FlyFish30Plus

So from starting on my first trip with equipment left from 30 years ago augmented by some new lines John Norris Sea Trout rod Old rimfly reels Sea Trout Landing net Floating, Intermediate and DI3 lines (new) Assorted flies (new)  I then augmented this prior to my second trip with Tackle bag Boat seat Forceps Priest Rig winders for pre prepared casts  Bass Bag Specifically selected new flies as opposed to random assortments New flask  This I think needs some review and additional augmentation prior to the new season if I am going to take it serioiusly and manage a dozen or so trips Area's for consideration Fly reels - my old faithful rimfly's I fear will need to be retired, although they are virtually bomb proof they have been overtaken by modern design with large arbours and adjustable drags. Will be having a look at some of the more modern 'Cassette' reels to replace them and hoping to find some reasonably priced ones, although I want some more up to date reels I am n...

 Seems a bit ridiculous when the season actually consisted of 3 outings but I do think I have (re)learned some important things It is very important to be comfortable when you fish, I think that part of the reason (but by no means the main one) that I completely blanked on the first visit was due to the fact that after the first hour or so I was fairly uncomfortable on the cushion that I had Confidence is very important, if you are confident in the flies you are fishing and the methods employed you will be more successful Fishing depth is very important, this may seem a bit strange as particularly on the last visit to Draycote there were plenty of fish caught using a variety of different methods from dry fly to DI5 sinkers. I think that it ties in to the previous point on confidence, if you are confident in the method that you are using then you will persevere longer and at various times of the day/overhead conditions any or all methods my catch fish. In view of the previous point ...

 The day finally arrived, up early, made a flask of coffee (remembering the distinct lack of coffee from last time) and got there just before 8:30 D already there so quick coffee, bought ticket and loaded up boat, out on the water by 8:45 All the talk in the shop had been of sinking lines and that is what D started with (DI 3), I went with my original intention of floater with my intended 3 flies Could not have worked out better , less than 1/2 an hour in and first fish in the boat to the booby on the middle dropper, hurrah!! Lost another 2 in quick succession and D changed to floater with 10ft sink tip, booby on point and top dropper. D soon started hitting fish and had a couple of occasions where he had 2 on (one on each Booby) I on the other hand had gone quiet, D boated 4 in quick succession (released 2). Thought to myself that if the boobies were so popular then maybe I should change, still needed some weight on it I thought so:- Point - Candy Floss Booby Middle - Pink Lure wi...

 Got hold of D to see if he fancied one more trip before the Winter closed in, happily he did so we arranged 23/10/21 at Draycote Started to get excited on the Wednesday so made up some more (longer 16ft) casts, used all my 8lb but had 3 16ft, 3 12ft and 5 10lb 12ft so decided that would do Also had been thinking about D gettting more fish than me and apart from the obvious explanation that he is a better fisherman I have also come to the view that depth is fairly critical - D's default line is a 10ft sink tip so even they take soon after the line hits the water (which they have been) his flies are slightly deeper than mine - with ithis in mind (and lacking the ability to buy a sink tip in time) I decided to think more carefully about the flies I would fish to begin Decided to start with  Point fly                  - Weighted hares ear Middle Drpooer   - Pink Eyed Candy Booby Top Dropper       ...

  Draycote chosen as it is roughly equidistant from the 2 of us (2hrs vs 1 and 3/4), I had actually been to look at a small water nearer my home with the intention of fishing it this weekend when D called to see if I fancied draycote so was looking forwards to fishing anyway but now even more so. I had originally discounted this weekend due to a competition taking place but D knowing more about these things said there would probably be spare boats and this turned out to be the case Got there 7:30 (when the gates open) hoping to grab some breakfast only to be told the restaurant did not open until 10:00!!!!! Not a good start to the day Had a bit of a wander around and a look around the tackle shop, bought a couple of flashy FAB’s (Orange and Green) and a couple of cormorants and D arrived at about 8 Went and paid for tickets, unloaded stuff and in the boat for 8:30 No need for a drogue as very very still, started off in rainbow corner, D into a fish 2 nd cast, lost but ...

  July & August (Interlude) After the trip to Brenig at all went a bit quiet over the summer as life in general got in the way of fishing, there was also the issue of where to fish as Brenig is a 4 hour+ trip for me, which is fine if I can combine it with a weekend visiting my mum but no use as a day out. Did some research and worked out that Draycote was roughly equidistant between myself and D so suggested to him that the next trip should be there, D in agreement so we agreed to catch up and sort out dates during September Additional Equipment ·        Boatseat – Wychwood fold away, plenty of support and reasonably priced ·        Fishing Bag – rucksack not accessible enough for fishing with having to root around inside for everything so bought a new bag, bigger than I thought it was going to be when it arrived but will be in a boat so all good ·        Rig winders and box – if...

  At last the day arrived, huge anticipation, some nervousness (would I still be able to cast a fly line) and massive excitement just being fishing again. Had driven up to my mums the previous evening and so arrived at the Brenig at 08:00 and went to the café, couple of bacon rolls and coffee got the day off to a good start Realised had forgotten clippers so went to the shop and bought a pair Only been fishing on a boat once before (30 years ago) and so didn’t realise I needed a life jacket but fortunately D had bought a spare (he had also bought a cushion which he leant me, about which more later) D had however spent the last 30 years fishing reservoirs in boats and so had all the necessary equipment. Piled everything into the boat, D in the driving seat me up front and set off where D had been successful a couple of weeks before and started to fish Me = Single Booby and Intermediate Line D = Sink tip 10ft and 2 droppers with Booby on point Soon realised I had ab...