I've taken the plunge and bought myself a fly rod and reel, both made by
Sonic from a company called
Carillon at the Game Fair at Ragley Hall along with a small selection of 'fluffy hooks', net and retractable gizmo for holding line clippers. My first outing was with my mate Chris to
Heathcote Lakes in Leamington for a few hours fishing. As a complete beginner with a bit of an idea of how to cast, I did struggle with a strong wind coming directly from behind me. A few pointers from Chris had me casting out with reasonable confidence, and although the lake was swamped with a green algae, we did see a few trout jumping and making their presence clear. We were both fishing with floating line, 6-7ft leaders on 4lb line. After a couple of takes and having the first fly completely bitten off, I changed to an 8lb leader. Sinkers were the order of the day (apparently) and because of the colour of the water with this spongy green algae we opted for a white fly with gold bead eye. I think they look like fry swimming through the water. Slow figure of eight retrieves had Chris catching first and myself not far behind. It seemed the fish were feeding at the bottom end of the lake, left of the pontoon, and that was were the fun was to be had. We braved the wind and rain, I think I've caught a cold, but I sure enjoyed every minute of it. Back for more? Definitely!
