i'm trying to find a way of helping a freind get into fly fishing, he goes out with me regularly as a spectator, but would really like to give it a go himself. the problem is he had an accident a few years back, and managed to crush his hand. now he is unable to move his fingers at all due to nerve damage, but his wrist movement is fine. he is unable to grip anything with his left hand at all.

i've shown him how to cast one handed, by holding the line between the two forefingers and holding and releasing them during the cast. the problem is he cant retrieve line one handed. this makes playing a fish pretty difficult, as well as simply retrieving line. maybe you guys know of some techniques or some aids that we could use to set him up a proper days fishing?

i used to know a guy who was a regular at my local fishery who had one arm removed at the elbow, and he used to put the other guys to shame, especially when people moaned about the lack of fish. he'd always say "if i can do it with one arm then you've got no bloody excuse for not catching". that usually shut up the whiners. problem is, i cant for the life of me remember how he did it.

stevo , would an automatic fly reel not be of any help concerning fighting fish ???

something like this ..

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

There might be a few ideas for you here if you can get him to cast with the disabled hand and retrieve with the good one. Try pages 15 and 25.

http://www.visitthames.co.uk/uploads...ledangling.pdf

Found some more links.

If you are on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adapti...e/109257324170

There is a list of contacts on this site.

http://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/DisabledAccess.asp

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Don't worry, be happy.
Sandy
Carried it in full, then carry it out empty.

Could he cast using the bad hand as in the video and retrieve and haul with the good hand

Fly Fishing Video, Double Haul - MidCurrent

wow thanks bruce and fishtales, there's a few good ideas there. i especially like the hand device shown on page 15 of that pdf. that would be perfect, it's small, light and pretty inconspicuous compared to some of the other devices i've seen. one of my freinds greatest hates is self aid devices, and he dislikes using anything which draws attention to his hand (stubborn old git ). i'm sure he'd be happy giving something like that a go though, if it means him being able to fish rather than spectate.

right, now to try and source one, or try and source parts to build one myself.

once again thanks very much guys.

How about tucking the rod under his armpit - of his bad arm - and retrieving the line with his good arm / hand? I seem to remember that this is how a chap with similar problems used to do it. I don't know if that makes sense to you or if you can picture what I mean?

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Every dog has its day.....

Thats what I thought Dog (or something similar along those lines) see the video above watch it till the end

In a very old Hardy Catalogue from between the wars I remember seeing a device that was a rod holder specifically made for poor blighters who had lost an arm in the trenches .

Hardy's sold it for over 20 years after WW1 .

Given that your pal is effectively one handed - if you can
a) Get a copy of a between the wars catalogue
b) Get a copy made ( maybe Hardy's might not have thrown everything old away under their current management )

That has to be the best way forwards to help your pal .

Best wishes

Steve Parton

Fingers crossed sometimes you read stuff and it puts my petty gripes and grumbles in perspective.....I wish you all the best mate

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an interesting mix of apathy and panic

Clive M