A trip down memory lane part two: The idea was to encourage mother to venture out a bit she is a pretty sharp 89 year old but gave up her car a year or two back. In much of England and in particular the rural South West loss of one’s own vehicle is about far […]

Recently I sat in the car with an eleven year old fishing addict driving him to the river for his first ever fly fishing experience. On the drive and whilst discussing his fishing pedigree I queried “so what do you know about fly fishing?” The reply was heartbreakingly simple and as is oft the case […]

We had ventured into the Lesotho Highlands in search of smallmouth yellowfish drawn not simply by the fish but their propensity in these waters for rising to dry flies in particular large terrestrials.  The venue is one of very few locally or perhaps in the world where one has a realistic chance of tossing a […]

We hiked along a tiny track high in the mountains. At 3000 metres above sea level our breathing was somewhat labored on the upward gradients but the look of the crystal clear river far below in the valley kept us going at a pace. The journey to reach this magnificent spot included air travel 4X4 […]

In search of the silver bullet: Over some 45 years of fly fishing including guiding anglers from around the world and bouts of frenetic competitive angling there is a theme which crops up all the time. The constant striving for some magical edge some mythical silver bullet that will provide more success and more […]

Although I am a trout fisherman and this blog is mostly about trout fishing a little story of something as Monty Python would say “Completely Different”. A story about little Oscar and his imminent release from captivity.. Down along the Cornish coast on the banks of the Camel Estuary is the town of Padstow renowned […]

A year or so back as part of a program to publish something worthwhile each day on one’s blog a challenge from the guys at “How Small a Trout” I wrote a piece entitled “Bucket List”. The titles were preordained by the organizers and were random but for a very much fly fishing theme for […]

American humorist Don Marquis labelled us all with the quotation below and it seems remarkably unfair that an entire subset of the human population should be labeled as dishonest simply because they choose fishing as their passion. Actually I am pretty sure that most of us aren’t quite so immoral but the general perception and […]

Win a copy of “GUIDE FLIES” eBook with a fun Christmas Quiz: I thought given the festive season it was time to offer a few “Christmas Presents” and at the same time review some of the posts written over the past 12 months of blogging at “The Fishing Gene”. So having now launched the […]

An old family story has my mother chastising my (at the time little) sister over her apparent disparaging commentary in respect of a small boy who shared her class at primary school. According to my sister this boy apparently lacked any skill with regards mathematics or some such academic subject. “Darling you must understand that […]

River on fire: In these parts we fish freestone streams not given to massive hatches although blessed with some very good trout and near constant clear water. Sight fishing entertains us for much of the season and he fish are picky in terms of presentation if not particularly fussed with specific dietary requirements. Generally the […]

Net Winged Midges I have to admit that most of the time I love tying flies: there are those evenings of course after a long day on the water when the clients have eaten into the stock and I am forced to burn the midnight oil in wet clothes when the allure wanes a tad […]

“Preparation is never wasted” that was a lesson from my youth and unlike a great deal from that era this particular phrase has stood the test of time. I am quite sure that it applies to pretty much everything but in fishing where there are so many variables to start with having “all your ducks […]

Well this past weekend saw me at the Lifestyle Fishing Expo up in Johannesburg doing some casting demonstrations and hopefully helping some people improve their casting. Casting seems to be once again something of a hot topic in these parts with discussion and of course the accompanying disagreements being traded to and fro […]

Although I am a trout fisherman and this blog is mostly about trout fishing a little story of something as Monty Python would say “Completely Different”. A story about little Oscar and his imminent release from captivity.. Down along the Cornish coast on the banks of the Camel Estuary is the town of Padstow renowned […]

In search of the silver bullet: Over some 45 years of fly fishing including guiding anglers from around the world and bouts of frenetic competitive angling there is a theme which crops up all the time. The constant striving for some magical edge some mythical silver bullet that will provide more success and more […]

Right now in the depths of winter rain lashing against the window and snow on the high ground the stream fishing season still feels a long way ahead. Of course it is a good time to tie flies clean fishing gear and generally have a bit of a tidy up and a sorting out of […]

Is “Euro-Nymphing” killing the dry fly? A few experiences of late have had me question the long term effects of the competitive anglers’ love affair with Euro-Nymphing. Certainly the “French Nymphing” style (and its variations) can be tremendously effective quite possibly the most effective means of winkling trout out of running water when they are...

“I have never met a good angler who didn’t cut his teeth on public water”: those are the immortal words of my erstwhile regular fishing partner before he departed these shores for the desert. A Scot Gordon ventured out into the big wide world armed with a qualification to teach English as a foreign language […]

A problem with Fluorocarbon? I have for some time years at least had nagging little questions about the efficacy of fluorocarbon tippet material for trout fishing. Sure I have seen the “invisible in water” marketing stuff and like many competitive anglers have taken as read the idea that the stuff is superior in the invisibility […]