FISHING SOLO

FISHING SOLO

Paul Arden | Monday, 7 August 2017

While fishing with one or more good friends can be great fun, I think it's fair to say that my most memorable fly fishing moments have happened while I've been fishing on my own. I suspect this is because when we fish alone we are the ones making it happen, with no distractions, with every moment feeling more intense. However it might also be because we get to fish for all the fish, and have double or more opportunities to catch them! Either way, fishing solo is very much part of the whole experience of fly fishing for me and more than anything else, it is the "real deal".

This movie is Ronan and I fishing in Tasmania seven years ago. "Three wheels on my wagon". 

Also, if you've never tried it, I can thoroughly recommend having a campfire in the wilderness on your own. When it's just you and the campfire there are no interruptions. It's quite acceptable to talk to yourself in these situations - in fact you'd be sort of mad not to! If you can't sort your life out around a campfire then all is lost! Best plans always come as a result of campfire thinking time. I've often wondered if television is a substitute for Man's formative years after he discovered how to make fire. 

And so I was yesterday evening, when I nipped up the lake for a spot of fishing. I know that in my previous FP I wrote that I was going to fish sinking lines religiously all week long, ignoring everything else, and I still intend to do this important exploration, but it's hard to ignore big stumping Gourami! I had two wonderfully slow eats followed by technical struggles through snag country. Nice to pick up two Gourami again; I've done this many times now but have yet to land three in a single session. It is a goal of mine because when I finally do this, I'll feel that I've moved up a level. 

Ashly and I plan to buy a houseboat on the lake by the year's end, so we can host travelling Sexyloopers (and Ashly needs a hot shower). This will not only be a guided-only operation, because anglers will be able to rent boats to do their own thing. After all, that's what I would want to do if I was visiting me!

This week I will fish the South again; when Ronan was here this was our best spot and currently has the most free-rising Snakehead. I've been hanging around cell phone coverage this past few days, catching up with Sexyloops work but I think I've cleared the decks enough now to head out somewhere more remote for some serious man-fishing time. The nights will give me the opportunity to edit up another SLTV video. 

Yesterday evening was the first time I've fished the HT6 in a very long time! I discovered that the Thunderbolt 6 flyline turns over Graeme's braided (and linseed oil/varnished) leaders far better than any of the 4WT lines I've been using recently. The casting was fun too - with sharp chisel pointed loops Tongue Out So from now on this will be my go-to Giant Gourami set-up. 

Please remember to vote for your favourite HT competition entry. Voting is open for one more week! You can see it here on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Sexyloops/posts/10156426621977678  as well as here on the Board: http://www.sexyloops.co.uk/theboard/viewtopic.php?p=36835#p36835 

Next weekend Ashly and I travel to Thailand for a few days. I have a cunning plan to release the APP videos on Sexyloops. The APP has just reached the point where finally it is making a profit... but the code now needs a complete rewrite because Apple insist on keeping the code fresh! Fair enough but the development quotes I've been given have gone through the roof (one as much as 20,000 GBP!!!) and so I'm going to do something different. Watch this space! Kiss (If you have a downloaded copy it will of course continue to function normally)

Have a fantastically fishy week.

Cheers, Paul

PS thanks for another great week of rod sales. The shop is currently out of luminous fly lines but I shall be placing an order shortly. Remember if you are a HT owner that we have a competition this year for your best story, and the prize is a custom HT fly rod! Please email your entries to me on paul@sexyloops.com Many thanks! 


gourami2

gourami1