Stuart Crofts

Stuart is a fly fisherman of many years and as such has gained a wide knowledge of fly life and what fly to use and when in different conditions.
His talk at the Lakeland Fly Dressers Guild meeting was about choosing the correct fly for the conditions and also what you observe at the riverside. There is 2 ways of choosing the fly to use. 1st you can use the perceived way which is what you think the fish are feeding on, 2nd there is the Factual way where you observe the fly life at the waterside and see what they are actually feeding on and then match what you actually see. You also have to remember that fish do not feed all the time and when you can’t catch for love nor money there is the possibility that you have not selected the correct fly that the fish are feeding on or they are not feeding. This is due to the food available to them. Fly life available is different from fly life that is vulnerable. This means that although flies may be available they are not necessarily easy or able to be caught by the fish, then there is the vulnerability of fly life, this is usually the fly that are in abundance and easily within reach of the fish.