What is the ideal location to teach someone to fly fish?
This is a question that I was asked the other day. The answer to this was easy, a small lake that is well stocked, that has a good clear area behind. Then I thought about it a bit more.
Here are some of the pros and cons of different situations for the beginner.
| Pros | Cons |
|
Rivers |
|
| -Interesting environment - searching for the prey |
-Less time to consider your actions, line is drifting downstream. -Tangles are more frequent with river bank vegetation. -Accuracy is important -Presentation is important |
|
Small still waters |
|
| -Easier to find a place to cast,
which is clear behind. -Presentation is not so important -Accuracy is not so important -Less obstacles to content with -Fishing nymphs and attractors, the fish often hook themselves. |
-On some waters you never see
the fish - can be disheartening to a beginner. |
I would say that the initial response is correct, especially if the beginner has
limited or no casting experience.
It would have been better to have created a table that shows what is required for a beginner and then looked at what waters fulfill that requirement. You would think that the result would be the same. Not so...
|
Beginners requirements |
|
-Interesting environment -Visible signs of success -Non technical casting -Being able to see the fish or signs of them. |
|
To be avoided |
| -Fast flowing water -Obstructions behind -Accuracy is not so important -Obstacles nearby, fences, bushes etc. |
When looking at the second list, I can think of a number of rivers that can fulfill the requirements better that a small still water - BUT and it is a big BUT. They are expensive. For example there are stretches of the Test where the water is wide, not fast flowing, fish are clearly visible either nymphing or free rising, the banks are clear etc.
The next question - would I recommend that a beginner booked a day on the Test? The answer to that is budget.
Many of the chalk streams of this country fall into two distinct categories (I know this will cause a flush of emails). Those that are heavily managed and those that are managed to keep them wild but fishable. Actually it is wrong to describe this as an issue with a whole river as really it is an owner by owner decision.
There are rivers that I fish where one beat is easy going very open with manicured banks, the fishing is easy, very few trees or bushes overhanging the water, nothing complicated or challenging. Yet a mile or two away the banks are still beautifully trimmed but there are plenty of trees to provide cover and get in the anglers way, the casting is more difficult, the weed beds provide challenges and plenty of food for the fish.