Fishing.....Remember?! - Sunday 19th May 2013

Following on from the success at the North West GAIA assessment weekend it was time to get out and do some fishing.  As instructors the time and effort put into any assessment really hits the time you have to go fishing.  Waving the rods in fields and fine tuning the casts in the syllabus are enough to drive anyone to insanity!!.  But its well worth it in the end.

Phil Ratcliffe Fly Fishing will shortly be offering Spey casting Tuition so stay tuned to the web site for more details.

Over a few celebration beers last weekend we arranged a days fishing, and something new to add to my armory and a chance to get into"Esox Lucius" or "The Pike"

The venue was Rudyard Lake a magnificent place in the Staffordshire countryside, Dad and I met up with Paul Brown who too has had little time to go fishing and was successful in becoming a GAIA Instructor, also John Boon a natural talent with the fly rod  if I ever saw one and he too has problems remembering when he last spent quality time to go fishing due to his appetite of progressing through the GAIA awards.

After a welcome brew and an opportunity to catch up it was into the boats to explore the lake.  £12 will see you right for a full days fishing.  With a 9ft Rio tapered leader cut back to 8ft, attach a swivel then a ft of Surflon Micro Supreme  this is a superb supple flexible stainless wire used for Pike and Predator fly fishing.

With the weather fine and the temperature on the rise, we were off and it was great to be out on the water with high expectations, as a previous visit earlier in the year by Dad and John had produced a few fish.

One from an earlier Rudyard Visit

The morning passed by with only a smalll Jack to my name, falling to a perch pattern and it really did smash it.  I had broken my duck on the pike front and wanted more,  we really did throw everything at them.  A fish also lost early afternoon by Paul added to the torment.  The guys on the spinner and dead bait wernt fairing much better, with only a couple between them.

Never the less we battled on through the afternoon without a sniff of the big pike which frequent this venue, we had given it our best shot and today was just one of those days, with only a smalll fish to show for the day we headed back to dry land.  We all agreed that they just wernt on and Rudyard gets to keep a tight hold on the prize pike. It would be good to catch a few more but being out fishing with my pals after such a long time was perfect.

The enjoyment and buzz of the unexpected coupled with great company is why we started the journey in the first place.  A great day to be out, and no doubt we will be back after those monsters.

Until Next Time......................
Tight Lines