Jem Dunn

Shares some tips he‘s picked up during the 50 years he’s been fishing

Fly fishing Hampshire chalk streams

Does Being Able to Cast Make You a Fly Fisher?

I have been fly fishing for more than 50 years now – a scary thought. Over that time I have always tried to keep learning and improving. Some of that desire has been driven by competition fishing (not everyone’s cup of tea, I know) in which fly patterns, techniques and equipment are constantly evolving. 

This is the first of a series of articles where I am going to discuss a few of the things I have learnt in those 50 years and to try to pass on some of what I’ve learnt. Hopefully, whether you’re just starting out, or have been fishing for a while, you might find something that helps.

I’m not going to spend much time discussing casting

It’s true, there is an art to casting a fly, and watching any accomplished fly angler’s line unfurl and lightly pop the fly onto the water makes most of us realise that we can improve our casting.  But, we can get a bit obsessed with the act of casting the fly – the delivery of our fly to the fish.  Don’t get me wrong, being able to cast accurately and land a fly delicately are very much part of the skill set needed to be a consistently successful fly angler, but there’s much more to think about if you’re going to catch fish.  

Propelling your fly into the water is just one part of the process that ends with a fish attached to your line – obviously playing it, netting it and despatching or returning it carefully all need to be navigated, but primarily what we are trying to do is get a fish to take the fly and hook it.

So, what are the areas I will cover in my articles?

Angler with Hardy Reel

Equipment and Set Up

What’s the essential kit and how to set up properly with the right leader and knots. 

On the Bank

On a chalk stream, you’ll need to be able to stalk and spot your quarry without spooking it, then work out what it’s likely to be eating, if anything. Identifying a hatch can be quite a challenge – some would say that you’ll be lucky to encounter one these days with invertebrate life so threatened (more of that elsewhere on the website). 

Fishing it Properly

So what should you tie on? Dry fly, emerger, or nymph? Once that’s been decided, this is where your casting comes in – get the chosen fly delicately in front of the fish whilst avoiding the bankside fringe and the trees overhead and behind. Hit the spot, great, now here’s the really important bit; make sure the fly is fishing properly.  What does that mean?  Well, your leader needs to be invisible to the fish, a dry fly or emerger must not drag on the surface (mostly but not always) and, if you’re fishing a nymph, it needs to get to the right depth just as it gets to the fish. We’ll take a closer look at this in one of the articles.

Once You’ve Hooked One

Playing, netting and landing your fish are all fairly straightforward, but anyone who’s watched Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing will have seen some of the things not to do – sorry Bob!  It can all go horribly wrong.  Once your beautiful fish is in the net you will have decided whether to keep or return it.  I will offer my thoughts on catch and release, how to do it and how to quickly dispatch the ones you intend to cook.  

General Advice

My final article will cover some general advice about how and where to get a day’s fishing, who you can get help from and the infinite wisdom of the river keepers. 

I hope you will find these articles useful and please comment below or on any of the articles if you have a specific question or if there is any topic that you would like more advice on.

About Jem

As a competition trout angler, Jem Dunn was Inter-Services Champion in the late 90’s but his most recent passion is bonefishing in the Caribbean. He has a rod at Timsbury on the Test, is a member of the Barton Stacey Fly Fishing Club and fishes on the Itchen and Meon as a member of the Portsmouth Service Fly Fishing Association.

Test Itchen Jem Dunn