The past few weeks have been frustrating ones, a trend which is seemingly set to continue grrr!. Opportunities to get onto forever flooded rivers for grayling diminish, as everyday passes we get closer to their seasons end. I also feel for friends and clients who’ve booked time off from work only for the conditions to scupper a long awaited day.

If I was a fly tyer I’d have tied thousands of em’ with so much time on my hands, I’m not so I didn’t. Instead there was some Vision Fly Fishing website design stuff to do which was fun, either side of which was having opportunities all be it in muddy fields to continue familiarising myself with a shed load of kit they kindly provided. Oh my!… the GT Four is a stick of sticks, the MAG is magnificent and the Cult is a carbon version of glass & cane, a sure fire fishing rod… to be continued

Meanwhile the opportunities to socialise with fisher folk have been welcome ones, a trip to the Christchurch Angling Club Salmon open day was great fun. A well attended and organised event that welcomes current and new members, as well as those proposing to be.

The morning kicks off with demonstrations, all of which were delivered in meadow flood water which was interesting… to have done anything on the river directly would have been the end of those risking entry.

Kevin Styles starts us all off covering a whole host of Spey casting techniques with a variety of lines.

Great interaction, there’s always time for Q&A’s… and for taking the pi@@

Following on from Kevin is the owner of this lot of goodies used for his demo…

… none other than good friend Charles Jardine. A super demonstrator and in his unique masterful way takes onlookers through a transition he’s made going from single to double handed rods and back.

Midge, as always helping out as only mans best friend knows how… stealing the limelight.

Following the warming of a coffee on this cold, blustery day, I conclude with one about Tracking.

Touche’

Fortunately it was all fresh in my head as it tied in quite nicely with the article I’d written on the same in issue #14 of ESF which was published this morning, how canny is that?

And here she is, some great articles from unsung contributors… all for free: READ

The Christchurch Angling Club have access to some exceptional rivers & lakes, and are always looking to welcome new members. So if you’re a coarse, trout, grayling or salmon angler, have a look here if you’re interested. Perhaps next year pop down and see what it’s all about at the next open day in 2014.

Today I joined Ian May & Kevin Styles having been invited to demonstrate at the Christchurch Angling Club Salmon Open Day. With this weekends conditions almost putting pay to this annual event we were fortunate to have some very willing attendees. Conditions favoured those able to reach main arterial roads that had been cleared and were almost free of traffic… quite a pleasant 2 hour drive if I say so myself, other than witnessing a Ford KA east bound on the M4 slamming into the central reservation and a HGV jack knifing on the A34… it was pretty quiet.

Those making the venture to attend start to gather for introductions at the lodge

Organisers extraordinaire Ian and Kevin run through spey casting and sunk line work using a double handed vermin rod, I think it has something to do with salmon… not proper fishing

That’s more like it – I go through Long Rod nymphing for grayling… czeching, frenching, klinking & dinking, the stuff of proper ard’ fly fisherman… none of this two handed big girls blouse stuff!

Thanks both and too all that attended, great to see new members signing up for the season… be not afraid of the nymph, there’s nothing mystique or Jedi about it as some would make out.