Credits: Article and images by Colin Alexander Smith @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/01/14/fly-fishing-in-scotland-with-al-peake-of-twin-peakes/
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I asked Al whether, as an angler now totally immersed in the activity from dawn to dusk, he still remembered his original fascination with fishing, and fly fishing in particular.
“Yes. There’s something about water – an infatuation, even. What lies beneath it, imagining what’s down there. It’s about building up a portfolio of knowledge through catching fish, and also by not catching fish.
The fascination of fly fishing, which sets it apart from all other forms of fishing, is the art of casting. Throwing out a relatively heavy fly line to place a fly, which may weigh a fraction of an ounce, exactly where you want it each time.
We discussed the therapeutic effects of both being outdoors in nature and being on, or even in, a loch or river. “I always say, if you have a problem, go on a fishing trip, and the bigger the problem, the longer the trip should be! By the time you get home, you will probably have found the solution to whatever was troubling you.”
“Anglers are eternal optimists, we have to be. And that sets us up for the vicissitudes of life. I remember fishing on a trip for four or five hours one day without a bite, and packing it in for a break. But an hour later I was back on the water, fired up and ready to catch again”.
Al explained his view of the various sub-disciplines even within fly fishing itself: stillwaters versus rivers, lures versus traditional flies, trout versus salmon, and so on. “My personal preference is for rivers, and I see stillwater fishing as a gateway to river fishing, just as coarse fishing was for us a gateway to fly fishing. I tried coarse fishing for a while, and bought a pole for fishing with bait, which is highly effective on small waters, but I realized it wasn’t for me. But there are plenty of anglers out there who will only ever fish stillwaters or will only fish lures”.
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Credits: Article and images by Colin Alexander Smith @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/01/14/fly-fishing-in-scotland-with-al-peake-of-twin-peakes/