Month: December 2005

what is the true right bank of a river

The following is not going to change the face of fishing, but it is a question I get asked very regularly.

Which side of a river or stream is the right side?

The right bank or side is always on the right side of the direction in which the water is flowing ie facing downstream, and the left bank is always the left hand side facing downsteam.

This is usually called the ‘true’ right bank or true left bank. True river sides are not just used in fishing, all outdoors activties use the same appellation to avoid confusion.

Posted by Tony Bishop in fly fishing tips

Fly Casting: Start Slow, Finish Fast, Stop Dead

You would think that after 50 years flicking a fly rod I would be able to cast properly, every time – unfortunately it is not so.

Sure, despite the fact that I am self-taught, I can get my fly out pretty near where I want it most times, but too often when I really need to get it to where it needs to land I duff it up and watch the fish I was aiming to catch dart off where ever fish go when spooked.

I can most times get enough distance, but when the situation calls for an extra 3 or 4 metres I can almost guarantee the line wraps around my head, or collapses in a series of rings in front of me.

Then I got a bit of inspiration from Tiger Woods, when I read that this truly gifted golfer has spent much of the previous year re-building his swing. Good enough for Tiger I thought, good enough for me – so I grabbed a mate who is a very good caster, and club instructor, and we settled in to some rebuilding of my casting stroke.

My friend hit on my problem almost immediately when I fired off a demo cast. “Too fast, too slow”, he observed.

What was he on about? Find out in my new article.

Posted by Tony Bishop in fly fishing how-to, fly fishing tips