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Magnus & Hamish
It’s now safely back in the river
All Switch line sizes are now back in stock on the website
This was the Spey valley from one of the many back road diversions today!
No sign of the river, it was like a loch, serious amounts of flood water.
I was asked a couple of unexpected questions this week by a work colleague which I thought were worth sharing.
On the face of it, both questions seem quite innocuous too, that was until I tried to answer them.
The first was 'how many different species have you caught on the fly 
' with the follow up question ' and which was your favourite '
The answer to both was - I genuinely don't know I shared this with some friends and in part the reason why I found them so hard to answer is that every fish is memorable, every day a treasure, every trip a journey into the unknown. I'll only know the answers when I hang my rods up for good, which I hope is many, many seasons from now.
Not sure that 'magazine' really does it justice, possibly better described as a collection of fly fishing short stories in a quality A4 book format?
However you describe Fly Culture, editor Pete Tyjas deserves a pat on the back ...... I think that's five years now and I've really enjoyed reading it.
This was my 3rd or 4th version of the site, I think the previous one had a speckled background and things like a visitor counter, 'top site' badge and a guest book - remember those?
This month's ( Autumn ) edition of Trout & Salmon magazine.
15 Four Weight Lines Tested - Which Trout Line For Rivers?
In an attempt to try and keep the forum going, let’s recreate a thread from the past. It’ll be interesting to see how tastes have changed (or not) over the intervening 15 years…
So the question is:-
“What is your favourite rod of all time?”
To make life a little easier, let’s have a #5 or heavier, and a #4 or lighter option.
My choices would be:
#5 - Winston Boron B2X (made by Sandy)
#4 - Epic Packlight 476 Glass (made by Sandy)
To post on the Forum Stream - simply go to the main forum, make your post in the Social Corner section and it will automatically display here too.
Were very proud to announce that Carp Champions - The Home of Fly-Fishing for Wild Carp have been invited to host a stand at Moy Country Fair 2023 this coming Friday and Saturday.
We will be promoting fly fishing in all its variety; carp, pike, saltwater (in fact, any fish that swims!), kayak, pack raft, destination and DIY adventures.
Drop by and have a chat, maybe have a cast with the latest S-glass rods (perfect for huge predators or delicate dry-fly presentations)? Or just cuddle up with a carp & chill out with some awesome fishing movies😎
We will also be showcasing the work of Charles Jardines Fishing for Schools charity and the The Wild Carp Trust....
A few more F-Flies in the box, far from perfect, but they don't have to be perfect to have fun making them
Enjoyed a cracking afternoon/evening on the Don, weather conditions just felt right - so I headed down for a few hours.
Netted lots of nice Brownies, and found a couple of bonnie Sea Trout in amongst them too 
A few more pics here: https://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9859.msg77413#msg77413
Photo by Stewart
Last day on shift yesterday, lovely evening so I thought id take the new Steffen 804 I finished 24hrs previously, out for a spin.
What a little gem, nicely christened with one on a spent spinner
Several more followed, then it was onto sedges as the light disappeared, small window, but lots of fun, gave the rod a good workout.
So yet another seriously impressive Blank from Mr Gray. Still have a couple more to build up and try out....
and I'm busy boxing them up and filling the shelves
The final taper design for the new U.K. made Smallstream line got some testing in the garden this morning, with my arsenal of glass
And I was a little earlier than expected home after todays Chores, so I nipped down the river with my favourite 4wt glass rod and did some proper R&D. All I can say is for small stream work up to 50 this line is just superb, presentation is delicate but the short head is punchy and controlled, roll casts really well and you can progress from just the tip of the line to the whole head , which will be really handy on those tight brushy wee burns. I was doing reach mends with a small RH hook to get a fly over a current to a rising fish, no problem, even got the drift
Went over to Skye for a few days this week
Cold and windy - certainly blew away a few cobwebs 
This place at Talisker make a great coffee 
The martins have been back for a week or two but now the swallows are here, so the OU can start to hatch
Montana? New Zealand? Or the upper Don valley
Caught a few fish too ..... bonus
