Casting for Recovery DVD launched

The promotional DVD we were filming at Duncton Mill has now been released.

 

Filming at Duncton Mill

Casting For Recovery were making a promotional DVD at Duncton Mill today, and I went along to help. A number of us who had previously been on retreats re-enacted various bits of a retreat, and then had an afternoon of fishing, with the film crew (of two) interviewing each of us as we fished. Hopefully they will have enough footage .

The weather in the morning was dreadful, and we all got soaked. Then, while we ate lunch, it cleared up, only to start again as we emerged! Wind gusted around randomly, and it rained on and off till mid afternoon when it cleared up (although it was still windy). There were not many insects in evidence, but I saw a few crane flies. I also saw a pair of what I think were yellow wagtails. In the weighing room there was a nest of swallows in the rafters, with 4 babies with their beaks permanently open.

I tried damsels, black buzzers, and some sort of fluffy fly, all to no avail, but I was casting much better. Black buzzers with red or orange cheeks seemed to be the only flies catching fish. I didn’t catch anything, but here is Carole-Anne landing a fish:

 

Fishing fair

Went to Haywards Farm to the Reading Fishing Show. 

I watched Mark Roberts tying some tiny mayflies (I think!). I’ve now seen dubbing used, and know what a hair stacker is for. And I’ve seen how easy it is to make wings and tails! He told me of some fly tying videos for beginners on the internet.

Charles Jardine was there and gave an excellent talk on fly tying. He showed us a tray of bugs fished out of the lake, made us really look at them and observe their movements. He then made a fly based on his observations of what the fish are currently eating. He was hoping to catch a fish with the fly he had made, and later cook it, all as demonstrations. Hope it went well!

Walking through the marquee I managed to get a free cap by agreeing to wear it for the rest of the day. Thanks Fish & Fly.

As I was leaving the marquee a lady came up to me and said she’d heard me say I had just started fly tying. She had a box of fly tying bits which she said were looking for a good home, and she gave me the box! It was full of feathers, tools, threads and hooks, which should keep me occupied for years! I hope I can justify her faith in me.

I had a go at casting an Orvis Helios and made an idiot of myself, but I don’t think anyone was watching.

 

I wore my Casting for Recovery brooch, and several people asked about it, giving me the chance to tell them about this wonderful initiative which started me fly fishing.

 

First Flies

Black & peacock spider – the first fly I made

4 peacock feather herls bound in and then wound in close touching turns to the eye. Then a cock’s hackle bound in near the eye and wound round a bit. Fastened off and nail varnish dropped on the head.

Midge larva – the first of my flies to catch a fish!

Length of white stuff and thick thread bound round. Invented by Sally, our fly tying teacher and just using whatever came to hand. A good lesson in how unparticular fish are!

 

The Beginning

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.