Welcome
You are very welcome to my web site holding pages. This site will be developed and added to over time. The site is about the art of fly-casting with both single and double-handed rods, and fly-casting Instruction.
About Me
I have been a full time professional Salmon angling Ghillie and Guide for 25 years, a part time seasonal Guide for five years before that again. A lifelong salmon and trout angler, brought up in the wild game fish fishing tradition by my late Father.
I am a GAIA APGAI qualified Instructor in both Trout & Sea Trout, and Salmon Angling disciplines. An FFF certified Master Instructor (single-handed rod) and T.H.C.I. Instructor (double-handed rod), successfully taking all three American exams at the one testing event on the Beaverkill River, at Roscoe, New York State in November 2004. I am a REFFIS (Register of Experienced Fly Fishing Instructors and Schools) registered School, Instructor and Guide.
Irish Journalist David Dinsmore obtained a quote from the FFF examiners in New York State -
Floyd Franke, past Chairman, Federation of Fly Fishers Casting Board of Governors speaking as spokesperson for the five certifiers involved said,
.......Robert Gillespie, with his calm quiet, retiring demeanour proved to be the biggest surprise of all. He breezed through the tests with the confidence of the professional he truly is. He deserves the distinction of being the first to pass all three certifications offered by the Federation in a single testing event. I was pleased to have been part of this "historic" event............
Fly-Casting
Fly-casting with both single and double-handed rods for real world practical fishing is a passion of mine and something that I have pursued diligently over my lifetime. This involved making the necessary pilgrimages to import knowledge via formal training from those that really know how to cast well, most especially from the Scots. Fly-casting ability is an extremely important aspect of presentation when fly fishing.
I run 'Classic Rivers Fly-Casting' a school of fly-casting based in the Moy Valley teaching fly-casting with single and double-handed rods in the Fulcrum Fly-Casting style, giving mainly individual and sometimes group or corporate tuition in fly-casting and Game Angling. The purpose being to enable people to deal with real world situations on rivers and large or small, as well as still water or salt water fly-casting.
Fulcrum Fly-Casting Style
Spey Casting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71RFfSUJ6Zs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSYnDzuwIac&NR=1
Every Spey cast, or any of the alternative replacement casts for any Spey cast, use and share a similar common movement to form a correct D or V loop set up and final delivery / forward cast.
The various types of casts using D or V loop formations are therefore very similar over the latter parts of the cast. Once then you have an efficient D or V loop forming technique on both right and left sides under your control, you will have the most critical part of all of the Spey casts and any of the replacement casts for a Spey cast more or less learned.
The main differences between various casts will mostly be the initial line placing movement used before you form the D / V loop and make the final delivery and whether you are pulling the line up off the water or whether it is traveling through the air to touch down.
That is precisely why the incline exercise progression is invaluable for technique, and excellent for perfecting off side casting. Also an invaluable exercise for modern shooting head casting technique.
Putting a few movements together via the Incline exercise progression, (a progression of exercises that allows for a couple of fundamental essential principles), will ensure the D / V loop forming technique is perfected off both sides in fulcrum style. D and V loop forming control then allows you to fine tune and 'shape' your loop set up to your requirements in any situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71RFfSUJ6Zs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSYnDzuwIac&NR=1
Every Spey cast, or any of the alternative replacement casts for any Spey cast, use and share a similar common movement to form a correct D or V loop set up and final delivery / forward cast.
The various types of casts using D or V loop formations are therefore very similar over the latter parts of the cast. Once then you have an efficient D or V loop forming technique on both right and left sides under your control, you will have the most critical part of all of the Spey casts and any of the replacement casts for a Spey cast more or less learned.
The main differences between various casts will mostly be the initial line placing movement used before you form the D / V loop and make the final delivery and whether you are pulling the line up off the water or whether it is traveling through the air to touch down.
That is precisely why the incline exercise progression is invaluable for technique, and excellent for perfecting off side casting. Also an invaluable exercise for modern shooting head casting technique.
Putting a few movements together via the Incline exercise progression, (a progression of exercises that allows for a couple of fundamental essential principles), will ensure the D / V loop forming technique is perfected off both sides in fulcrum style. D and V loop forming control then allows you to fine tune and 'shape' your loop set up to your requirements in any situation.
Guiding
I guide for Atlantic Salmon and Wild Brown Trout on both River and Lough, and
particularly on the River Moy system.
The purpose of Guiding is not only to help people to catch fish, but ultimately to better enable them to catch fish themselves through relating an understanding of exactly why the fish are caught in terms of technique and presentation for the circumstances.
I teach and fine tune game angling techniques such as for instance Irish Lough style short line wet fly fishing for trout or salmon, or furrowing mini tubes, or pulsating Irish shrimp flies while retrieving line on a salmon river.
There is a long term learning curve involved in wild fish game angling, as there is in Fly-Casting and experience counts greatly. The greatest way to shorten the learning curve is to learn from the already experienced. Game Angling is also a country sport with an associated sporting tradition and etiquette.
The Atlantic Salmon
For me the Atlantic salmon is the most perfect fish for the Game Angler. Atlantic salmon are heavily influenced by prevailing water and weather conditions and their physical surroundings. In Atlantic Salmon angling understanding the influence of water and weather conditions and other factors such as riverbed topography and currents on the fish, and on methods and techniques is often critical to success.
That such magnificent fish will sometimes take small flies close to the surface is an incredible aspect of the sport of fly fishing.
I am an all methods salmon angler.
A 'Toft Block' style final delivery during a Spey casting demonstration in Spain, October 2011.
This site is mainly about one particular style of fly-casting called Fulcrum Fly-Casting Style. It is a distinct Scottish style used with single and double-handed rods and for both Overhead and Spey Casting disciplines including shooting head casting. The style originates with the techniques taught by Peter Anderson.
There are many nuances that define a style as well as an ethos. This style is all about gaining full control with economy of effort for practical fishing purposes. The combination of full control with economy of effort achieved through understanding how to use and direct leverage efficiently. Several techniques define the style such as the use of a straight line incline casting stroke, and the use of continuous motion for line height management behind when overhead casting. In double-handed Spey casting it is a long stroke bottom hand dominated technique, the bottom hand and body very much dominant in power application ensuring the rod pivots at the support of the top hand during the casting stroke.
It is counter intuitive to use a double-handed rod in this way, or to maintain an incline when using a single handed rod and the style is taught and fine tuned through a series of exercises.
This site is mainly about one particular style of fly-casting called Fulcrum Fly-Casting Style. It is a distinct Scottish style used with single and double-handed rods and for both Overhead and Spey Casting disciplines including shooting head casting. The style originates with the techniques taught by Peter Anderson.
There are many nuances that define a style as well as an ethos. This style is all about gaining full control with economy of effort for practical fishing purposes. The combination of full control with economy of effort achieved through understanding how to use and direct leverage efficiently. Several techniques define the style such as the use of a straight line incline casting stroke, and the use of continuous motion for line height management behind when overhead casting. In double-handed Spey casting it is a long stroke bottom hand dominated technique, the bottom hand and body very much dominant in power application ensuring the rod pivots at the support of the top hand during the casting stroke.
It is counter intuitive to use a double-handed rod in this way, or to maintain an incline when using a single handed rod and the style is taught and fine tuned through a series of exercises.
