Fly Fishing Instruction with Colin Pape

Instruction

An experienced instructor in a number of spheres I endeavour to provide a friendly, relaxed and highly personalised fly fishing instructing and guiding service on some of Devon’s most beautiful rivers and stillwaters.

I concentrate on designing an individual package tailored specifically to my client’s needs.   My forte is a ‘one to one’ personal service designed to help you develop at your own pace. This ensures my clients develop their skills quickly in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The emphasis is on enjoyment and learning. I will take two people provided they come together on a pre-booked package for two.

Instruction will be based on a minimum of 2 hours, in a morning or afternoon session, to one, two or three day packages. A typical half day's instruction is 3-4 hours. I will design a package specifically for you so I will need to know what you wish to achieve and how much time you have available.

A full day (5-6 hour session) is ideal for those who want to explore the techniques and tactics of river fishing, and for guiding for the more experienced.

Instruction is available for both the single handed fly rod and the double handed salmon rod, for beginners, novices and intermediate levels. Spey casting with the double handed salmon rod is a particular speciality.

Beginners Day at Kennick Reservoir

Single handed fly rod

Basic fly fishing instruction with both the single handed rod and the double handed salmon rod, will initially be undertaken in a stillwater environment where you will learn the basics quickly and safely. Progress will be at your pace, the aim being to ensure that you move onto rivers and more challenging angling situations as soon as you are ready.  

I mainly use Kennick Reservoir for straight forward casting lessons and an introduction to stillwater fishing as it is protected from the weather, there is a well equipped and comfortable lodge to retreat to for indoor work and to escape any bad weather.

This means that you can progress in a discrete atmosphere without the pressures of other anglers around you. Once you have mastered the basic casting techniques with either the single handed rod or the double handed salmon rod, we can progress onto the nearby River Teign or to the Rivers Yeo orCreedy, all within a few miles of Exeter.

The double handed salmon rod

The principles are much the same as for the single handed rod, but you will learn the Roll cast first, the basis of all spey casting, followed by the Double Spey, the Jump Roll (Accelerated Roll Cast) and the Single Spey. Once you have developed a good basic working technique in these casts on a stillwater or the river Exe, you will progress onto fishing the Exe for salmon.

If you have done some trout or salmon fishing and wish to gain more skills and experience, or maybe you are an experienced fly fisherman or woman, you may wish to extend these skills and learn new ones. You can concentrate your efforts on the local rivers or you can opt for some slightly more advanced casting techniques and river skills.

You will learn to master more subtle casting techniques with the single handed rod, like the Side Roll Cast, Jump Roll and Single Spey, the Reach Cast, Slack Line Cast and the Single and Double Haul or to perfect your Spey casts with the double handed salmon rod.

There are no set syllabuses. Instruction will cover all aspects of fly fishing from the understanding of and selection of, rod, line and fly, right through to the more advanced stillwater and river techniques for salmon, trout and sea trout .

More experienced fishermen may opt for the more informal guiding service see Guiding. Here you will be able to stretch your skills and knowledge on the river into new and more challenging situation.

You will learn to read the water, to overcome the effects of drag, to spot fish lies and feeding areas. You will learn to change your tactics to suit the conditions, from wet fly techniques like fishing 'across & down' and the upstream 'dead drift' nymph, to the upstream dry fly.

The Devon Fly Fishing Experience