Over the last few years, we have been bombarded with fishing programmes, magazines & new styles of fishing. My inspiration was my late father, he taught me my river craft & how to fish hill loch. This gave me a good grounding & start. The first time i went fishing with my dad, we never took a rod. He cut a hazel branch & produced a length of line & hook from his pocket. That was our rod & reel for the day, It worked well. That was my first of many lessons. I'm still learning after 30 odd years of fishing. So who has been your biggest influence?

The fish.

If they aren't there I don't fish.
If they aren't rising I go with a wet fly.
If they are rising I go with a surface fly.
If they are playing silly beggars I tell them exactly what I think of them and leave them to dwell on it until I return next time.
They made me buy all the stuff so I could have a go at them.
My dad just came along to begin with for moral support and was the best unknotting tool I've ever had.

My Granddad for me
Coincidently he is my best unknotting tool

We have a deal he gets the worst Knots out for me and I have to wade out to the far bank to retrieve his Flies

__________________
Allan
Only dead fish go with the flow.

Same as most people my dad followed by like minded fishing buddies over the years.
The Paul young hooked on Scotland series widened my horizons as a teenager.
Now i am ill trying to decide which species or which direction to head in.

__________________
www.tintotroutfishery.co.uk
www.anglersholidaycottages.co.uk

The biggest influence on anyone's fishing is oneself. You can read the books, the magazine articles, watch angling programmes on TV, watch other anglers in action and talk to them about their methods, and you can discuss at great length with your friends, but at the end of the day it all comes down to yourself. If you are adaptable, willing to learn, observe and apply, you will do well. If you are hide-bound, rigid and unwilling to absorb the lessons you will not.

Simple - as the meerkat says.

That little troutdevil that sits on my shoulder laughing. One of these days I'll shut him up but good.

For me it was my best mate that helped me transfer from coarse fishing to fly fishing.
He used to bet me a pound on
the 1st fish caught
the most caught
the largest fish
That motivated me to learn and be quick about it.
Years later Gorden Fraser taught me the art of nymph fishing and I still have his book and flies to aid me.
Finally I keep learning little tricks from various boat partners , you never stop learning if you keep your mind open to ideas.

__________________
Better a 'has been' than a 'never was' !
http://te-ff.org/
http://englandyouthflyfishing.blogspot.com/search/label/About

I've always been fascinated with rivers and I think fishing was a progression from that.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I think there must be some OCD factor with fisherman and their tackle and fishing interests.

__________________
www.paypalsucks.com

for me it's quite difficult because when i was a very young lad my older brother and his mates took me fishing a couple of times and we used to catch little tiddlers ie gudgeon and perch etc. as they were in high school they developed other interests and just stopped going. for me this was just the start of my obsession.

a lot of my learning was from people i don't even know the names of ie other anglers etc. when i got a little older i started doing trial error and learnt mailnly from my mistakes. i continued coarse fishing until i was about 24 and i thought i was quite good at too

when i switched to the fly i really struggled to catch a fish for a good while. it all came together slowly.

in my learning i've been inspired by john wilson (sorry), paul young and hywel morgan.

not to forget i've learnt loads from the forumites here. so a big thank you to you all

burhan

__________________
I could fish deep into the night
Well past the light
But at the end of the day
It's the end of the day

Burhan

mc_death187@yahoo.com

Robson Green

Duck and Cover

__________________
Allan
Only dead fish go with the flow.