A beautiful sunrise welcomed us on route to the lovely village of Coldingham, our goal for the day was to show our friend and novice fly angler David Greig the basics in the hope that he would hook and land his first fish on the fly. Arriving at the venue, a secluded 3 acre bank fishery I remembered why I liked the place so much, the picturesque surroundings making the ideal backdrop for a memorable days fishing.

Tackling up I could tell both David and John were anxious to wet a line but before fishing commenced a brief explanation of the gear we were using and reasons for it were made clear. Adhering to fishery rules a floating line was the order of the day. Ensuring the lines matched our #7 weight rods was critical if David was to stand a chance of casting effectively. I felt that a leader of around about 12’ would be a manageable length for a beginner so using a loop to loop connection we secured some 9.5lb fluorocarbon to the braided loop and at the business end using a tucked blood knot we tied on a bloodworm pattern whilst John chose to go with a weighted mini lure. Finally I explained the importance of wearing eye protection, in this case we went with polarized sun glasses as they would help reduce glare however a pair of clear safety glasses would be adequate to reduce the chances of an eye injury.

I demonstrated the basic principles of casting a fly rod before David had a try. The benefit of a balanced kit was clear however David displayed incredible understanding of timing and technique which reflected with improvement in every cast, before long he was able to comfortably shoot enough line into the path of cruising trout. At the other end of the loch John realized that the fish were feeding a little higher in the water and had switched over to a bloodworm also, this immediately produced results with 2 fish to the net and couple more offers.

John’s success inspired David to persist with his fly choice and I explained how to fish the pattern using a very slow figure of eight retrieve. Feeling confident that David was now armed with enough knowledge to hook a fish I decided to have a quick cast myself using a dry set up with a CDC shuttlecock and 14’ of 6lb copolymer leader. I hadn’t had my line in the water long when I got a shout from David who was hooked into a fish but sadly it slipped off before he could get it under control. I offered a few words of encouragement about correct fly choice and retrieve etc and a few casts later he was hooked into another, keen for this one not to escape I offered a little guidance on the do’s and don’ts when playing a fish however David seemed to have quickly grasped the concept of keeping a taut line only releasing a little when the fish made a lunge, before long he slipped a beautiful Rainbow Trout of about 2lbs into the net.

I don’t think there’s a better feeling than when an angler catches for the first time and I was only too pleased to have been there to witness his delight, I congratulated David on his first catch and felt a sense of pride more rewarding than any catch I’ve had for a while. With his new found confidence David was comfortable fishing away for the remainder of the session and despite not hooking any further fish he made a dramatic improvement in casting and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Final catch return as follows:
David – 1 fish (2 lbs) Bloodworm
John – 3 fish (best 4lbs) Bloodworm
Mike – 2 fish (best 3lbs) CDC Shuttlecock