Bonfire Night

These will be quickly followed by our next saltwater trip to the Bahamas, so my training also involves practising short, quick back casts to imaginary bonefish. I'm pretty good at identifying flats that would be suitable feeding areas for bones and I'm also adept at spotting them if they are there. However I consider that I need to make less false casts and be more confident that I can target them with one pick-up and lay-down cast. I generally cast to ensure I have the correct distance to the fish and then make another false cast just to make sure. This is not a good trait as it could potentially spook the fish, so my winter practice sessions will include pick up and lay down on one back cast at set targets, with a double haul to create line speed as it's generally windy on the flats.

Regarding the competition casting though, I am changing my trout cast away from my normal hard back-stop to a 'flop'. This is going to be difficult for me as I've been casting with a hard stop for 30 years! The 'flop' should give me a wider arc so I might then be able to make a 120+ft cast with an MED which I will need to do for the two comps in March. James reckons the 'flop' style will be better for my back; as I get older I won't be able to maintain my flexibility. For the moment, I'll just up the yoga exercise; I reckon James also needs to join me in that to help with his new stepping technique.

For the UK Champs, I also need to Spey cast with a double handed rod on both sides and, as I don't currently Spey at all, this will be challenging for me. Steve is helping as he has given me a Spey line to use and hopefully we'll have a few sessions over the winter at Bala lake. James has already gone through the cast 'movements' so I can practice at home with a rod butt. I also have notes from a training session I had with a local instructor, Derek, a couple of years ago (who also taught me to single hand cast over 30 years ago). Double handed casting is pretty alien to me, I can't yet work out how to cast with my non-dominant side as I am finding it tricky enough to do it even from my dominant hand.

Thankfully the other training I will be doing is familiar to me as I love accuracy casting at targets. It worked fairly well this year as I managed to extend my BFCC record to 49, although my aim was to get it to over 50 (as I have done many times in practice). This is also beneficial for bonefishing; accuracy casting for this involves James running around and me trying to land a fly just in front of him – although I reckon it's quite funny hitting his feet too.

Whilst I write this, I can hear lots of pops and bangs outside my home as it's Fireworks night in the UK – it's an annual event where we have bonfires with firework displays to celebrate a failed attempt to blow up the King in the House of Lords, London in 1605. It's slightly bizarre that we celebrate such an event, although it is a great family night out usually followed by drinks. There's been several firework displays for the last few days following Halloween, which all seemed well supported by the local children – I was very impressed with the 'trick-or-treaters' fancy dress. It's a pity we can't get them as interested in fishing or casting as typically at our casting days I'm one of the youngest attendees – and I consider myself fairly old, especially as my younger sister is now an granny! Perhaps at our events we should think about something that might attract the younger generation, though I don't fancy doing the safety assessment for bonfires or fireworks.

Whatever you are doing this week, enjoy,

Cheers

Tracy