Mike Weddell - Fly Fishing -Its the Thought That Counts

FLY FISHING

-Its the Thought that Counts

MIKE WEDDELL

Copyright 2021 by Mike Weddell. 833582

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021922238

Rev. date: 01/07/2021

CONTENTS

I dedicate this book to my wife, Sue, who has put up with my
obsession with fly-fishing for over forty years.

A round these parts, the lower South Island of New Zealand, Mike Weddell is a fly-fishing legend. This is not to pigeonhole him as a provincial expert as his fishing deeds and reputation extend throughout New Zealand and beyond to Britain, Australia, and Europe. So when someone of his standing is ready to share his knowledge, methods, and philosophies regarding the catching of trout, any keen angler would do well to listen up.

Mike has garnered a rare breadth of experience over the fifty-eight years he has been fly-fishing. From his early days on the Coquet River, Northumberland, to his beloved rivers and still waters of Otago, Mikes fishing career has been rich indeed, and we are now fortunate to have a fully formed expert in our midst. Not only an expert but one who has always been prepared to share his knowledge generously. Through his classes in fly-tying, fly-casting, and fly-fishing, Mike has helped hundreds of anglers. Some of these have been beginners taking their first steps in our great sport; some a little more experienced but still in need of a little help. Outside these teaching situations, Mike has always remained approachable and friendly; he has always been willing to share his knowledge, often with the bonus of his great understated sense of humour.

In this book, you will learn a bit more about how Mike gained his expertise, but the main emphasis is on the sharing of the methods and secrets that have made him a truly world-class fisherman. You will learn how Mike uses an intelligent analysis of the fishing situation that confronts him and then uses the methods and flies he has found most likely to yield success in the catching of the fish he is targeting. Over his fishing career, Mike has developed remarkable casting and analytical skills, and when necessary, he is prepared to work hard for his success. The angler who is ambitious to improve will no doubt want to emulate these characteristics. But whatever our fly-fishing ambitions, the knowledge Mike shares with us here is going to enhance our time astream or lakeside and almost certainly improve our catch rate.

John Dean

E ven though fly-fishing is an individual pursuit, sharing it with others makes it more enjoyable and contributes to the pool of knowledge available to outwit the fish.

Thanks to my long-term fishing companions Murray Smart and the late Alan McMillan, who have made the good days even better and the hard days bearable over the years with their wit and friendship.

Thanks to John Dean and Bruce Quirey for their reading of the manuscript for this book, for taking off the rough edges and making it more readable.

And lastly, thanks to Professor Rich Masters for starting the train of thought that resulted in this book.

I have been fishing a long time, for fifty-eight years, but more significantly, I have fished a lot. I have met many fly-fishers in that timesome very successful and others less so. The successful ones were still learning no matter how long they had fished. Personally, I think I have learnt more in the last twenty years than in the previous years of my fishing career. The single factor that has led to this learning in recent years has been my job as a coach educator across all sports. I was sitting in a coaching conference alongside Richard Smith, who has long been involved in coaching and coach education but more importantly is a fly-fisher, and we were listening to Professor Rich Masters of Waikato University delivering a seminar on implicit learning. Richard nudged me at one point and said, This is fly-fishing, isnt it? He was right.

Implicit learning is learning without knowing we are learning, and this is how most of us have improved over the years by just getting out and doing it. This is how intuition is developed; we do things automatically without thinking why or how we do them. Unfortunately, things that do not help us can become automatic, such as that bad habit we have with our casting or striking too quickly when the fish takes the fly. We can improve techniques and skills and reduce mistakes. However, we need to make mistakes to learn. If we do not make mistakes, all we are doing is maintaining the status quo. If we try new thingsa new fly, for instance, or a different way of fishing a familiar streamsome of these experiments may succeed and some may not. Even if they fail the first time, it does not mean they may not be worthwhile on other occasions. This is trial and error, and as we learn to think better, the error part is reduced, until we try something else.

I mentioned at the beginning of this introduction that the best fly-fishers are always learning; that is how they keep getting better. There is a great lesson to be learnt from one of the most successful basketball coaches in history, John Wooden. His philosophy was based on continuous learning. Every game was analysed once the hooter had gone. He asked his players what went well, what did not go so well, and what they needed to work on for next time. How simple is that? You may think, what has basketball got to do with fly-fishing? Fly-fishing has evolved over the centuries to where it is today, as have most other human activities. All continue to advance because those involved continue to ask what went well, what did not go so well, and what needed to be worked on.

Good luck on your journey in fly-fishing, but remember, it should never end.

A lthough I dont fully understand why I fish, fly-fishing brings me both pleasure and frustrationpleasure at being out on the water and frustration at my shortcomings as an angler. Being totally absorbed by the natural world far away from work and the cares of life brings relaxation, but it also brings exhaustion, and a long day on the river is usually followed by the sleep of the good. To me, fly-fishing is something like a crossword puzzlethey both present a problem to be solved. But the main difference between the two is that a crossword can be completed, while fly-fishing always has new clues to solve no matter how many you think you have solved. It is an endless test of ability. Anyone who cannot take failure should not take up fly-fishing.

To me, fly-fishing is being out on the water trying to catch fish with whatever method circumstances demand. It is working out what the trout want at that particular moment. I do not decide how I am going to fish before I get to the water; I usually have a good idea what will work but will be ready to modify the approach as circumstances dictate. I do not believe in choosing the method then looking for the opportunity to use that method, such as sitting waiting for fish to rise with a suitable dry fly already attached to the tippet. While I wait for fish to rise, I am fishing with whatever approach is appropriate at the time. Trout call the shots.

I like fishing different waters, trying to fit in one or two new ones each season. I like fishing still waters as well as running water, and either sort can be large, small, or medium in size. Each has its own clues to be solved