Hello All,

After buying some gear and getting stuck into some serious anoraking, I am going to take the plunge. I have been out in the garden practicing casting and can confidently get the fly at least 10 feet from the tip of my rod. I have already caught all manner of vegetation in my garden and developed a natural talent for undoing difficult knots!

Anyway, I live in East Sussex near to Powder Mill Reservoir and on Monday I am going over there to try and place a fly in the water and catch a whale. Hopefully there will not be too many people there to witness this debacle.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice as to where to fish from at the reservoir. I most definately do not want to take out a boat! I have been there a few times to get an idea of where to fish and personally I fancy the spot next to the reeds on the dam, adjacent to the gate. In reality I have no idea of what to look for. I figured the reeds may provide shade and protection for the fish.

Funnily enough, my postman, Andy was talking to me yesterday and told me he had been there for the first time recenty, (he actually delivers the mail there!) to fish with a friend, and had had a memorable experience.

I reckon I should be able to reach around 30 feet with a back wind, LOL.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Russell.

welcome russell,sorry about the tardy response to your post due to the dragon's "go near that computer you're toast"-computer free sunday restrictions
the instructor at powder mill is Robin Elwes on 07973 639268 hopefully he will be able to get you beyond the magic 10ft barrier good luck!!

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an interesting mix of apathy and panic

Clive M

Hi', Russell, and welcome to FFF. You've made a start, get a lesson, and it's upwards and onwards. Best of luck. TC

You need 10 yards of fly line out the end of the rod tip to load the spring of your rod ,start with 10 yards out first ,you can mark your line with a black marker

Welcome to the forum.Did you catch.(assuming you went today)

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Slurpster,
welcome to the forum.
From my perspective of fly fishing since April this year, it is amazing how quickly (in retrospect) you will improve with practise. A mate of mine started at the same time, and we have both found that we can now cast adequately, have less knots and enjoy the whole experience vastly more than the first three weeks of frustration.
Fly fishing is, as I feel it, fishing in tune with nature, which means you are now a hunter and those skills take a while to hone. Casting just comes with the right instruction and concentrated practise. Understanding what the fish are feeding on comes with observation and knowledge. Knowing where they are in the water requires something similar.
Catching the awkward, finecky little blighters that have no respect for expensive tackle, beautifully performed roll casts with painstakingly homemade leaders with "killer flies" on the end of expensive tippet material is some black art that I'm still working on.
But the joy of landing a fish on the fly has a magic that staring at a float for two hours will struggle to meet.
Hope you are successful, keep the faith!
Courty

well said! there are some brilliant experts on this forum! you really are in the right place! I just wish I'd have had the pool of knowledge available when I was a newbie

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an interesting mix of apathy and panic

Clive M

Thanks for the replies. I went fishing on Monday and had a thoroughly enjoyable day. I did not catch anything, but towards the end of the day I was managing the occasional acceptable cast. I must have lost 30 flies in the grass though LOL. A couple of fish rose to the flies, but did not take them.

Unfortunately I am at work now for two weeks so I'll have to wait to have another go. I met a few friendly fly fishers who had one or two laughs at my attempts at casting, but that was part of the fun. Once I'm home again, it's straight out into the garden for some practice, then back out there for another bash! My postie told me he wants to tag along next time too.

One strange thing; two of us at work started fly fishing last leave and another is in the process of getting some gear (trying to get executive permission from his Missus). All of us just decided we wanted to try fly fishing completely out of the blue!

Again, many thanks for the replies.

Russell.