Ifish 2013

The Ifish Fly Fair is a new event and the only one in the south of England. There was a nice range of fly tying materials on display from various companies, books and tackle plus lots of fly tiers displaying their art. It was a very well run and friendly event and, we hope, the first of many to come in the future. It’s great to bump into people you don’t see from one year to the next and catch up. There were fly casting demo’s from Mike Marshall, Charles Jardine and Scott Simmonds. The BFCC and GAIA were there to provide fly casting lessons and we had a pretty brisk trade all day despite the cold weather. I am sure I speak for all the instructors when I offer our thanks to the organisers for providing plenty of tea and coffee and going that one extra step by bringing us out some sandwiches and mince pies. Nice touch.

I am still a bit surprised when someone comes over to check out the rods and lines we use and their disbelief that it is just bog standard fishing equipment. Most of them just don’t appreciate the potential of their own gear when it comes to casting distance. I would like to think we opened a few eyes. Mark Surtees and I were certainly kept busy all day with everything from beginners to some very useful casters who just wanted to get a few tips and tricks to gain a few extra feet. I would like to hope that they all learned that casting for it’s own sake can be (almost) as satisfying as going fishing and the benefits of a bit of casting practice will also enhance their fishing experience.

Many thanks to David Fisher and Mike Marshall for staying in the warm and sending out a constant stream of customers to Mark and I out in the cold.

All in all, a really nice day among some really nice people.

Slightly knackered,

Mike H

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 1st, 2013 at 2:04 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.