Hi all

Ive been fishing for a few years now and would like to start fishing rivers( at the moment im a small stillwater only angler) What i dont want to do is go down to the river with no idea as to what im doing. Anyone offer any tips as to how to 'get into ' river fishing

Cheers
Dougie

PS i live in Gloucester so local would be better

Hi Dougie
Welcome to the forum.

The good news is that you have plenty of excellent river fishing close by. I live not too far away from Gloucester and tend to do the vast majority of my fishing on the Monnow system and the WUF passport beats there is a lot of excellent trout and grayling fishing available. I have never fished still waters myself but I am assured that the move is not too difficult - just a question of varying your approach a little.

The bad news is that we are coming to the end of the trout season (close of Sept) so it will be grayling only over the autumn and winter months.

In terms of set up, dependant on the size of stream I use anything from a 7ft 3wt up to an 8ft 6 for a 4wt. In terms of techniques... you could do worse than book yourself a day with a local rivers instructor - details are available on the WUF website and you will save yourself a lot of 4rse ache

I am generally happy to show newbies around but I am kind of tied up a little at the moment But if you look at the Monnow thread in the rivers section (apart from the last months worth!) that should give you an idea of what to expect.

PM me if you want to know more.
Best
Dave

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"A homeward tramp thro' mist wrapped night,
With heart and creel in common light,
Complete content, the day has brought it,
They fished for pleasure - and they caught it"

P F Morgan
taken from the catch record book at Llanthony Hotel, Honddu Valley, Aug 1942

www.monnowlogue.com
www.monnow.org.uk

PM me if GL12 is near your patch - should be able to guest you on the Little River Avon, although it's late in the season for trout and 'dry fly', bit fiddly in places (I use a 6' 3'' rod); Dave's suggestion for the Monnow and neighbouring patches is one to chase up and a great way to start, as there are varied and great quality waters available, should be within reasonable distance of you (assuming you may be from near Gloucester itself). Atb, Toby.

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Hi dougie. Welcome to the forum mate. If you're ever down or near cardiff or newport then give me a shout.

Burhan

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

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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

Hi Dougie,

5 years ago i was in the same position. I'd outgrown stillwaters and was desperate to get into the rivers. Like you i didn't have any experience so was slightly lost. I'm someone who needs to "see" it rather than be told it.

Anyway me and my mate went on a weekend course with John Tyzack and learned an awful lot in a short space of time. We then booked John for some private tuition and again learned a lot.

Cut to a few years later and we've tried to put all the stuff we learned on to DVD. This may sound like im trying to plug what we do........ I'm really not. You said you needed some help and i think a good way to see things is via dvd. What i am trying to say i think is........ if you're very new to river fishing there are some great dvd's out the that could help you choose your gear and help you with methods to get you going. My first year i used the "duo method" (i've not used it since) and it gave me a lot of confidence and helped me catch a lot of fish....... which in turn kept my enthusiasm high. I've progressed on to a few different methods from that point. There will be lots of people able to help you on here as there are some very very good fishermen but for a few quid you can also get a dvd and see it first hand and watch over and over again.

I have all the Ollie edwards ones and they were helpful and there are a lot more including ours that could help you. As i said i'm not here to plug ours so have a look at a few and see if you think any could help you in your quest to fish rivers (you'll never go back ). Best of luck and enjoy.

Deano

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www.fishonproductions.co.uk

Hello all !
My first post.
I fish rivers and love it. Its what my home waters have. My favorite's are Cutthroat, bullies, browns and rainbows. I can see winter coming around the corner and i thought i would find a place where i could locate some fine fishing in better weather. I see lots of people from across the big pond on here. What can i say...kind cool ! Or from the little i have read ...crackin !! haha that just sound cool- crackin !. I am smiling. I know when i am near a river with trout, life is good. I did look for a place on this forum to say "hi" but got impatient.
So hello fellows from far and near !

Lannie
I just looked on my clock, its 10:10 MST i need to reset the one on this page !

I reckon Deano's right on a couple of points there....

1. The Fish On Productions DVD's are great; and
2. Once you try river fishing, you'll never go back.....

Cheers
Stuart

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See my Yorkshire fishing blog at www.riverwharfe.co.uk

River fishing is no more difficult than fishing your small stillwater, it just requires techniques that you might not be familiar with, and the ability to adjust those techniques to the conditions at play. The challenge with learning how to fish rivers, is to be able to learn how to fish the different structures that rivers have. You might come accross a still section, or a riffle, or a rapid. All of these require a different approach, so get some knowledge from someone experienced, and take it from there. Don't become discouraged if your initial success is limited, as you will have intense satisfaction when you begin to catch.

Having a drag free drift is one of the most important aspects of dry fly fishing on a river.

You might find the posts that start with this one helpful? Just read down and at the bottom of the post click "Newer Post" to be brought through the hints and tips chronologically...


richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."