This section is based around the contents of my book:
'A Beginner's Guide to Stillwater Trout Angling (including some advanced thinking)'
Which are now all sold (even the exclusive copies with the rusty staples).
So why have I decided to give all this information away for free?
Well, I'm building a site here and I'm up against the big boys. This is very much a small operation but I believe that by using CONTENT rather than money, I can build a better mousetrap. You decide.
This is the original Foreword as written in June 96
Foreword
When I began writing this guide, I had the intention of keeping it concise and to the point. Well anyway, you know how these things go. It started well enough, and then I remembered things. Important things, which I thought you should know. And then there were the less important things. Which you will probably need someday. And then there are those things which I included - just for the hell of it.
So I have ended up giving you more information than I had bargained for.
Still, even once you have sifted through it, you may well find omissions, and even dare I say it - errors. Yes it does happen. If you find, or think you find, such a thing, then please let me know. I'll sort it out if I agree with you.
I thoroughly recommend paying for qualified instruction at the outset, and then backing it up from time to time. I still get instruction. Good tuition does not come cheap. Only slightly less than golf lessons. But it's well worth it in the long run. If you can't place the fly in the position of your choosing, you are going to catch less fish. Much of the summer angling I have discussed in this guide demands accurate casting.
In order to fully learn the ins and outs of fly fishing there are several things you can do. The first is to make friends with a rather good angler. The second is to read plenty of books. The third is to pay for professional guiding.
Successful trout angling demands two ingredients which really sorts the men from the boys. Between the two, lies the difference between standards of anglers.
The first is thinking. If you think, you will do infinitely better than those who don't. Intelligent fly fishing is the key here, and perhaps our entire reason for existence. Not that I believe there is one but if there was then this would be it!
The second is instinct. You can't fish on instinct alone, but it will catch you many more fish. Often I know when a fish is going to take, before he actually does. Sorry, can't explain it. If you fish all the time then you too will acquire the angling instinct.
I thoroughly recommend fishing all the time, perhaps with the odd short break for food and sex.
