The foundation of fly tying for any pattern begins with the hook. With all the new technology available these days, deciding which hook is best, for which pattern, can be confusing to the novice fly tier.

Each September for the last 4 years, my local fishing club, the Fenmore, based in Edinburgh, has been visiting Wick for a long weekend away, sampling the fishing venues and a few of the drinking establishments along the way. Having struck up a friendship with a local fishing club in Wick, the Back Bridge club, we decided in September 2007 to start up an inter-club competition, where we would fish against each other for a trophy as well as have a good laugh at the same time.

Soon Christmas will be upon us and before we know it, we’ll be making those annual New Years Resolutions which are normally broken before the end of day one! Instead of promising to cut down on the beer intake, or spend more time in the garden, why not make a real effort to improve your casting technique or water craft? Paying more attention to your technique and tackle will almost certainly put more fish on the bank next season.

Scotland’s rivers have long held the reputation for nurturing the King of fish the salmon, and rightly so as illustrious streams like the River Tweed, the Tay and the Spey have for centuries been world renowned for their salmon angling. Lesser recognised but equally if not more prolific are the brown trout which inhabit not only the aforementioned but also other acclaimed rivers like the Clyde, Tummel and Don.

Trout – Fishing Tactics is a book I found difficult to get into fully and I would put this down to the fact I am mainly a fly-fisher in Scottish waters and that this book goes into detail on the spinning, bait fishing & trolling methods used for trout fishing in Australia.

As a “Yorkshireman” born and bred, I naturally look for ways to save money when I am tying flies, that is to say that I do not skimp on the quality of the materials I buy, but rather make them go further.

When you tie many thousand flies per year saving a few millimetres of thread or tinsel here and there really adds up – ask any professional fly tyer!

Steelhead trout are simply one of the best catches that you hope to hook into on any given day. These beasts below will offer the biggest tussle that any freshwater fish will give you, that is, if you can locate them. So I’ve got 5 top tips on catching them!

There is so much focus these days on finding the proper equipment, perfect colored flies, and best spots to fish for trout. This often means that anglers forget to focus on some of the more natural aspects of trout fishing, including understanding trout feeding zones.

Trout – The Complete Guide is a very easy and informative read for any trout anglers out there and almost made me feel as though as I was back in school going over and refreshing my memory on the basics of the sport I have been doing for about 17 years now.

Most anglers understand that the difference between a short cast and a long cast can be crucial when trying to attract trout. However, there are also many instances where a straight cast will not do you much good either and thus you need to understand how to curve your line to the right or left depending on wind, obstacles, and natural curves in the waters you are fishing.