RH Fly Fishing

  “Fly fishermen are born honest, but they get over it”.   – Ed Zern     The weather forecast was another day of scorchio, although this hot summer is expected to break in a couple of days’ time. We seem to visit Chiphall Lake about once each year, [episodes 6, 22, 25, 33, 45, & 52 refer]. Today, the Admiral, Inspector, Whytee and Dodgy proudly flew the FC banner, joined by the Professor a couple of hours late; three other chaps had braved the heat too. Martin was holding court on the lodge’s veranda, which is definitely a kind of community and family hub, with friends and relations always dropping by for a brew and a chat, mostly non-fishers. The Fluff Boys generally paid for two-fish tickets, having first checked Martin was amenable to an upgrade if anyone caught too quickly.   There was a good deal of surface weed, silkweed, and scum, but at least that provided a lot of shade, presumably helping to keep water temperatures from rising too high. Defin...

    Congratulations to Hardy; the well-known fishing brand now spanning one hundred and fifty years in business. Orvis, put aside their recent down-sizing in the UK, have been going even longer, founded in 1856 the other side of the pond. Both brands enjoy that longevity that’s partly due to their focus on quality and customer service.   I am certainly no fishing historian, but just having that passion for all things fishing makes sifting through old magazines and the like enjoyable. Damn it, but even when I’m not in the market to buy anything at all, looking through a tackle catalogue just landed on the doormat is compulsive and enjoyable. Some people use the phrase “fishing porn”! It is very similar with old gear and ‘tackle tinkering’, and I totally get the idea of collecting fishing stuff, for those that can afford it. I mentioned these aspects in ‘Hands on’ a year ago; prior to that, another year or so, was a piece called ‘Not Ure usual Red Tag’ which referenced s...