Then we started branching out

I must say that like the vast majority of British anglers I have always shunned the idea of having lessons. I have been able to cast reasonably well, I think that I am pretty accurate, and I know that my line lands softly otherwise I wouldn’t catch so many trout on dry flies on calm days! I got to thinking recently about what informal tuition I have had in the art of fly-casting, and it amounts to very little.Years ago a friend lent me a rod and fly-line when I was at Physical Education College and off we went to Tenterden Trout Fishery. He explained the basics, but was far too eager to start fishing to waste any time with me checking that I could cope. We both started fishing and not before long Colin (said friend) had a trout in the net, and then shortly afterwards another one. I was feeling quite hopeless as my line was going out barely a quarter of the distance that Colin was casting; often it all landed in a heap anyway. Fortunately there were enough trout stocked in the water for me to catch one eventually and what a feeling that was! I had coarse fished for as long as I could remember but this business of being so directly attached to the fish was something else. As the day progressed either the fish became more stupid or I started to get a better line out, for I ended up with six or seven trout – the same as my experienced friend. We visited the fishery a few more times and each time we did very well – both of us in successive visits catching the water’s best trout! Then we started branching out. First we tried Bewl Bridge – what a shock to the system that proved to be. Personally I felt like I was completely wasting my time there as my casting was exposed as being amateur to say the least: probably totally useless actually! After a hard day of flogging the water I managed just one trout, but I was certainly not deterred. I practised casting on the college playing fields and, as you may imagine, I received some rude comments. Slowly I improved – but oh, was it slow!Colin and I joined the local angling club because we were told that there was a bit of river trout fishing on the Stour. Armed with a box of dry flies we set off to try this different form of fishing. Yet again I felt incompetent as my accuracy was just not good enough. On lakes and reservoirs I had been flinging the line out as far as I could (not very far) without worrying about aiming at anything. Here on the river I had to target a precise spot just above where the trout was rising to something on the surface. I don’t really know how I managed it, but manage it I did, as I caught a lovely brown on my first trip for rising trout!Since then I have bumbled on. I catch plenty of trout and rarely get a tangle, almost never get wind knots, yet I don’t feel competent in the art of fly-casting. When I acted as host to the Australian World Cup team last year it was really brought home to me how little I really knew about the subject. I guess it didn’t help that I struck a particular friendship with Peter Hayes who is just about the top caster in Australia! If you ever want to feel incompetent then set yourself against a world-class performer. Peter is a true champion at casting and a most skilful angler; thankfully he was very kind to me. One day down on our trip to the River Wylie he showed me casts that I would never have dreamed were possible. The fishing was dour – no it was awful! Somehow the organisers of the Championships had managed to treble-book this stretch of river which isn’t really suited to more than two to three anglers. Three teams from around the world were on this short stretch and, although they showed remarkable watercraft and good manners, the fish were not terribly impressed. Peter decided that it was time to stop fishing and give me a demonstration of how to cast ‘Peter Hayes style’. Between tangles of trees, fences and a road bridge, Peter regularly cast a full Cortland line with barely a hint of effort; in fact his ‘party piece’ was to hold the rod in just his index finger and still cast as far as I can manage with all my efforts. There and then I decided to do something about my deficiencies in casting! I will tell you next week how you too can work on your casting and get some improvements made in advance for this season.

Martin Cottis