River
Test Group
Orders and Enquiries...
phone:
+44 (0) 1264 860 813
e-mail:
rivertest.smokery@virgin.net
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Orders and Enquiries... |
|
|
|
||
|
|
Fly-fishing and Stress Relief Man has been trying to catch fish since time immemorial but it was probably in China where fishing for sport was first introduced, as far back as 400BC, in the Chou dynasty. Certainly the earliest cane rods were made in Tonkin and the silk line, and gut, which were used with it, both came from China. It was probably the Romans who introduced the sport to Britain and the earliest treatise on the subject was written in Latin by Claudius Aelianus. In 1496 Dame Juliana Berner, the Abbess of Sopwell Priory, near St. Albans, wrote ‘Fysshynge with an angle’, based on her experiences on the River Ver, which runs between two chalk streams – the Gade and the Lea. Here, a hundred and fifty years later, Izaak Walton followed in her footsteps and eventually wrote ‘The Compleat Angler’, the original ‘bible’ of fly-fishing. Since then there have been many books written on the subject – the best known perhaps by G.E.M Skues, the grand old man of fly-fishing, and the Reverend Henry Durnford, Rector of St.Mary the Less in Chilbolton, who subsequently became Bishop of Chichester. (continued after picture below...)
Today fly-fishing is the fastest growing sport in the United Kingdom and rapidly growing in the U.S.A. and the European Union. In an effort to find out why such an apparently calm pursuit would capture the imagination of all age groups in this technological age, experts have come up with the suggestion that fly-fishing requires so much concentration, and is normally practised in such tranquil surroundings, that a day spent fishing is the equivalent of a week’s holiday for those needing either to unwind or simply to ‘get away from it all’. From the moment a fly-fisherman steps out of his vehicle he is immersed in the myriad details of achieving his aim of catching fish. His rod has to be assembled carefully, to ensure that the guides are properly aligned. His line has to be carefully fed through the guides, to ensure that none of them have been left out, which would adversely affect his cast. His fly then has to be carefully selected, to ensure that it matches the hatch of the season and the conditions of the venue. It then has to be carefully attached to the line, to ensure that it doesn’t come off once taken by the quarry. Then, armed with his equipment, his bag, with all his tools, his spare reels, lines, flies, scissors and priest, and his net, he has to take care selecting where he will fish, to ensure that he will not have to negotiate overhanging trees or bushes or cast into the teeth of the wind. Once installed he is ready to make his first cast, to gauge where to land his fly, to see where the calm water ends and the ripples begin, and once landed, to retrieve it, again carefully, to ensure that it is not going too slowly, when the fish will simply nudge it and turn away, nor too fast, when they will be disturbed, or ‘spooked’ by it. Then, once the fly is retrieved, he will start the process all over again, and again, and again, and again, until suddenly the line goes tight, the rod tip bends and he knows he has a fish on the end. And this he will do for hours at a time, pausing only for refreshment and an occasional moment to enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of his surroundings and the flora and fauna with which they abound. In circumstances such as these, according to the experts, the mind is so taken up by the need for attention to detail, and the peaceful nature of the setting, that it has no room for troubled thoughts and tensions simply melt away. The proof of the pudding seems to be the nature of fly-fishermen, who tend to be friendly, helpful people, always ready with advice, especially for beginners. |
|
|
