EDITORIAL

Editor Steve Cullen steve E: steve.cullen@dhpub.co.uk T: 01327 311999 F: 01327 311190 Chief Sub Editor David Haynes Creative Director Mark Grafton Head Designer Fiona Brett Designer Nicola Howe Staff Photographer Patrick MacInnes Illustrations Peter Holmes Reprographics Manager Derek Mooney Senior Repro Assistant Stephanie Horn Repro Assistant Rebecca Haines

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David Hall Publishing Ltd T: 01327 311999 F: 01327 311190 W: www.davidhallpublishing.com Publisher David Hall E: david@dhpub.co.uk Managing Director Sean O’Driscoll E: sean@dhpub.co.uk Operations Director Roger Mortimer E: roger@dhpub.co.uk

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Total FlyFisher ISSN 1753-9501

S teve Cullen E: steve.cullen@dhpub.co.uk T: 01327 315444

Welcome

Ireally hope that you like the new-look Total FlyFisher. Many hours of hard work and a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into producing it. We are very happy with the end result, but of course it’s you, the readers, who we aim to please. Looking at the results of the survey that we carried out last year, with the help of the Glasgow Angling Centre and BVG Airflo, we decided to tailor the magazine to better suit UK fly fishers. Hopefully we have put together a publication that is going to be of benefit to all anglers, no matter where you are on the fly fishing ladder. We have an array of fantastic new writers to bring fly fishing information and tying talent to the magazine, to help you along the road to becoming a better angler.

I would love to hear any of your views or opinions with regard to the content or look of the magazine. It’s been designed with you in mind, so please feel free to get in touch.

As you sit down to read this the trout season proper will be well and truly under way. Across the country all the big waters will have opened their doors to the fly fishing public, the flora along the riverbanks is starting to bloom and there are flies coming off the water – it’s enough to make an angler burst into song. We are very, very lucky in the UK and yet we really don’t realise it. There are so many fly fishing opportunities out there and we just need to be willing to go out there and find them.

There’s a near limitless supply of hill lochs and tarns that hardly see an angler from one season to the next, all of which are literally teeming with little, and sometimes not so little, brown trout. Rivers also abound and, before anyone says anything, not all of them are private syndicate waters. If you want some good river fishing it’s usually available, just do a little bit of homework; have a look on www.fishpal.com, because all manner of fishing can be found on this informative and well-laid-out website. Another one worth trying is the ever-popular www.wyeuskfoundation.org.

It’s all too easy to become stuck in rut as an angler. Realistically, if you want to grow and increase your knowledge, you need to spread your wings a bit. Fishing at the same stillwater every weekend will give you the chance to learn its moods and how it fishes throughout the year, which is all very well if you want to be the best angler on the water – and some do – but could you enjoy the same success on another water?

I urge you to make the most of what we’ve got in the UK and, while you’re at it, why not take a youngster along with you? Hopefully, they’ll appreciate what it has to offer too.

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