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.

I cant believe that its been nearly a month since I sat here on my laptop and wrote a blog, where has all the time gone. I am going to lobby the government and see if we can have a 10 day week in the summer and a 4 day week in the winter!!! Should have been a bear really so I could hibernate through the winter!!!! Its been a very busy month or so. Highlight of the month was captured in the picture, this is Chris just after the surprise was sprung on her. Pete her husband had arranged a fishing trip to Wales but not told Chris that he had arranged a lesson for her. The look on her face was priceless and she was a great pupil picked things up very quickly. ( Pete thanks and I apologize if she keeps saying "Hywel says this")
We had two great days at the Welsh Game fair at Llandeilo but on Saturday every time I stepped on the casting platform it rained so thank you to everybody who stood out in the rain to see the demos.
I appeared on Sky sports "Tightlines" with Keith if you missed it it can be viewed on line http://www.skysports.com/podcast/0,20494,19916,00.html
I have been doing quite a bit of guiding and its been very up and down because of the river levels.
Filmed yesterday with S4C Welsh TV tying flies with kids and then seatrout fishing in the night why o why are fish soo camera shy!!!!!
The welsh Bank team had there first meeting at Garnfrwwd and what a day after a good meeting we all went fishing and it was great fun with everybody catching on all sorts of methods but the best was dry flies down to size 18. I took the family and both Debs and Yasmin caught but the best fun of the day was watching Tanya my youngest play tug of war with a few fish- she's not really got the hang of fighting fish yet so me thinks a few more lessons in the garden before she goes again. The best bit was that she was casting and hooking them on her own and all this at 6 years old, well done darling.
Well got to go as I have a few busy days ahead opening The Angling Unlimited Educational and Training Centre in Coventry tomorrow the guiding on Rutland before fishing Draycott for two days.
Tight Lines

Hi All

Just thought I would give you some links to the latest web casts uploaded onto my you tube page some great info an all sorts of subjects

One of the most useful pieces of kit I own
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/5/9Gdh1THWBB4

Safety when going fishing
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/4/FqBH1WWGyUw

My Fly Selections
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/3/kk2Yp8jcKUM

XF2 on Test
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/2/GUFyq6_iAVQ

If you have any comments please do not hesitate in dropping me an email info@hywelmorgan.co.uk

I cant believe its been nearly three weeks since I sat down and wrote a piece for here !!! How time flies when you are traveling around!!
Pictured left is the group from Johnson Mattey at Barnsfold lakes and what a day. On the top of the one lake it was beautiful with fish rising and easy to cast while down both banks and the second lake it was fishing but survival fishing. Harder to keep your balance than cast. A great day with everybody going home happy and having caught a few fish.
Then I had a great day on Stocks good fishing in the morning but boy was it cold with a capital C!!!!
Then I drove north to Scotland for a meeting and saw some fantastic venues for fishing and teaching- more to come on that( Watch this space). I then travelled to Finland for my first ever show over there with Eumer Tube flies and had a great few days even though most of the people did not understand what this excited Welshman was going on about at least they laughed in the right places. Had a few day guiding on Rutland as well and am glad to see that the brown algae has nearly gone, but why has May been such a bad month- high winds canceled matches and torrential rain not that we didn't need the last one. One great posotive from this month is that my You Tube views are going up and Aaron is working hard to get the next clips ready to put up. If you have anything you would like me to cover please post on the page http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing
Tight Lines