The three fish rule isn't really a rule it is a simple strategy which can help one avoid panic and stay focused. Keep you mind while all about your are losing theirs.

A glorious day on a special piece of water and still learning how sparse a pattern the fish will target.

The “Barometer Question” is really a test of the correct positioning of a question when used to measure the understanding of the person answering it. It has seen several variations but the central theme is much the same. In the barometer question the query is “describe how you may use a barometer to measure the […]

We like to imagine that compared to my youth modern business offers better and more customer orientated service. Recent events strongly suggest that this isn't the case.

Apparently (and I admit to having no first-hand knowledge of the subject) those unfortunate enough to become addicted to narcotics spend their lives in continuous and inevitable decline in an effort to “reproduce their first hit”. Attempts to once again experience the intoxication of that first exposure which according to the pundits will inevitabl...

Watching fly fishing videos has left me frustrated here is one of the reasons why.

The sentiments are the same in nearly every piece one reads that 2020 was something of a ball breaker and indeed it certainly has been. Trouble is that the simple ticking of a clock a notional “New Year” and a couple of fireworks displays if they are allowed to continue aren’t going to change much. […]

I have recently enjoyed the pleasure of doing a few tutorial guiding trips with relative novices. There is something both stressful and at the same time predictable about these sessions. Of course it helps if the fish are being cooperative and at least out and about feeding. For novices having lots of potential targets does […]

Tutorial Guiding On the water I provide two quite different types of guiding services the first is plain and simple getting a visiting client into as many fish as possible and trying to ensure that they have the most productive and enjoyable day. Perhaps we will focus a bit on finding sighted fish to target […]

The Feather Mechanic The sun is barely rising over the green hills of the high country of Lesotho and shimmering on the waters of “Home Pool” of the Bokong River. Most of us are wearily rising from our beds shaking off the aches and pains of the last few days of intense fishing and […]

I have a reputation for verbosity something that has been with me since childhood but even then I do try to only write if I have something worth saying. Of course what I consider worth saying and you consider worth reading may well not be the same thing it is simply the risk of publishing […]

Finally after lock down computer failures battles with new software non payment by clients and any number or other interruptions hurdles and inconveniences I finally managed to hit the water. There was a time when I wasn’t even thinking about it; too busy trying to keep the home fires burning my head above water the […]

Today I am going to take a look at one of my favoured patterns for the streams of the Western Cape the goose biot parachute caddis. Previously we did look at a parachute caddis fly with Guinea Fowl wings (you can of course use any other feather fibre to create a similar pattern). But […]

This is a direct excerpt from my book “Guide Flies” not only is it the story of an exceptional stillwater pattern particularly for the bank angler but equally a tale of the evolution of a pattern and the processes which took a basic fly from something of a concept to a simple and functional pattern […]

Day 20 of our now extended lock down here in South Africa one more day to keep to my original commitment. For now a larger and perhaps slightly more troublesome pattern although more fiddly than difficult. The Mobile Marabou Dragon. Although dragonfly nymphs don’t feature heavily in the fly boxes of some anglers in a […]

An apology whilst analysing the output on this blog over the past three weeks I found that I had failed to add the video clips related to the Invisi-ant and the Invisi-beetle featured on Day 10 thus making them even more invisible than intended   I have now added those video clips should you wish to […]

Corona Virus Lockdown day 8 One of the negative issues of being a fishing guide is that all too often one doesn’t have the time to spend on complicated patterns. Much of the in season fly tying revolves around whipping out quick and effective flies to replace those lost in action over the course […]

Corona Virus Lockdown day 9 The Parachute Spider (Variant). Spider patterns have been around for a long time and they suffer from a nomenclature problem. To some anglers spider patterns are just that imitations of actual spiders and there is little doubt that the fish will feed on such things. Then the term “spider” has […]

Corona Lockdown day 10 Now it just so happens that I am fortunate enough to fish waters where dry flies prevail where a combination of poor hatches and low clear water mean that fish can frequently be drummed up to a dry fly even when not a fish rises or any obvious insects are emerging. […]

Coronavirus Lockdown day 11 So we have been at this self-isolation fly tying lark now for 11 days that is significant because TODAY IS HUMP DAY.. that imaginary spot on the calendar where you are now getting closer to the end rather than simply further from the beginning. (I have my doubts that there won’t […]