Sixty years ago I came into this world alongside my twin brother Guy. He will tell you “not really alongside” as I was born a few minutes after he was. No matter the amazing adaptations of the human maternal body it doesn’t allow for overtaking and I was stuck in traffic. In my brother’s mind […]

A Phone a Net an Eel and an Ant   It was an odd day on the water guiding an old client who had moved from Cape Town and now resides and fishes in the West Country on the streams of my home county. Andrew had learned to tie flies with us back in the days […]

We have just returned from a tough low water trip to the Bokong River in Lesotho targeting Yellowfish which we had hoped would be in the runs in a faster flowing stream. That wasn’t the case the rains hadn’t come  and the flows were minimal the water gin clear and the fishing tough. Of […]

I have three vices smoking drinking and one to tie flies with I never gamble. I am not sure why perhaps too much the pragmatist I realise that one has about the same chance of winning the lotto whether you own a ticket or not. Statistically speaking the difference isn’t significant. Equally I subscribe to […]

Penpont on the Usk Thoughts on fishing the behavior of trout and people I think that the very best fly fishermen all have inquiring minds about not just fishing but pretty much everything. One of the reasons I am looking forward to meeting up with Peter Hayes in Stoford. He and I share that sort […]

Cefnllysgwynne (and no I don’t have any idea how to pronounce it) This was to be my last day of fishing in Wales this time back on the Irfon and with packing in mind I decided that I should venture out early  instead of late. I hadn’t been on the water at crack of dawn […]

A journey to the Swan at Stoford. Having delayed my departure for one more most welcome breakfast at Pwllgwilym Cottages and a last taste of generous Welsh hospitality I was to head West to Wiltshire and the River Wylye at the invitation of Peter Hayes. I was most thankful for the Sat Nav on the […]

Fishing with Angels two evenings on the Wiltshire Wylye. After all of the hustle and bustle of travelling down from Wales I was finally in the green and pastoral lands of Wiltshire on the banks of the River Wylye with fly fishing guru and author Peter Hayes. There had been no rush to get out […]

The diminutive Brown Trout of Devon and Seatrout on the Yealm River. Having waved my rod at a number of rather pampered fish on the clear waters of the Wylye I was to head South to meet up with Geoff and Paul who specialize in guiding the waters of the Westcountry.  They have been […]

I have enjoyed a most memorable trip to the UK and much of that wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance and good graces of a number of people and organizations. Many people gave of their time and expertise to assist me and organizations which now make accessing river beats on a day ticket basis […]

West Country Angling Passport Beat # 26: Sydenham on the Lyd Well what a privilege to be able to fish a beautiful section of the river Lyd in the grounds of a gorgeous Elizabethan estate. The manor house build between 1600 and 1612 and incorporating an older structure at that time is really quite something […]

River Wye Day One…. Craig Llyn This morning I was in Cornwall and this evening I bed down in Mid-Wales after an uneventful 4hr trip focusing more on the road signs than the scenery. I left early so that I might slot in some fishing time in the afternoon. All (or as you will see […]

Day Two Abernant The missing boots are on their way confirmed by message from DHL so hopefully today will be the last slipping and sliding all over the rocks. As things turned out troublesome as it was I did manage to stay upright for the day. My back feels as though I spent the day […]

Day Three Colonel’s water on the Ifron. The day started slowly I was determined to wait on my boots arriving if at all possible. So I took a stroll around Builth Wells to kill some time and found N J Guns a shop advertising “Guns and Fishing Tackle” a gloriously small and totally cluttered […]

Day House on the River Lugg When booking water back in SA there was no real way of knowing which beats would be suitable particularly given that one can’t predict water levels and such. So I took pot luck balanced with some advice from clients who have fished the area as well as the […]

Gromain and Upper Llanstephan. Today’s beat was at least easy to find one of the parking areas demarcated pretty much by a suspension bridge across the river. I managed to locate that without resorting to the cell phone GPS from there was able to find the specified gate and the old railway track down which […]

Fenni Fach on the Usk.   I was most excited to be fishing the Usk having never been on this river previously it has a good reputation for some excellent brown trout fishing. The river is of moderate size but was reduced by low flows to being more than manageable from a fishing and wading […]

Grogarth  Beat # 35 of the West Country Angling Passport Scheme. This section of the Fal River one of several  rivers running into the Falmouth Estuary is one of only two West Country Passport Venues within close proximity to Truro my current base of operations. After the struggle to find the water on the Tresillian […]

Line control and playing fish. Some excellent video footage of remote fishing for large trout on social media had me all fired up. Beautiful scenery and wonderful fishing and I am not going to give the details because it may seem that I am being offensive to an angler who has put in huge […]

This post is a reproduction of an article written some time back for Fly Fishing Magazine. It is posted as a result of discussions on line with novice casters who have been struggling because they have been taught “the clock system” “Cast by moving the rod from ten to two o’clock on an imaginary clock […]