BFFI 2010

I will be attending the BFFI this year again at Stoke on 31st October. I went for the first time last year, and can say without doubt that if you can get along to it, it is well worth the time.

There is casting demonstrations and tuition (I could do with a bit of tuition). These are all supervised by AAPGAI instructors who will help you correct any faults that you think you have and some you didn’t know you had.

The In Focus Theatre is well worth a visit. They have luminaries such as Paul Little, Ollie Edwards etc giving tying demonstrations and talks. Also not to be missed is Tyers Row, where you will be given demonstrations by some of the best known Fly Tyers from around the world, you can also ask them about a specific technique that you are having difficulty with and they will happily show you the way they do it. There is also the Fly Dressers Guild workshops where you will get hands-on tuition in all types of tying, and how to select the correct feather for the job.

There is of course plenty of trade stands selling all manner of materials that you need and some you didn’t know you needed. The best of all the trade stands in my opinion is Cookshill Fly Tying Materials. The quality of his materials is second to none. Steve Cooper who owns Cookshill is also the main organiser of the Fair.

I should also mention that there will be a raffle in aid of Casting For Recovery Breast Cancer Charity and Keith Passant will be doing another 24hr tying marathon as per last year.

Hope to see you there.

Salmon on the Kent

I went down the river today for a spot of Salmon fishing. The river was in perfect condition as it had risen about 18 inches in the last couple of days and was slightly coloured.

I set up with my 8# and an intermediate line with a fly I tied myself, especially for the Silver Tourists.


There were plenty of Sea Trout and Salmon moving through the pools that I was fishing. I did hook into a few brown trout around the ½ lb mark. I did have some interest from the Sea Trout but, they were more interested in the real fly life than anything I could throw at them.

I forgot to take the camera with me today, so it is probably just aswell I did not catch any of the Silver Tourists as no one would believe me if I had.

River Kent

I have not been fishing the Kent for a few weeks now so I decided that I needed a day on the river as I have been working long hours recently. I set off at 9am this morning in glorious sunshine and arrived at my chosen area about 15 minutes later (I was walking). The river is only a 5 minute walk to the section that is free to fish, but I decided that I would fish further upstream, where I was reliably informed that the fish were rising freely, and that the Salmon & Sea Trout were running to the spawning beds.

I got tackled up and was fishing by 9.30am. The sun was shining and the trout were rising freely to the fly life. I could not make out what they were feeding on, so I tried my hopper to begin with. There was a little interest but no takes. After about 15 minutes I changed to a small caddis that I had tied up over the winter. I immediately got a take. As I was about to net the fish it got off. I put this down to using barbless hooks and not ensuring I had lifted into the fish enough for the hook to hold.

I continued fishing the caddis pattern and had many more takes but nothing landed. There were a few Sea Trout moving through on the way upstream and giving the occasional jump to let me know that I was not going to get them.

This was still a great day just to be on the river again.