It was nice to have a break. In fact we have decided to extend our stay by one extra day, because yesterday, after having been lost somewhere in the middle of Koh Samui while trying to find a Buddhist Temple, we found a camp spot with fantastic views all across the island. And as you’ll know if you read last week’s FP, I have to make more use of my roof top tent… so that it doesn’t continue to cost 1250USD/night! One night camped at the top of Koh Samui and I’ll have brought this cost down to $800/night, plus we will get some wonderful sunset views!

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What else is there to do when you can't go fishing?

Running my businesses through a time of inflation and growing government regulation and looking after children. This has meant fishing is struggling to hold the priority I once gave it. We all have bosses!! I'll see if I can redress that balance soon. :-)

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Tracy and I are up in Scotland right now, Tracy is working and I'm just hanging about, thinking about doing some casting practice but not getting round to it. Actually I can still feel a hint of tennis elbow so I'm reluctant to go out and cause further injury with a 15ft Spey rod. I don't know why it is, but I always think I should practice Spey casting whilst in Scotland, rather than anything single handed. Where we are staying is on the banks of a sea loch, so there are numerous calm, shallow bays where I could wade out and cast. A week or so back I was at Bala lake in North Wales practising with Steve – he pointed out a couple of issues that I need to work on with regards to my single Spey cast, so I know what I'm going to work on when I do get out.

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I thought I’d look at an older pattern this week, one that might be less commonly known nowadays, the Copper Liz.

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There are a lot of things we have no clue about in fly casting that other sports has figured out. Many sports seem to have figured out that stronger is better, up to some extent. So they have found some levels where it doesn’t seem to give a big advantage to push the strength beyond that level. That from there it is more valuable to focus on maintaining that level of strength and focus more on other aspects to improve performance. Those can be technique, strategy, mobility, etc. Some sports have even figured out mobility requirements for optimal performance.

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Pardon my brevity this week. I’ve got to get up early to fish tomorrow. I’m in Florida and the tarpon are tough. I'm getting my shots and have blown very few. Nevertheless, I’ve gotten nothing but swings and misses or outright refusals, some with extreme prejudice. Tarpon are great teachers. They’re big enough to be easy to see behind your fly and they are expressive. If nothing else I’ve improved my ability to stay in contact with an accurately placed fly and to converse with my fishy friends rather than just trying to catch up to where they are. More than just swimming a fly past their noses.. My consolation as I write is that my new skills are widely portable and that I’ll have another whack at it tomorrow. 

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