COLUMN: Fly fishing with David Johnson

What are we searching for when fly fishing?
David Johnson, of Peaks Fly FishingDavid Johnson, of Peaks Fly Fishing
David Johnson, of Peaks Fly Fishing

Well, fish of course! A day without fish is rarely a happy one however the cliche “there is more to fishing than catching fish” also rings true.

I am an avid reader of old fishing books, especially romantic-fly-fishing-nostalgia where men wear ties and smoke pipes.

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I enjoy stories of idyllic summer afternoons and evenings in days gone by with gushing descriptions of the surroundings such as this from Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde, Hunting Memories, 1920 “The sun hangs low in the West - a great crimson ball swinging in ultra-marine deepening to darkest sapphire.

He drops lower and lower, and his reflection streams across the black water - a broad pillar of fire.”

Now summer is here and fishing is starting to become a little harder, the sights, sounds and smells of the river bank can compensate for a lack of rising fish.

Fishing allows me to see the sunsets, the slow changing of the seasons and the beautiful contrasts of the Peak District landscape.

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When I buy a day ticket or pay the subs for my club, I hope I am investing in more than the right to fish, hopefully I am buying a memory, something that I will look back on and remember with a smile and perhaps even capture a thought or two in verse for posterity and future grandchildren’s amusement.

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