I am a passionate fly fisherman, focusing almost exclusively on trout. I favour ‘match the hatch‘, using mostly small hand-tied flies that imitate the aquatic insects that trout naturally feed on.
My favourite locations are the chalk streams of Southern England, particularly the rivers Test, Itchen and Avon, and the freestone rivers of Western Montana and New Zealand’s South Island.
Big Fish on Small Flies
Catching big fish on small flies using super-fine tippet is far more rewarding than swinging large streamers using piano wire. It’s also technically far more challenging. Here’s an interesting measure of success: multiply the size of your fish, in pounds, by the size of the hook you used to catch it. Can you get to 200 using a fly tied on a hook no larger than #12? It can be done!