Pete's Weighty ( Fly Fishing ) Words

I’m not trying to get all mushy or sentimental here but there are moments when you look back that are milestones or landmarks that somehow shape your life and help point you in the direction that your heart is telling you to go.

In this case it is books. Usually I am out on the water in some way but I do like to sit down and read a book. Hardly surprisingly they are usually fishing related. I do own a fair few fishing books but most are “about” fly fishing rather than “how to” fly fish. There is never substitution for being out there and learning!

The first is Trout Bum by John Gierach. The stories are fantastic and are not about how many caught but about enjoying the company of friends and life in general. I love the speed and pace of John’s life and especially reading about the trips and characters that he spends time on the water with. I have tried to apply a little of his philosophies to my life and they fit in pretty well. I have also been lucky to fish on quite a few of the rivers that he has fished including his home water the St Vrain in Lyons. Even luckier I have met and fished with some of his buddies from the books and although he was out of town when I was over I got a good feel of what the place was about. One of the highlights for me was having breakfast in Lyons where I have read he likes to eat. The waitress on hearing a strange accent got talking to Ray and I and we told her we were over for the fishing. She said had we met “John the fisherman”? We said we heard he was out of town but I kind of liked it as I am known as Pete the fisherman in my little village!

 The other book is the Pursuit of Wild Trout by Mike Weaver. I remember this book turning up from Coch Y Bondhu books and as ever it was beautifully packaged in brown paper. I devoured the book from cover to cover and I knew Devon was where I wanted to head due to the wealth of wild trout fishing that is available down here. I am not sure that I have ever admitted this to Emma but I did have maps out when we were house hunting looking for the best spot that would allow easy access to rivers from both of the Moors! I have also had the pleasure of fishing with Mike and was out with him on the Taw on Thursday and always enjoy watching the maestro in action.

I never tire of both of these books and have read both on many occassions and always pick up a new nugget that helps my fishing or just life in general.

Pic below of Mark and David who is a newcomer to fly fishing but will no doubt be doing a whole lot more in the future!

Yesterday was a good day for lots of reasons but mainly because we had some really nice fish turn up from Milemead Fish Farm to put in our lake. We went for a mixture of browns and rainbows to keep things interesting.

Paul at Milemead knows his stuff and the quality of his fish is excellent. No stumpy tails or worn pectorals just excellent looking specimens and if they fight like they look anyone who hooks one is in for a treat.

All of the fish swam out strongly and we watched them equalise their swim bladders after coming from the confines of the tank into deeper water. Jax and I watched them being unloaded and we were planning the summer evenings after work where we’ll all have a BBQ and a bit of fishing.

Only 9 days til the rivers open down here in Devon and Mark and I have the day off and have planned our venue. We have decided to fish a dry fly whatever conditions as we thought it would be fun and we’ll see if it pays off or not. At the moment the rivers are at an OK level so we might be in with a shout….