My first introduction to fly fishing was watching Charles Jardine demonstrate casting in the car park of the Arundell Arms in Lifton, Devon. I now realise what a big name he is in the fishing world!
I was on a weekend retreat organised by Casting for Recovery, to learn fly fishing and to meet others who had been affected by breast cancer.
I learnt basic casting, simple fly tying, and had an introduction to Pilates on the Saturday. On Sunday we were paired up with gillies and I caught a rainbow trout with a fly I made myself!
I declined the offer of the hotel to gut the fish for me, thinking it would be more satisfying to do the job myself. So after driving home I was cleaning the fish at 9.30pm! I cleaned out the cavity and then pan fried it with a jar of tomato pesto. Bits of it weren’t fully cooked, and there was rather too much pesto, and there was an ominous ooze to show I had not fully cleaned it, but it was very satisfying!
The undercooked bits I flaked off and refried the next day, and I enjoyed trout salad for lunch.
