Paul Arden | Monday, 10 August 2026
There are snakehead babies around. Let’s see, one chase this evening. Two chases yesterday evening. Broken on one midweek into a snag. All big and annoying fish.
At first my shots were not going where they should and that’s what I’m going to talk about. But also the shots have been very tough and brief. This happens sometimes. Fish that have been partly spooked, or turning down fast because of the wind, or just sometimes they don’t give you a money-shot opportunity. That I can handle, but not putting in the shots is unacceptable.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to truly pick the target. After a couple of wild shots, I realised that I wasn’t doing this properly. And then, when I dialled in, it was as if the target size expanded before my eyes and everything that wasn’t target became blurred. It’s similar to the zoom-in function on your camera. Only our eyes are far more powerful.
If I don’t do that then I miss the shot. This is stuff I’ve known for a long time of course and teach rigorously. But it’s been beneficial for me to go back through the process again. Now I can drill it into my students even more!!! Lucky them!!
To put the fly on target then we must really REALLY LOOK at the target. And then something magic happens, the target expands in front of our eyes and the fly lands on point. It is amazing. It really is a form of magic!
These past years, particularly through my Zoom coaching, I have been learning so much. It’s well-known that when you teach something you learn more about it. Well I’ve been working with some truly absolute top level fly casters in the competition sector. The things that I have learned in the past 4 years in particular, I wish I had known when I was younger!
Basic stuff: how to train, how to compete. I never did it properly. Back then we were just trying to work out how to cast!
The World Championships is in Italy in two weeks. Hopefully the conditions are fair for everyone and the best casters win.
Again, unfortunately, I won’t be there myself. I do hope to compete again in the future. If I win the lottery for example then I’ll definitely be there.
It’s unfortunate, I think, that the finals are dotted throughout the week and not all combined into the final day. This isn’t spectator-friendly. Perhaps it has to do with course layouts. When the finals were all on the same day, which is how they were organised up to and including the WCs in Estonia, I thought that the event was both better to watch, as well as compete in.
I have no idea why the event is a week long. That prevents many people from attending who might have been able to afford to otherwise. For someone like me, that would mean two weeks without work. And it may surprise many people to hear this, but I do actually work sometimes!
Anyway I hope everyone who is going will have a great time. I have three athletes attending who I work with. I’m very excited for them!! Had the format (price/duration) been different I would have had at least 6 or 7 going. Which would have meant more athletes and more countries.
Now is not a bad time to come fishing here in the jungle incidentally. And if you are coming from Australia, then I need a new hat!!
Have a great week. :)))
Cheers, Paul