Richard Gurney

Rods are designed for use with weight forward lines. This is because the sale of weight forward lines is more than those of double taper lines. If a rod has a single line rating ie 6#, that rod will be rated for a 6# weight forward line. If you use the same rod with a double taper line, you could go down one weight. For rods with dual line ratings, 6/7# for example, then that rod will perform best with a 6# double taper line and a 7# weight forward. The reason for this is that the weight of double taper line aerialised when casting will be slightly greater than that of a weight forward line as the double taper line has a thick belly whereas with the weight forward, the weight is in the head. I use Scientific Anglers #6 Weight Forward (WF)Intermediate tip, Scientific Anglers a #6 WF Sinking tip, and a Cortland 555 WF floating (very nice) and a no-name #6 sinking. Richard

I'm not sure of the thunder and lightening - but I got absolutely soaked. Richard

There was a recent article in one of the trout magazines here in the UK about circle hooks and how great they are. Are there any stockists here in the UK for circle hooks suitable for fly-tying?

Yesterday the fish were leaping like mad things at insects flying above the water. I couldn't see what the insects were but I did notice something interesting. It appeared that the trout would jump out the water at the flies as they were being cast over their heads. I noticed one trout jump three times immediately under the line as it passed backwards & forwards and another just once. Is this normal?

There is a fishing report on Felix Farm dated 22nd which would be worth reading. Richard