques in catching Grayling and Trout to give this course a go- its great fun and I would go back just for the fun of it as its really a great event. Highly recommended.
