Big Fish Column: Sky Sports presenter Alex Hammond casts a fly for the very first time

Learning how to cast a fly properly is not too challenging, or so I am told, if you start at an early age and have had no experience of casting with a coarse fishing rod. If, however, you come at it from a lifetime of coarse angling, and here I do speak from experience, it is somewhat challenging - as you need to forget everything you have ever done before!

Regular readers will know that this year I have been trying to unlearn a few decades of coarse fishing technique and improve my fly fishing and I am making progress, albeit steady rather than spectacular. After several attempts to get it right myself it became quite clear that the best way to go about it was to seek professional help and so I opted for some professional tuition.

Even anglers who have fly fished from an early age get into bad habits and a pro can quickly sort them out, just as a golf pro can transform your swing so a fly casting coach can turn the most cack-handed fluff chucker into someone who can drop a fly at a range where it is likely to fool a fish.

Locally we are lucky to have one of the very finest casting coaches in the UK, in the shape of Robin Elwes, based at Theale’s Game Fishing Centre. Robin is the man who taught Ewan McGregor to fly fish for the film ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ and his list of celebrity pupils is numerous and includes everyone from royalty to rock and roll royalty, such as Eric Clapton.

I was delighted to be able to spend a little time in Robin’s presence last week as he instructed another celebrity, Sky Sports presenter Alex Hammond, to cast a fly for the very first time. Robin being Robin he didn’t just get Alex turning a fly over expertly within an hour or so, he also helped put four cracking rainbow trout in the net. It’s a horrible pun I know but Alex was totally ‘hooked’ and it was a joy to watch a master fly tutor in action.

Interestingly, ladies tend to make far better fly fishers than men. Us chaps have speculated for years as to why this might be the case, with the attraction of female pheromones the oft cited reason. The truth is a little simpler, as Robin told me. “Ian” he said, “Ladies listen to what they are being told and put it into practice. Men don’t listen, think they know it all and just do it their way…”

Any anglers wishing to report catches may contact me at ian@bigfishtrail.com

Image: Sky Sports presenter Alex Hammond with top casting coach, Robin Elwes, and her first ever trout.