A post for beginners, why not? Most anglers surfing the web are already skillful enough to skip these words but many are attracted by our beloved passion still being afraid of words and of an unknown world.
These still “unconvinced” new flyanglers deserve a special attention and should receive the “golden rules” of flyfishing in simple words and descriptions.
What follows is a summary – there is too little space to be discussed in depth – of the bases of flyfishing, made as simple as possible but still with space for further implementation. I don’t blame those who have a point of view differing from mine, given that respect of others’ opinions should be reciprocal. For this reason, any (not offensive) comment is highly appreciated and accepted for further discussion.
We’ll talk about -basic- fly casting technique (bearing in mind how difficult this is, without a direct, practical and visual explanation). And of entomology, without going deeply into specialists’ details (full of charm, indeed, but of little or no use to those who are considering to approach flyangling).
Artificial flies and tying will be another important part of the deal. Most anglers think that the more nature-like they are, the more fish they’ll catch. I am very far from this point of view but it is “my own” opinion and don’t want to compete with anybody. I remain speechless in front of these pieces of arts but, personally, I think that in most cases perfection is not compulsory to catch fish, given the proper approach and knowledge of the river.
I shall dedicate also some posts to the history of fly fishing, basic ichthyology, meteorology, hydraulics, environment and so on. As far as fishing spots and itineraries are concerned, these already have a dedicated section in the blog.
To make a long story short, I shall try to cover the subject – flyfishing – as much as possible hoping to give the still unskilful angler some help and assistance. In nearly 40 years I collected failures and successes, as everybody. The former have taught me more than the latter, and helped me have a clear opinion of the subject.
I spend much of my time fishing and, mostly, scouting the area for new spots and most of them (with very few exceptions) will be dealing with (central) Italy, the wonderful country whose inhabitant I’m so proud to be.
See you next time!!!!
Jack – this is the name of the angler who decided to spend a fishing day in this area, apologizes for not being fully equipped but I explain him that service is to be considered taylor-made, and tackle and flies are always available upon arrival.
Yes, Jack is Australian and decided to spend his honeymoon in Italy, making Jessica – his bride – probably a little furious when he decided to take a day off (well, I understand him… honeymoons are a rather laborious and tiring job… 🙂 ). But they’re both young and his wife will surely understand that you can’t keep an angler’s heart too long far from water…
Jack’s still screaming… a crocodile, perhaps? No, we
‘re not in Australia… It must be a fish, that’s for sure.
Osvaldo Velo 