The Field – August 2019

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The sport’s future depends on a new

breed of fly-fishers carrying the torch

Left:fly-fishingisattractinga diversegroupofrods,

helpingtospreadawarenessofthecountryside

Above:communitiesoffly-fishershavebeen

increasingly attracted to urban fly-fishing

A

skmostpeopletodescribe
theirimageofa ‘fly-fisher’
and I’d hazard a guess
thattheirresponsewould
go something like this:
male, elderly(or at least
approaching elderly), tweed cap, waxed
jacket,welliesandsoon.Youknowthetype.
Weare allfamiliarwith this imageof the
fly-fisherman.Wehaveseenhim infaded
photographs adorning thewalls of fishing
huts on Scottish salmon rivers and Eng-
lishchalkstreams,displayinghappyfishing
memoriesand, moreoftenthan not,great
catchesfromdaysgoneby that some of us
cannowonlydreamof.
This breed of fisherman, and theyare
mostlymen,arestillaround,thoughinever-
decreasingnumbers.Wein thefly-fishing
communityalllookuptothesecharacters,
it was their knowledge and stories that
inspiredustostartfishing.Theyare,afterall,
ourfathersandgrandfathersandI wouldn’t
want to sound for one second as if I’m
doingtheoldguarda disservice.Allthings
do change, however, and as our world
evolves so does the world of fly-fish-
ing.If our hobbyis to compete withthe
modern world’s countless other distrac-
tions, our lightning-fast pace of life and

an increasingly tech-obsessed generation

ofyoungsters, itsimplyhastoadapt.The

futureofoursport,thecareofourwater-

ways andtheconservation of ourwildlife

dependson a newbreedofrodscarrying

thetorchthroughthe21stcentury.

Ifthatallsoundsa bitdramatic,I askyou

nottobealarmed.Whilstthereareundoubt-

edlymanychallengesfacingrecruitmentof

newcomersintocountrysports,I feelposi-

tiveaboutthewholethingandthe future is

exciting. Let me explain why.

INCREASINGDIVERSITY

One significant change in recent years

has beenthe hugeupsurge in thenum-

bers of ladies taking to the riverbank or

lakesidetocasta fly.Ofcourse,therehave

alwaysbeen ‘ladyrods’,justlookthrough

the record books atmanyof the largest

salmon caughtin British riversthrough-

outtheagesandyou’llfindthe names of the

ladieswhocaughtthem.

Now,however,morethanever,fly-fish-

ingis beingenjoyedbya growingnumberof

womenandgirls,whichisa tremendously

goodthing.A recentstudyconductedinthe

USA by the Recreational Boating & Fish-

ingFoundationestablishedthatmorethan

30% of the country’s 6.5 million fly-fishers

werewomenandtheirnumbersweregrow-

ing.Thischangeis wonderfultoseeandhere

intheUKweareslowlybutsurelymovingin

thesamedirection.Therecanonlybegreat

benefits that come from an increasingly

diversegroupofrodshelpingtospreadan

awarenessofourcountrysideandthecon-

servationmessagetonewdemographics.

Whenit comestojuniorstakingupfly-

fishing,thetaskisa littlemoretricky.Ona

recent sea-troutfishing tripwith a fishing

friend(whowillforgivemeforplacinghim

into the ‘older generation’ of fly-fishers),

hetoldmestoriesofthetimesinwhichhe

wouldgetupextraearlybeforeschool,cycle

downtohislocalriverand catch a fish or

twobeforebreakfast.

In our increasingly busy and safety-

conscious society, this sort of experience

mayseemlikea thingofthepastbutthere

arestillgreatwaysforyoungsterstotakeup

thehobbyandmanyorganisationsaredoing

theirbesttohelpinthisprocess.Onehur-

dlethathadtobeovercomewasfly-fishing’s

aforementioned ‘image problem’. In order

toattracttoday’syoungsters,fly-fishinghas

hadtofinditssenseof‘cool’andtomakethe

changefromtweedcapstosnapbacks,from

waxedcottontoGore-Tex and from gentle

art to adventure sport.