Stuart Ingledew continues his Beginners Series, this time he looks at what you need to do on your first trip on the bank.
Stuart Ingledew
Based in Northumberland on the banks of the River Tyne, I’ve been fly fishing for over 40 years.
It was a fascination with fish in rock pools while on holiday as a kid that got me started.
Soon after, I worked my way to watching them in streams and quickly bought my first rod for £2.25, which I still have.
The all important first fish was a brown trout on a turmeric flavoured maggot from a little burn near home. I still remember the bite and exactly where it took to the square inch. I hammered that spot to death for weeks after.
The first fly caught rainbow was from Wylam Trout Fishery on a Jack Frost lure – after weeks and weeks of failure. The buzz when everything locked up was fantastic – I hadn’t thought about what happened when a fish took before this, but the take just made it better.
It is fly fishing on small waters and reservoirs for rainbows and browns that forms the day to day, but as soon as the river has salmon and sea trout, I’ll be after those as well – living so close to such a great river.
I am happy fishing any method and have no preference over dry fly, indicator, buzzers or sinking lines and lures. It's the variety that makes it so interesting, and I couldn’t split the visual methods with the feel methods. Both are still electrifying to this day.
I really think coarse fishing improves you as a fly fisher, and always have a few trips a year doing this as well. There is definite magic in watching a float, and it's a far more comfortable way to catch nothing.
Aside from a few competitions a year, I mainly fish for pleasure and thoroughly enjoy helping beginners out.
We’ve all been there, so if you see me on the bank, please ask if you’re struggling. I’ll be more than happy to help.
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