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wow - thanks for the detailed answer - just goes to show that I've got a lot to pick up along the way, but that certainally gives me some very interesting points to research. Thanks OT

Hi All, Thanks for the previous advice, I'm almost there - just a couple more questions. I've talked the missus into buying me a couple of hours tuition on a local stillwater for my birthday and want to get my tackle sorted out. I've currently got a 9ft 6wt rod and some double taper 8wt line that was sold to the missus as part of a starter package she brought for my last birthday from the local tackle shop. Is this a mismatch? Should I bin the line and buy some 6 wt? I haven't really decided on the permits I'll pick up, but the local waters I've got to choose from are: http://www.glyncornelangling.co.uk/fishing...p?services_id=1 http://www.glyncornelangling.co.uk/fishing...p?services_id=2 http://www.dyffrynsprings.co.uk/lakes/index.html http://www.ospreyffa.co.uk/maps.htm I'd like to fish a mixture of the stillwaters and rivers - what should I be looking at in terms of leader and tippit strength to fish these waters? Would I need a stronger leader for the stillwaters - or is there one size that will fit all? - Can you advise on the brand / type of leader that would suit me? Are braided loops worthwhile to attach leader to line? I've seen some discussion in this forum that it might be better to use a needle type knot to attach a small loop of strong mono to the end of the line?

Thanks Moggy - thats really helpful. The land either side of the stretch I want to fish is owned by the council - I'll give them a ring and see if I can fish it. I'll see if I can bring those casting lessons forward - I don't want to get into bad habits from the off! Thanks again for the detailed response

Hi All, Hoping you can help me getting started a bit. I'm intending to have a couple of lessons on a local lake later in the season, but for the time being I just wanted to get out on some water and have a go. I've got a small river running behind the house, it's six to nine feet wide and reasonably fast running and I guess averages around 2-3ft in depth, but breaks out into the odd small deeper pool here and there. There's definatley fish in it as we have regular heron visits and on occasion if I've had some maggots left over from a course outing to a local lake Ive chucked a couple of handfuls over the wall at the back and watched the fish gather. There's no 'Private fishing' signs and searching google doesn't turn up any information on clubs controlling the river - can I just go out and fish this river? If yes - what setup should I be using - I'm guessing that because it's reasonably fast flowing that dry fly is out - so should I be thinking about wet fly / nymphs? What sort of patterns would suit? I've got a 9ft six weight rod with reel (fladen vantage 4pc) and some floating line that was a gift from the girlfried a couple of christmas' ago - she spent a while talking with the local tackle shop and they convinced her it was suitable for a good range of small river and lake fishing - is this suitable? Can I recycle some of my coarse gear - would a 24 inch landing net on a shortish handle get me thorugh - can I use 4lb mono for tippit etc? What else do I need - I think I need some backing line, a leader and some tippit material and of course some flies - what should I be looking for to get me started on this river? Any advice and product reccomendations would be greatly appreciated. I'm also going to need some waders as the river has very steep banks for the majority of the section I intend to fish, so I'm going to need to travel in the water to get up and down the section - what are the benefits of nylon, neoprene etc. Also - what's the gerenal etiquette on catch and release? - I'm quite partial to eating trout, but wouldn't want to take fish if it would be damaging either to the fishing or the fish population. Quite frankly I'm a bit baffled by the kit available so I need a few pointers.

I've taken the kids out fishing a few times over the last year (son 5yrs and daughter 9yrs) - would agree with pretty much everything that's been said here. Keep it short and get packed up before they get bored - if you're going to be fishing yourself be prepared to spend most of the session with your own hook out of the water while you sort out tangles and rebaiting the kids gear. My experience over the past few months has been to forget it in the colder weather - even wrapping them up warm results in cold fingers and toes in no time at all and I'm certainally going to wait until it gets a bit warmer before taking the kids back out

I haven't yet - but I definitely going to soon - I'll probably wait for the weather to improve a bit first though! I'll post back after I've been.

As a complete fly fishing beginner I'm thinking about getting a couple of hours tutition at Dyffryn Springs http://www.dyffrynsprings.co.uk/tuition/index.html Does anyone have any experience of the tutition, or even the tutor - Mat Holloway, there - is it good ?

There's also some good basic info here: http://pleasurefishing.com/html/floatfishing.htm and http://pleasurefishing.com/html/wagglerrigs.htm

It's a great book from the point of view of of introducing loads of differnent methods and how to apply them to different types of waters, but for me it just doesn't get into the detail enough for each situation. I think for me I'd be better off with something a bit more specific to the types of water that I have locally or the couple of methods that I own tackle for would be more useful rather than something that covers every type of water / method around - indeed my next book purchase will be far more targeted on the type of fishing I want to do rather than a general guide to everything. As books go though it's a great introduction to the entire spectrum of coarse fishing and a very worthwhile read.

I found myself in exactly the same situation back in the summer - I found my local tackle shop (Garry Evan's in Cardiff) was excellent place to start - I wondered in feeling a little sheepish and explained I was a complete newbie and they spent well over an hour getting me kitted out with the basics, loading line onto my reel, showing me how to cast, explaining how to fish, how to tie the knots I'd need and how to remove hooks - basically everything I needed to give me enough confidence to get on to the bank and catch some fish. My next stop was the baliff at our local lake - he was superb in introducing me to the water, showing me where was fishing and answering all of my questions. Before I'd even cast a line just talking to these guys helped me out immensley. I found looking around online at tackle and methods absolutly overwhelming, but a couple of hours in the shop and on the bank with the help of the locals was invaluable in sorting out what I needed. In terms of books John Wilson's method manual is a good book for introducing the basics - however as a newbie I've found it a bit lacking in detail in places - I picked up a copy (secondhand) from amazon before christmas for just under six quid delivered. All in all don't worry about looking like an idiot on the bank - there's nothing like getting it wrong to figure out how to get it right, I've had my fair share of tangles and embarassing attempts at a cast over the last few months, but it's all taught me a little - so get out there and give it a go. From my experience the majority of experienced anglers on the bank won't laugh at you - most are more than happy to show you where you're going wrong and offer some advice.