Right, so you’ve watched a few videos on YouTube, maybe seen someone casting on your local river, and now you fancy giving this fly fishing lark a go. Good choice. But walking into a tackle shop or browsing online can feel like stepping into a foreign language class where everyone’s already fluent and you don’t […]

Let me be straight with you. When I started fly fishing on the Wye about eight years ago, I made the classic mistake of thinking I needed to spend a fortune to catch fish. I walked into a tackle shop with my credit card ready, convinced that expensive gear would somehow make me a better

Starting fly fishing in the UK can feel overwhelming when you’re staring at pages of gear online or standing in a tackle shop with your head spinning. Every angler and their dog has an opinion on what you absolutely must have, and before you know it, your shopping basket looks like you’re preparing for an

Right, let’s talk about getting yourself sorted with a complete fly fishing setup that actually works for British waters. I’ve seen plenty of newcomers turn up to the river with kit that’s either total overkill or so budget it falls apart after three outings. Getting the balance right matters, especially when you’re fishing our moody

I’ll be straight with you. When I first heard about the Echo Traverse kit, I was sceptical. Another imported rod being marketed to UK anglers who fish our typically tight, overgrown rivers? I’ve been burned before by outfits designed for wide open American streams that are about as useful as a chocolate teapot when you’re

I remember my first proper day chasing trout on a small chalk stream in Hampshire. I’d turned up with a borrowed rod, a box of flies that looked about right, and absolutely no idea what I was doing. The experienced angler fishing upstream from me landed three fish in the time it took me to

I still remember my first proper day on the River Test, standing waist-deep in water that looked about as promising as a puddle, watching a bloke upstream landing his third trout while I’d barely managed to get my fly wet without tangling the line round my neck. If you’re just starting out with fly fishing

I’ve spent enough mornings on the Test and the Usk watching newcomers make the same mistakes over and over. It’s not their fault, really. The internet is full of conflicting advice, and half of it seems written by people who’ve never fished a British river in their lives. After twenty years of chasing trout and

I still remember standing in my local tackle shop seven years ago, completely bewildered by the wall of fly rods in front of me. The prices ranged from sixty quid to well over six hundred, and every angler I’d asked beforehand had given me different advice. One mate swore by his nine-footer, another wouldn’t fish

Right, let’s talk about getting yourself sorted with fly fishing gear without sending your bank account into meltdown or ending up with a garage full of kit you’ll never use. I’ve watched plenty of newcomers turn up at my local river with gear that’s either completely wrong for the job or so expensive they’re terrified