Travel Gear Naturally this has to be very compact and functional

Travel Gear Naturally this has to be very compact and functional. l use two Shakespeare travel fly rods; a six piece 9ft AFTM 6/7 and a five piece 7 1/2ft AFTM 4/5. Both these rods break down to about 18 inches. Friends tell me that Shakespeare have improved on these original models in the “Ariel Travel Fly” range. The newer models even come with a handy protective tube but the price has not gone up. They are outstanding value for money with the larger of the two rods retailing at a little over £70.My landing net is a neat telescopic that folds down to just over 1ft. The remaining gear is kept to a minimum with two reels with extra spools, leader material, priest, flies etc that take up very little space.

One luxury that I allow myself is a camera to take trophy shots. This doubles up as a holiday camera at times. I use an Olympus (mju)11. This fully automatic camera has built in flash and is so small that “it has to be seen to be believed” and takes terrific pictures. I have had plenty of pictures published taken with it, For trophy shots it is the travelling anglers answer to prayer.

Blackwool Farm in Sussex A few years ago, l was taking my mother to her sisters near Arundel when I passed a sign for Blackwool Farm. It was a lovely evening, so I decided to book an evening ticket to fish on my return journey. After collecting my ticket, l set up my 9ft Travel Fly with a WF6F line with a 12ft leader to fish a size 12 gold bead hairs ear nymph.There was little surface activity so I decided to allow the nymph to sink and slowly retrieve it across the bottom. After three quarters of an hour, I saw a big swirl on the surface. Obviously a very large fish, which I covered with a nicely presented nymph. The fly had only moved a couple of inches when I had a terrific take and was into a very heavy fish. This was going to be a real test for my six piece travel fly as a terrific fight developed. The fish took a long time to tire but constant pressure did the trick. When I saw the fish clearly as I went to land it, it was far bigger than I had originally thought -clearly a good double. It was later weighed at 14lb 4oz. 1 ended the session with another nice rainbow of 7lb 6oz which completed my evening ticket limit. A terrific three hour session that I would have missed if it were not for the travel gear. I have returned several times, with my travel gear, to Blackwool Farm and had two more doubles using it. In every case the tackle performed perfectly confirming my faith in these terrific multi-joints.

Small Streams Although those big rainbows proved that the rods “were man enough for the job”, there is a lot more to fly fishing than catching such fish. Small stream work with its wild fish is also demanding but in a different sense. Delicate presentation and great casting accuracy are the key to success.

My friend, professional fly tier, Lee Kitchen rented a section of the Upper Hampshire Avon near Pewsey. The mighty Avon here is a mere stream averaging about 2ft deep and 12ft wide with very good flow. It holds some lovely marked wild brown trout, the odd rainbow and some very big grayling. No other species were ever seen by either Lee or myself.I would often stop off for an evenings fishing with Lee as I was travelling to Bristol to visit the mother in law. On one such occasion, I stopped off to fish with the light 7 1/2ft Travel Fly matched with a double taper number 4 floater. The leader was 6ft of 2 1/21b b.s. mono to a size 16 tungsten bead hairs ear nymph. The tungsten bead was used rather than the more conventional brass bead to get a much faster sink rate. It would allow me to get down deep quickly to the feeding grayling.As I worked my way upstream, l deliberately avoided casting to several small wild browns as I was really targeting the grayling. The first grayling that I saw was just in front of some weeds in deeper water by the far bank. It looked to be a good fish, possibly over 2lb. I made a cast about 2ft in front of it and the line immediately tightened up. The fish had taken and was hooked. It put up a solid yet somewhat spirited fight before being landed, quickly weighed at 21b 2oz and returned. That was an excellent start.I moved on searching out every swim looking for another big grayling. I then came to the deepest pool on the section which was about 4ft deep. The water was slightly coloured from the previous days rain which meant that I could not see the bottom. I was going to fish blind with only my watercraft to guide me. On the third cast, I had a nice wild brown of about 14oz which was big by the stream’s standards. However, l was convinced that there was a good grayling in the pool and made several casts to the top of the pool before the line tightened up as I hooked into a very solid fish. This was without doubt a big grayling. The fish took line as it ran upstream out of the pool. Steady pressure had to be maintained as the fish was gradually worked back into the pool. It held bottom for a long time but the fish was starting to tire. Eventually I could see flashing down deep in front of me as it came closer and closer. Then, at first attempt, I netted and thought that at last I had broken the 3lb barrier on fly. I had previously had several 3lb plus grayling to 31b 6oz on bait with a previous fly caught best of 2lb13oz. The fish in my net when weighed went 2lb15oz. That fish ended the session but what a lovely way to break up a journey.I have also been known to break my journey to Bristol to fish the Barton Court section of the Upper Kennet. This venue is a much larger river than the section of the Upper Avon described earlier but there are also interesting very small carriers on this section. The venue is stocked with some very nice brown trout and also holds a head of grayling. The fishery is run by Bob Bailey (Tel 01488658905).When I visited Barton Court with Lee, we were both most impressed with the venue and with what we could see of the stock. We were going to use dry fly for the brown trout. As we walked the venue Lee stopped and produced a smallish wallet that contained a mini fly tying kit. He had seen the flies on the water that the trout were taking. He secured the tiny vice to a wooden fence. I tied up small dry flies on size 16 and 18 hooks. I used my 7 1/2ft Travel Fly whilst Lee, being a local, used a more conventional 7 to 8ft rod. We both caught some excellent conditioned browns to about 2 1/2lb. There was very little difference in our tackle’s performance, which says a lot when fishing with such an experienced angler as Lee. Lee can be contacted on 01189713962 and will tie flies to readers own requirements if they wish.

Conclusion My travelling trout fishing kit has really proved to be a great tool that has allowed me to enjoy some terrific sport when, without it, I would not have been able to fish. Sometimes I have fished for as little as two hours but I have enjoyed the fishing. The kit has taken some nice specimens including three double figure rainbows to 14lb 4oz, brown trout to 5lb 10oz, grayling to 2lb15oz and some less common species such as land locked salmon and golden trout. Thanks to that tiny Olympus camera I also have excellent trophy shots of my catches. Considering the sensible price, including the camera, the kit has got to be excellent value for money. I definitely recommend it. www.olympus-europa.com/photogra