Last year I treated myself to a split cane brook, custom-made by Luke Bannister. He kindly shared photographs of the rod as it took shape and in this blog post I show the final stages of the build, from hexagonal strips of bamboo to a finished rod. The last blog post showed the planed andContinue reading “From bamboo to fishing rod – Part 2”
Tag Archives: fly fishing
From bamboo to fishing rod – Part 1
While most fishing rods today are made from carbon fibres and resin in a Chinese factory, the traditional skills of the split cane rod maker live on in the hands of a small number of artisans. One master of this art is Luke Bannister who produces beautiful rods from his workshop in Cornwall. He isContinue reading “From bamboo to fishing rod – Part 1”
Escape to the Country with a fly fishing gift voucher
Looking for a present for friends and family? What could be better than a day or half day learning to fly fish for trout or grayling in the beautiful rivers of the Cotswolds? Certainly, Nicki Chapman and the Escape to the Country team loved their visit to the River Windrush earlier this year and youContinue reading “Escape to the Country with a fly fishing gift voucher”
Autumn beckons
This week the river trout season comes to a close on our local rivers. However, that doesn’t mean the end of flyfishing for the year. Many stillwaters are still open and fishing well. Salford Trout Lakes have been in good form recently with trout rising freely to emerging midges, lake olives, daddy-long-legs and even adultContinue reading “Autumn beckons”
The elusive sea bass
When we fish for trout, we know, with some certainty, that the fish are there. Finding a feeding fish and fooling it with a fly is another matter. The story when bass fishing is a little different… Last week I had three sessions fishing for bass on the Cornish coast. Day 1 saw us offshoreContinue reading “The elusive sea bass”
Dee salmon fishing in May
May salmon fishing – not always short-sleeves and floating lines On the River Dee, we expect the best fly fishing of the year in May. The birch trees are in full leaf, the summer migrant birds have all returned and are busy with their nests. We can anticipate fishing floating lines with small flies longContinue reading “Dee salmon fishing in May”
Winter work: getting ready for a new season
While there is still the chance of an occasional grayling outing, winter is the time for getting our trout streams into shape for the season to come. As part of the Cotswold Flyfishers’ Fisheries Team I’ve been working throughout the off-season out on our Cotswold rivers on our annual programme of maintenance. Most of theContinue reading “Winter work: getting ready for a new season”
Which dry fly for trout?
Choosing dry flies for trout should be a simple exercise. Surely all we need to do is work out what the fish is feeding on and then present an imitation. That logic is at the heart of the traditional approach to chalk stream fishing developed by Marryat and Halford in the 1880s. They codified theContinue reading “Which dry fly for trout?”
Wildlife on the river bank
Why do we fly fish? That’s a theme I will come back to from time to time in this blog but one of the most important reasons is that it takes me to places I would never visit and to see things I would never have seen had I not been stood quietly, fishing rodContinue reading “Wildlife on the river bank”
How to catch a fish
My previous blog looked at the steps involved in learning to cast, this time my subject is taking that skill and learning to fish. Casting the fly isn’t an end in itself. The purpose of fly fishing is to catch a fish. Before we start fishing, the very first consideration is staying safe. Whenever weContinue reading “How to catch a fish”
Blue Zulu Fly Fishing 