On 15 October five Oxford PAC members met with fly fishing
instructors Andy Grey and Mark Tickner at Linear Fisheries to learn how to fly
fish for pike. Some members had fly fished for other species before, others had
never held a fly rod. So Andy started the day with a really accessible
introduction to all the fly fishing tackle you will need to take on pike. After
that came the introduction to the somewhat strange art of fly casting; but
there was nothing to fear, as Andy and Mark had everyone rolling out nice casts
in no time!
Flies were then attached to lines and it was time to hit the
water. One of the best moments of the day soon followed as Martin - who had
never fly fished before - hooked into the biggest pike of the session! John,
Andy and Mark (twice!) all managed to bank a fish, just to confirm it really
can be done. After that it went a little quiet, but Andy and Mark roamed
between pegs providing invaluable tips, advice and helped fine tuned people's
fly casting. Later in the day some of us wandered around the banks of St John's
lake and in one of the last casts of the day Steve banked a nice jack. I think
it is fair to say it won't be his biggest fish of the season, but
pound-for-pound it'll be one that brings the biggest smile!
So a massive "thank you" to Andy and Mark who gave
up a day of their valuable time. As we packed up it became clear their efforts
had been successful, as discussions about "when can we do this
again?" and "well I know what I will be getting for Christmas"
were shared.
And the good news is that we do plan to do something similar
again. If you are a PAC member and are interested in joining us next time, do
let John or Vince know.
If you are interested in one-to-one lessons, we can really
recommend Andy Grey's instruction. Contact him via his website: http://andygreyflyfishing.com/pike-and-coarse-fish.
We'd also like to thank Linear Fisheries for reserving the
pegs and hosting the day.
