IN THIS ISSUE :: May 2008 :: SUBSCRIBE >>
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May 2008 - on sale April 18, 2008
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The deadly dozen – Bev Perkins' 12 Buzzers to make your year.

Leven rises again – 'The Loch' has returned to the wild, and Stan Headley finds it fishing better than ever.

Salmon and the nymph – Mark Corps gets to the bottom of nymphing for salmon in Connemara.

Magic in the Weald – Peter Lapsley is shown how best to tackle Bewl with expert Bob Barden.

Multiple choice for salmon – A multi-tip fly line lets you change your flie's depth quickly, says Ally Gowans.

Judge's report – Magnus Angus sums up the skills he looked for when judging the Fly-tying League 2007/8.

Teifi back on top – The good old days are returning to Wales thanks to the club structure, says Moc Morgan.

Loch of surprises – Mark Bowlers showcases Loch Tay, a water trout fishers should not ignore.

Anyone for Ennis? – Pat O'Reilly contrasts two great rivers which run through Ennis in Ireland and Ennis in Montana.

Fly of the Month – Fish the Spiller's Sunk Daddy with fast or slow jerks on the line once it's a foot from the bottom, says Charles Jardine.

Duck's Humpy – CdC magicians Agostine Roncallo conjures up a small Humpy-style fly using a single CdC feather.

The wild trout's wish list – Trout can't ignore Neil Patterson's Hawthorn fly which rests hook-point upwards.

Spin doctor – Chris Sandford twists wire with deer hair to create naturally floating Emergers.

Casting Clinic – Charles Jardine demonstrates how to improve presentation with the backhand/wind cast.

Quiz – Fancy a two-night break for two at the Pierhouse Hotel in Argyll? Just answers six questions correctly.

PLUS
Magnus Angus is impressed by a new DVD about the history of Hardy, and a DVD on fly-fishing in Sutherland. Magnus and Mark Bowler also test Echo, Barrio Lightweight and Greys Platinum XD rods, a Hardy Zane reel, a Sage Performance Taper fly line, and the new Dakota frames from Optilabs.

Don't miss our regulars:

Fishy story - Tell us a story, and win a personalised bottle of whisky.

A View from the Chalkstreams - Gordon Mackie considers how the weather can affect Mayfly hatches and the angler’ approach.

Northern climes - Punish the farmers; ‘Stringent’ watchdogs; cod walloped.

Vintage valuations - Chris Sandford casts his eye over a hand-held vice and a tiny line winder, but has yet to find the pulley-driven line drier from 1895.

Stillwater scene - FF&FT covers a mad March opening.

Reflections- The Long and Short of it. By John Hamilton.

• Also, we have polarised sunglasses priced at just £14.95 for FF&FT readers.
SHORT TAKES :: News & Views
POR BookWin a copy of Peter O'Reilly's Loughs of Ireland

This is the long-awaited, completely revised and updated new 4th edition of Peter O'Reilly's well respected book. It is the definitive guide to the trout, sea trout and salmon stillwater fisheries throughout Ireland, both Northern Ireland and Eire. It is essential reading for anyone fishing the loughs in Ireland.

To win a copy simply e-mail your name and address details to go into a draw: markb.ffft@btinternet.com titling the Subject field: APRIL WEB QUIZ
NEWS

Spey-casting record falls again
The world Spey-casting record was broken in March at the Loughs Agency Fair held in Derry, Northern Ireland, with a new distance of 222ft by Gerard Downey. He was only second however in the competition. The £1,000 prize went to Ruairi Costello, as he took the championship due to the overall combined distances he achieved.
Tweed record greeted with caution
Dee
The 5-year rod average on Tweed is 5,000 fish up over the previous decade.
Anglers landed a total of 16,185 salmon on the River Tweed last season, the highest rod catch on the river since continuous records began in 1952.

This gives a 5-year rod average of 14,500 fish per annum since the north-east drift-net fishery closed; approximately 5,000 more fish annually than the previous ten-year period (1993-2002). Andrew Douglas-Home, chairman of the River Tweed Commission and the Tweed Foundation, commented on the figures with a note of caution: “The word ‘record’ is for statisticians and other sportsmen, not for river managers”.
Norway “lacks responsibility”
Metering can save 10% on water use.
An idyllic scene, but Norway is implicated as “the world’s most dangerous place for a salmon”.
Norway “lacks responsibility
Norway has become the world’s most dangerous place for the Atlantic salmon. That is the message behind a frank and open letter from Orri Vigfusson and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund. Norway’s lack of salmon policy comes under heavy attack in the letter, which is co-signed by bodies from Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Russia and the Atlantic Salmon Federation. The letter states that all along the Norwegian coastline genuine wild salmon stocks are declining or disappearing from more and more rivers. It claims that over the past two decades Norwegian authorities have failed in their duty to take adequate measures to restore the country’s salmon rivers, and that Norway “is missing from the list of responsible salmon nations”.
Metering can save 10% on water use.
Interest in Scout angling badge “amazing”
A new learning pack designed to modernise the Scout Angling Badge is generating a new level of interest within the Scout movement.

According to Environment Agency Angling Participation Manager, Richard Wightman, “The new level of interest in this badge has amazed even the most experienced of us. It is just one more illustration of how popular angling is among young people – provided they are given the opportunity.”
The news comes after 46,000 copies of the new Scouts angling learning pack were demanded by Scout leaders over the past six months.

More than 2,000 Scouts every year earn their Angling Badge, but this year’s modernised pack is designed to make angling even more inviting and accessible to both young people and the Scout leaders themselves, many of whom won’t know much about fishing.

For full details read the March issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine.
FLIES FROM THE FLY FISHING & FLY TYING HALL OF FAME

This time is for the salmon fishers amongst you. This is a fly I saw used in Iceland….it has great potential throughout the salmon world.

The Red Francis
Hook:
 1.5 " tube (brass for fast water)*
Thread:
 Red.
Tail: Six stripped red hackle stalks, with skirt of brown hair (e.g. from base of bucktail).
Body:
 Red wool.
Rib:
 Oval gold tinsel.
Hackle:
 Red henny-cock over rear third of body and trapped in by tinsel.
Head:
 Red varnish.
*Tie on small trebled fly hooks for shallower water as found, for instance, in most Irish rivers.

Fish this when the river is very high and just starting to clear on a floating line and shortish leader. Cast across and work with the rod tip as it comes round. The salmon hammer it!

Malcolm Greenhalgh
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© 2008 Rolling River Publications Ltd.
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