2012 What a Year!!!!!

Well what a year, early on  we were faced with drought and hose pipe bans with most reservoirs down to bare bones and jetty's being moved on a daily basis just to keep the boats in the water as the level dropped. Boy that seams such a distant memory. Then came the floods that have devastated communities and people that were flooded earlier on in the year have still not got back in their homes.!!!! Seems wrong to complain about the fishing when you think of it in the wider picture but I'm a fisherman and that's what I do, I go fishing. So please stop raining we've had enough.
All river anglers have suffered, finding the river has been the biggest problem at some times let alone wetting a line. Next year all of us will be faced with the challenge of re-learning the rivers we fish with different runs and pools that will have been created by the floods.

Floods in Aberystwyth Playing fields


The reservoirs have been a bit better but the high levels have upset the fish and fishing has been challenging. The high levels over the winter boads well for a great opening day in 2013. We have also seen a major change with Bewl water following Hanningfeild and turning into multi-method. This has been the case on many lakes in Wales for years and has worked well. The change in Bewl was met by  huge opposition but if this means that the venue stays open to fishing then I think this will be a road that many more reservoirs will have to follow. I fished Esthwaite a few years ago while filming the Pike DVD with Ant Glasgow and it was fantastic to see families fishing together some children were worming while their Dads were fly fishing, No snobbery, No stigma just everybody enjoying being on the water and catching fish.

Now to my year well the highlight for me was signing for Daiwa as a Consultant and working with the engineers in Scotland has been a delight. I have been working with them all through the year developing and fine tuning the New Era range of rods which were launched to the trade back in October at T&G show and will be in the shops end of January. These rods are the beginning of Daiwa's new game range with a lot more exciting things to come. Above you can see the 9ft 6inch 8wt being put to the test on Draycote water.

Fishing
Fishing wise I did a lot of guiding on small still waters and reservoirs but not as much as I would like on rivers as most of the time the problem was finding a river which was fish-able. Rutland proved very challenging for me and location  was key- just proves that the more you fish it the better you get to know its moods. Draycot proved the best venue through the year with fish feeding well on buzzers and nymphs.
One of the highlights was taking Callum Smalley out on Pitsford the day before his England eliminator and the way he fished in practice I knew he would win the event even though I did not tell his old man as he was nervous enough as it was. To cut a long story short not only did he win he walked away with it and was the only one to bag up with 8 fish by approx 2pm. Well done mate, showed your old man how to do it. Then Steve went and qualified for England on Bewl in September so Son and Farther won their caps but junior was National Champion!!!     

Callum with one of the fish he caught during practice all on a midge-tip Well done and good luck in the International next year.

One of the competitions I fished this year was the Home International Bank Championship which was held at Garnffrwd in Wales. I was the Welsh team manager which meant I had to organize the event as well. I am so grateful to everybody who helped and made my job easy, but a special thanks must go to Jamie the owner of the fishery, nothing was too much trouble and everybody enjoyed their visit to Wales and loved the fishery and the results, well Wales were 3rd!!!
The second was the Grayling Festival on the river Dee in November and once again we were beaten on countback. We had the same place points as the winning team but they just pipped us by fish points but they were from CZ and they have some of the best river anglers in the world.

 Above the winning CZ Team with the New Grayling Trophy presented by Ken Bathers.

Shows
This has been a year of contrasts with a lot of shows trying to go ahead then cancelling at the 11th hour or after a day due to the weather. The major set back to all country folk was the cancelling of the CLA Game Fair but after seing the pictures it was the correct decision much to everybody's disappointment, roll on Ragley next July. One show I have to mention was the Welsh Game Fair who firstly changed the venue and if they had not then there would not have been a show at all. Secondly for all the hard work that was carried out on Thursday and Friday to make sure the show went ahead a mammoth task but well done!! 

 
Just to prove we did have some good weather this year here are the girls practicing the day before the Royal Welsh show in July!!
The season started early for us with the first show in Dublin and we will be back there in less than 6 weeks and look forward to seeing all our Irish friends. This year the whole Morgan clan went and Yasmin and Tanya stole the show with their demonstration on the indoor pool.

Then it was Glasgow Angling Centre and as usual Paul and his team put on a great show. I spent the weekend interviewing all the personalities all of which is on my you tube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing
I went to Norway twice and the shows were fantastic and its nice to meet different anglers from other countries and share experiences.
Fenland Fair added another day to the show due to the cancellation of the CLA and it proved to be a great success. This is one of the oldest Country fairs in the UK and still has the feel of a proper country show. On a very sad not Joan Hall one of the organizers passed away and will be greatly missed by all who knew here and all my thoughts are with Malcolm and his family at this difficult time.
The Midland Game Fair proved a great crowd pleaser once again and this year saw fisherman's row well supported by the public with every stand holder going away with a smile on their faces.
This year my great friend Stevie Munn decided to pick up the batton and organize the Irish Fly Fair after Mara Media had decided to withdraw from the event. This was a great gamble for him and I am pleased to report that the show was a great success with everybody having a great weekend and the best thing Stevie is not bankrupt !!!!!!

Filming

This year Bearleft and I have been busy first with the you tube clips we filmed at GAC Open weekend. Then we produced two  DVD's on fly tying, one on Stillwater patterns and the other on River Patterns which are now available from my website shop. We have also been filming a year on reservoir boat fishing. This is always challenging as Aaron ( director!!! so he says !!!) hates boats and they never drift properly and he cant get the correct angle and shot.  

You will not believe it but the shot above is the Spring shoot!!!!! Look out for this Boat 4 Seasons coming out in the New Year. I would like to thank both Aaron and Alan for there patience and hard work through the year and most of all in edit that makes me look good in front of camera!!! Now that is a tough job!!

Another year gone another year older can I take this opportunity in wishing you all the very best for 2013 and hope all your dreams come true.

Tight Lines

Hywel

 

Fishing round up

Well its been some time since I sat down and wrote something for my blog but I have been busy teaching, doing demos and shows. Due to time constraints I am going to skip through some of the highlights of the last few months.Above you will see Yasmin waiting to get onto the Ferry to Dublin to do the Angling Ireland show. This was the first time the Morgan clan had all gone over and a big thank you must go to Mara Media for making the girls so welcome. Both Yas and Tanya were fantastic and it was the first time they have done a demo indoors with the audience so close, but both of them enjoyed the experience.
Glasgow Angling Center weekend proved to be another fantastic success, Bearleft and myself were there filming for my YouTube channel  http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing. If you have never been to the Open weekend check out you tube and it will show you what you are missing.
After a few shows it was back down to do some filming so Bearleft and I rocked up at Draycott to do a Spring early season fishing section for my new DVD but what a day 25 degree heat and everything looking like a summers day. The lake was very low but at least the fish started co-operating after a while!!!

 One of the highlights this Spring for me was being guest at the Help for Heroes charity match on Llandegfedd- congratulations to everybody who organized and fished this event as nearly £4,000 was raised for the cause.

Above I am doing one of my distance casting demo's at the Dutch Fly Fair. It was fantastic to return to this show after not being there for years. Great to make new friends and catch up with people I have not seen in years. I would like to thank Caveman and Jo for  the invitation and congratulations to you both for such a successful show.

The day after Dutch Fly Fair I was off to the Lake of Menteeth in Scotland to help the wife fish in the Ladies International Match.( Above Debs adopts a relaxed fishing position for the practice day !) We had one days practice and the fish in the lake were turbo charged bars of silver. Tested both fishermen and their tackle!!! To be honest every woman that fished the competition deserved a medal as the lake was flat calm and 30 degrees !!!!!!! Not good for fishing but great for a sun tan!!!! Congratulations to Scotland who were worthy winners.
There are many more high lights but unfortunatley I have got to go and do some work!!!! I am now working on some new fly selections for next years Daiwa's game range.
Tight Lines 

Where does time go!!!!! well its now 2012 and already February !! January was a good month, first, we finally finished my stillwater DVD http://www.hywelmorgan.co.uk/shop.html
this was a 12 month project where I fished on small and large still waters. Even if I say it myself this is one of the best we have ever produced and a big thank you must go to Bearleft.TV for filming and putting together this 2 disc set. It has just received a fantastic review in this months Trout Fisherman. Here is a link to the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKyDZaYSQs&list=UUIoemlueA_7qTC3PZEihokA&index=1&feature=plcp
After that I went fishing and my first competition of the year was The Colin Miller memorial match at Garnffrwd fishery and as you may be able to tell from the picture above I managed to win it. Great start to 012!!!
Next was the first show of the year http://www.britishcarpshow.co.uk/ yes I know what you are thinking Me in a Carp show well not really as it was Carp and Angling and I was quite busy teaching fly casting to Carp and predator anglers who wanted to give fly fishing for their respective quarry a go. It was held at the Norfolk showground and if this year is anything to go by look out for next years show as it will be bigger and better.
The biggest news I have to share is that I have joined Daiwa as a consultant to work on their game range. I have already tried some of their prototypes and believe you me there are some new and exciting things going to come out of Scotland in the next few seasons.
I am now packing and getting ready to go to Ireland for the Ireland Angling show in Dublin and this year both my daughters are going to feature in the demonstrations so the whole Morgan clan are off to the Emerald Isle

A Month of Contrasts

Yes another month has gone by since I sat down and wrote something for my blog- but hey what a month from fly fishing in Mauritius to greyling fishing in the river Dee and demonstrating at the Irish Fly Fair. So where do I start ?
It has been a busy month in the Morgan house hold with me just popping home here and there just to pick up clean clothes and catching a few hours with the family!!!
Late in October John Emerson and myself ran another Grayling masterclass on the river Dee in North Wales and the river fished very well with everybody on the course catching beautiful fish. After that it was off to the Welsh bank trial to try and qualify for next years Welsh team. The trial was held on Garnffrwd fishery and it proved to be a testing trial. The morning was ok and I caught on stalking bugs and I ended in second place but boy did things change in the afternoon. I had takes on all platforms but could not convert these takes into fish landed and as the day went on the worse it got. To cut a long story short I caught my last fish with 5 minutes to go on a dry which meant I qualified for the team. To quote my old man " You just scrapped through "!!!
After that I was off to Ireland to the Irish Fly Fair in Galway and what great show. Thank you to everybody who came to the show and once again Mara Media did a fantastic job of organizing the show!!
It was then a 2 day turnaround as I was flying out of London to Mauritius to do some fly fishing with Beachcomber tours- the picture above shows Scott Mckenzie and myself fishing in the surf for GT's- It was a fantastic trip with accommodation to die for and the food was out of this world. It even made the 12 hour flight worth while. We had a great trip and the best fish landed was a 140 yellow fin Tuna (well done Scott) I did fight a black marlin ( estimated at 2-300lb)for all of 30 seconds!!!!! and we did get one other hit but that was it. The place is back on the map for big game fishing and I will be back!!
I flew back overnight landing in Heathrow at 6am and was in North Wales by 4pm to fish the Grayling International over the weekend. This was even a quicker turnaround with one hour at home to drop off my dirty clothes and pack my thermals!!! Two days of fishing with the river rising all the time. It was tough to say the least but we did manage to winkle a few fish out and by the end of the comp we came second. Well done to Ken Bathers and the team for running a great competition. It is a testament to their hard work as teams travel from as far a field as Belgium, Italy and the Isle of Man.
Can I take this opportunity to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Tight Lines for the coming season

Where does time go !!! I think the older we get the faster time goes!!!
Yes its been some time since I sat down and wrote something for my blog- why?, well I just have not had the time. It has been a busy time teaching demonstrating and filming. The first thing I have to mention was my trip to Ireland with the Welsh team for the bank international. This was fished in a mountain loch and I know the mountain goats loved the area but boy it was tough going. The competition was hard and to be honest the only team that had their tactics bang on were the Scottish team and they were worthy winners. Top rod went to Ireland and best fish went to Lee from Wales. Competition fishing is not all about catching fish its the whole event and we had a great time in the "Emerald Isle" meeting old friends and making new ones.
I taught at Blackdyke fishery and anybody who lives any where near Cambridge should visit this fishery as it offers great fishing at a reasonable cost.
I ran my first Winter fly fishing course at Garnffrwd fishery and that proved to be a great day with everybody in the group catching fish and improving their tecneque. More courses to follow email me for more information. John Emmerson and myself had the first Grayling course on the river Dee in North Wales and again the fishing was great with everybody crossing swords with the Lady of the Stream. Next course will be held in January.
Filming has been very interesting in the last few weeks- firstly we filmed the autumn section of our new DVD on the river. On the day we faced hurricane winds howling down the valley, boy it was interesting casting and we should have done a section on "self preservation casts"- we also went to Draycot water to film the Autumn section of the bank fishing VD and I cant wait to see the footage as we had fantastic fishing with fish up to 6lb. Hard fighting bars of silver "fishing does not get better than this"!!!!
Lastly I had the Bank trial for next years Welsh team and it was held on Garnffrwd fishery. The morning proved difficult but fish were there to be caught and by lunch time I had managed to winkle out 7 fish. The afternoon proved far more difficult and I had takes on every platform but none of them stuck and by the last session I only had 1 fish and was out of the running for the team. In the last 15 minutes of the competition I decided to fish dries and by luck or divine intervention I managed to catch another putting me into next years team. ( by the skin of my Teeth!!!!!)
Ah well its time to pack as I am off to the Irish Fly Fair In Galway so come and say hi if you are there- I will be the one running around on the Mic trying to keep everybody informed on whats going on as well as doing a casting demo in the afternoon.

Some times Pictures just dont tell the story!!! This is Scott trying to pose for the camera with the best Grayling of the day but unfortunately the fish was camera shy and exited stage left after what seamed a minute of fish juggling!!.As you can see by Scott's face he didn't mind. This was just one of my guided days on the river Dee in North Wales.
I can't belive its been another month since I wroet my blog and for that I can only appologive but my excuse is that I have been out on the Water and in shows.
Some great new shows and venues for you to put in the diary for next year. The first was Lowther Game and Country Fair. This was the first time Countryman Fairs have organized this show and what a job. Tracking all over the site so no vehicles got stuck all the public walkways were kept clear of trucks so when the show was on it was easy to walk around the show. Great Job.
Then I want to the Galoway Country Fair which had been moved to Drumlanrig Castle. The show ground was fantastic with the great backdrop of the Castle. A well attended show at a great new venue.
It was then over to the Fenland Country Fair which is one of the oldest fairs in the UK and I would like to congratulate Joan and Malcome for their hard work and the way they are still able to keep the show traditional with small stalls old fairground rides and I think it has the biggest display of old vehicles I have seen in my life.
The last show I did was the Midland Game Fair and as usual it was a fantastic event with huge crowds and this year we were so lucky with the weather, only a couple of showers over the weekend, where all around us suffered heavy down pours!!
Had to cancel a few days this month as well !!! British weather!! Blown off at Rutland and Llandegfedd!! While at Rutland I witnessed the funniest thing I have seen in a while. They had let 5 boats out early but had to re-call them due to the wind!!! Sorry forgot to say these were the Army lads practicing for the inter services match. 3 boats came back from the South arm then a little later 2 boats came from the North arm 1 boat had 2 anglers in but the second only had one angler in!!! Yes one of the ARMY boys were so scared he abandoned his mate and went in the safety boat!!! Boy did he get some stick from all the boys when he came in- cant repeat what was said!!! But you can imagine !!
Highlight of the month for me was finishing My New DVD on Still water patterns and also getting my new essentials kit into stock. Please go check them out in my shop on the website.
Now have to go and pack, off to Glasgow for the open weekend Hope to see you there.

I just cant believe it its been over a month since I last put fingers to key board !!!! Time flies when your busy and what a month its been. Guiding, teaching, shows, filming and competitions!!!
But why have I got a picture of me and pollock well this was the best fish of the week on my recent trip to Isle of Lewis but more of that latter.
First its been a great month teaching and guiding both on the river and stillwaters. Some great fishing with great clients. I went filming with S4C welsh TV and had a great day but then went fishing the famous river Towy on one of the best beats and could not believe it the whole river just switched off at around 11pm- no fish moving and no takes for anybody on the river!!!! Typical!!!
After that I was privileged to be asked to open an educational center for " Get Hooked on Angling" scheme near Coventry did a little demo and finished it just before the rain!!! Great timing.
Fished one competition this month Draycott pairs with Paul and caught 12 fish for over 35lb and came nowhere. Julian and Scotty won the comp with 12 fish weighing over 42lb boy this place is fishing fantastic, well worth a visit.
Bearleft and myself spent 4 days filming for the 2 new DVD's we are working on and I have seen some of the footage its fantastic-great camera work and the Polaroid lenses are brilliant, cant wait to see the final cut.
Then it was off for a week of shows first the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show followed by the CLA Game Fair- 2 demos a day for a week and the kids were brill Tanya just wants to do more and more just like her big sister. Yasmin was a star first she won the casting comp at the Welsh then beat everybody at the CLA even the men. She was crowned UK Salmon distance champion at the age of 12 well done Hun.
It was then off to the Isle of Lewis- no thanks to FlyBee who charged us another £250 to change a flight from Monday to Tuesday !!!! Thanks a lot!!! But it was a fantastic trip teaching and fishing. This year we concentrated of sea fly fishing and with small pollock patterns we had great sport. The one above even though it was not the biggest bent my 10wt double!!!! Had some fun trying to catch sea-trout on the shore loads of takes but not one landed.
Some Salmon were running but we left them alone this trip.
Highlight for me this month was seeing Yasmin take on and beat everybody at the CLA chip off the old block. Now for another month of shows.