[Iain Goolager]

hi dave,

 blackburn - sorry typing is poor as im holding the wee man.  ive to nip into work now but ill reply soon - i can meet u half way to give u the kit

got to go


Iain

[Dave Mundie]

Iain,

Thats not far i can easily come round to you.

I'll get back to you once i decide what i'm going to do.

Dave

[Jim Eddie]

I was out a Waulkmill this morning , still frozen  Should be OK next week , forecast is reasonably mild.

 

Jim

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Dave

Apart from being able to let you try different fly lines on your rods, I usually have a few fly rods with me at the loch, so if you would like to try various weights ......... just ask

Am hoping to open again from Tuesday

Best wishes
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

Sounds like a great chance to try something new to me

The gordons a pretty reasonable rod too, although IMHO there are better casting rods for less on the market if you know what you are after.

Going from a 7 to a 6 is a good step, personally i would give it a try, but perhaps stick with the 7 for a while before committing to buying a new rod, I would try to get your mitts on a few 5 wts to try as for small stillwaters they rule as allrounders giving the best fun for versatility. Try as many different ones as possible , it pays off in the end as something will feel just right, even to someone of less experience. Mike always has a few customer rods for people who break or forget a rod, they are quite a mixed bunch so worth playing with to find what style you prefer.

I've 3 outfits, i've a 7wt rod for salmon, and large resevoirs, a 5 wt outfit for sea trout and everywhere else when there is a wind blowing and a 3wt outfit i use for everything unless there is a strong wind blowing (sometimes even then). But i'm a little odd so am not keen on even number rods

Poor guy, you're getting bombarded now, by the way as far as cheap reels go the rimfly was and still is KING

Sandy

[Dave Mundie]

All this info is great, I'm taking Iain up on his offer to try his #6 and i might pop up and see Mike at haddo and get a feel for some others weights (not sure bout boats though).

I bought one of the rimfly reels from ebay so thats my #7 sorted for floating and intermediate (just need the line) and if i decide that a #6 would be better its a kit for my son to start with (he's 7 in May so may need to get him going now).

But I guess at the end of the day I've only been fly fishing since Nov 07 so maybe I'm trying to run before I can walk 

Dave

[Jim Eddie]

Dave

You are dead right , its good to ask questions and gain information, get to know other anglers etc but there is nothing like just getting out and fishing and learning from your experience.

One of the reasons that fishing is so enjoyable though is that you are always learning , no one ever has all the answers. Give Haddo a go though , no one is less comfortable with boats than me and If I can manage so can you , Mike's a great guy he will keep you right.

Cheers 

Jim

[Sandy Nelson]

Dave

The loon might struggle with a longer 7wt, i started Daniel fly fishing with a 7ft 5/6wt, that he could manage no probs at 5, he has since progressed to a 8ft6 5/6 that he bought himself and has used this since 8, he loves it and his casting has slowly got better, he puts out a lovely line now and regularly catches more than me

The best thing though is to take them fishing, not take them fishing with you, if you see what i mean, I only had daniel fishing for the first couple of years and when he got fed up after an hour or so we went home, when he caught fish we seemed to stay for 2-3hrs before getting bored. To start with i asked if he wanted to go and only went when he said yes (otherwise i fished on me own) fairly soon he was asking to go, after about a year and a half of him fishing, he wanted me to fish too, the rest as they say is history, I now have a great boat partner, incidently he finds it much easier to fish from the boat than from the bank, Mike's boats are really stable.

The clear intermediate mike does is as good as the best on the market, and much better value

I'll ask daniel if he wants to lend you his old rod for the bairn, he never uses it now and might be happy to lend it for a while to see if he enjoys it.

Sandy