Courses

Courses for Salmon in Scotland and Sewin (Sea Trout) in Wales for 2010

 

Salmon and sea trout 3 day fly-fishing/Spey casting courses for 2010 on the Tweed.

 

 

Many people often ask why do they need to go on a course. We do all envisage that courses are for beginners learning from scratch how to learn a new skill. This is in fact a totally erroneous understanding of the type of courses Glyn and I try to present. Our courses are very much tailored for anglers who find they would like to improve either from the starting line or from any part of the learning curve which they now find themselves.

We therefore try to answer the following questions which anglers might be asking themselves: 

• I am a beginner who would like to learn how to fish for salmon
• I would like to fish for salmon but do not know what kit to buy and how to know if it is what I need.
  
• I have fished for salmon but have problems sometimes with wind or when wading to cast well
• I have seen casts performed either at demonstrations or on video but would like to be able to do them
• I can fish fine with a floating line but have difficulty turning over the fly when I add polytips or large flies
• I would like to try out shooting heads and would like to learn how to handle them and manage large amounts of running line.
• I have some salmon tackle which I am not sure if it suits me but am loath to buy more in case I make a bad investment.
• I would like to be able to fish a sinking line but find it difficult.
• I have heard of Skagit lines, how do they cast and when should I consider fishing them.
• I would like to fish a really nice beat on the Tweed and have the expertise on hand to ensure that I am fishing the beat well.
• I would like a refresher on my casting before my fishing trips next year.
• I would like to know how to read the river and what to use in differing conditions.
• I have a habit of losing salmon - am I doing anything wrong?
• I fish beats where I have to at times fish from the boat. How do I do this effectively and safely.
• It would be so nice to catch a salmon!
• And many others
  

In other words Glyn and I are dedicated to ensuring that all the attendees really get a lot out of the three days on the Tweed. We have kept the charges as reasonable as we can to ensure that they are affordable to many salmon or budding salmon fishermen.

Accommodation of two nights in a hotel with tuition, lunches and the fishing along with the resident ghillie is included in the price.

Suitable equipment can be supplied at no extra cost.

Fully qualified AAPGAI instructors, Illtyd Griffiths, Glyn Freeman and Neil Truelove are running the course. The ghillie is Kevin Patterson who is himself a qualified instructor and knows the water and the fishing very well.

The March course is an ideal time for all  anglers who wish to improve their abilities at the beginning of the season. There will be a few beautiful spring fish in the river at this time to tempt from the many pools on the beat. Some of the pools fish best in high water and some in low which always gives the course participants a chance to be successful.

 The August course is for Summer salmon and sea trout. The salmon fishing can be very good at this time and last year one of our rods at Tweedswood in August caught three in one day along with two sea trout.The Tweed boasts some of the best sea trout fishing in the UK and last Summer our rods did catch many sea trout to 11lb with an average of over 5lb. 

 The September course/fishing is really for those who would like to fish the Tweed at prime time when the Autumn fish are arriving in numbers and are still very fresh and the problems of leaves in the river has not as yet appeared. Opportunities to fish the river at this time is very much at a premium and Glyn and I look forward to helping some fishers really enjoy the cream of Autumn fishing in the British Isles. The cost of this course includes Dinner Bed and Breakfast and packed lunch - one only has to come and think  of the fish one is likely to catch while the cost still compares favourably with the costs of fishing only on many middle Tweed beats at this time of year.

This is one of the testimonials received this year:

 

Hello Illtyd and Glyn
 
This is just a short thank you from my brother Clive and I for the excellent Spey casting course we have just completed on the Tweed.
 
You both are to be congratulated on what I can only describe as the most enjoyable and refreshing learning experience I have undertaken in a very long time.
 
Your casting skills are beyond question and a privilege to watch, but more importantly it is the relaxed way you impart and teach others to acquire these skills that I believe sets the standards for other instructors and courses to aspire to.
 
It was so refreshing not to be spoken down to when a bad cast was made ( of which on my part there were many ) instead we received easy to understand reasons why things were going wrong, and instructions and demonstrations on how to rectify our faults. It is now a great feeling to be able to spey cast a line for a salmon to a higher standard than I ever thought I would achieve.
 
The three days were so enjoyable it is a true testimony that every person on the course was eager to attend a refresher course in November.
 
I will not hesitate to recommend your casting course to friends and I look forward to another few days of instruction on the beautiful river Tweed this coming November.
 
Once again thank you both for everything
 
Mike and Clive Humphreys

 

 

Dates for the river Tweed courses at Tweedswood in 2010 are:

March 29th -31st                 Cost £700

August 2nd -4th                   Cost £700  

September 27th -29th         Cost £1200 

http://www.buccleucharmshotel.co.uk/

Please contact for further details –

Illtyd Griffiths - 01654 781365 or email : illtyd@sewincaster.co.uk
Glyn Freeman - 016973 51752 or email glyn.freeman@virgin.net

 

k.

 

 

 

Golden Grove Sea Trout (Sewin) Courses for 2010 - River Towy

 

 

In 2010 we are holding a number of three-day sea-trout fishing courses, complete with accommodation, on the Golden Grove Fishery on the River Towy in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Golden Grove is regarded as the best sea-trout fishing in the United Kingdom and the 2009 season alone produced over 500 sewin (as sea-trout are called in Wales) with an average weight of nearly four pounds, mostly caught on the fly, including twenty-two sewin over 10lb. Catching a double figure fish on a fly at night is regarded as the holy grail of sea-trout fishing and a lifetime's ambition for many. In 2008 Golden Grove produced a sewin of 21 lbs which is the largest caught in the UK for many, many years.

 

These are not purely theoretical courses but are designed to be intensive fishing experiences with a hands-on approach where all the participants will fish over three nights, conditions permitting, and have an excellent chance to hook fish. They are in prime times and there is every chance of encountering a real monster.

 

We will provide rods the chance to fish with professional guides at night whilst improving their casting and range of skills and giving them a better understanding of how to read water, approach and fish for sewin, and increase their chance of success.

 

The courses are designed both for those anglers who have already some experience with river fishing for sea trout, but want to improve their skills, and also for beginners who may have only fished for trout and/or salmon but not had the chance of experiencing night-time fly fishing for sewin.

 

Golden Grove is only an hour and a half from the Severn Bridge and is very accessible from London and all parts of the South and the Midlands.

 

The Towy is a large river and Golden Grove is very well maintained. Overhanging trees are not generally an issue. Access is very good and whilst wading is essential it is generally easy. Fishing is permitted in Wales on a Sunday (unlike Scotland) and midges/mosquitoes are very rare indeed (also unlike Scotland!).

 

The courses are limited to six rods each and you will be taught and looked after by Illtyd Griffiths and Jamie Harries.

 

Profiles of Course Tutors

 Illtyd Griffiths is a professional fishing instructor and Chairman of The Association of the Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors (AAPGAI) and a Master award holder in both Trout/Sea Trout and Salmon. Based near the Towy which remains his first love, he has fished for sea trout for over 50 years throughout the British Isles and also in Argentina.

He developed the Sewincaster flylines which were the first lines dedicated specifically for sea trout and have been very successful.

Jamie Harris is the head ghillie on the Golden Grove Fishery aswell as being honoured as the current Captain of the Welsh fly-fishing team. As one of only two full time ghillies on the Towy he has an unrivalled knowledge of the water which he has fished for over 30 years. He is regarded as one of the best fly fishermen in the valley and uses his experience to guide rods throughout the season at Golden Grove. The number of successful and returning fisherman attest to his professionalism and ability.

Accommodation at the Plough Inn, Rhosmaen, Llandeilo.

Accommodation (B & B) is included in the price and is only a few miles from the Fishery in an excellent well-appointed hotel which is well used to the needs of fishermen. The rooms are quiet and set well back from the road and it has very good food. See www.ploughrhosmaen.com.

The accommodation has many facilities and is suitable for anglers who wish to bring their partners. For the non-fisher the Towy is a lovely Valley to explore with many castles (Dinefwr, Dryslwyn and Carreg Cennen) and the famous Aberglasney Gardens and The National Botanical Garden of Wales. The coast and beautiful beaches of the Gower are not far and the coast of Pembrokeshire can be reached in an hour or so.

Dates of Courses

Monday 28^th  - Wednesday 30^th.  June

Sunday 25^th - Tuesday 27^th July

 Sunday 15^th,  - Tuesday 17^th  August

 

Course participants should arrive at the Plough Inn at 3pm on the first day where Jamie and Illtyd will be there to greet them, to have a short meeting to allow everyone to get to know each other and to give up to date report on the river.

We will have a river walk to look at the beats on this first afternoon and there will be a chance for Illtyd to show the various casts which may be useful when fishing that night.

The anglers will return home after breakfast following the last night fishing i.e. Thursday July 1^st for the first course.

 

The courses will include:

 

• Three nights fishing on private beats, all double bank.
• Three nights accommodation (Bed and Breakfast).
• Full guiding and instruction. Rods will be guided until 2am (anglers will be able to fish on if they so wish).
• Casting demonstrations/instruction during the day.
• Reading pools and maximising one's chances of success.
• Tactical considerations.
• Tackle advice.
• Fly considerations and fly dressing.
• Day time fishing for sewin will be an option if the river is coloured after heavy rain and night time fishing is not advisdable.

 

 

Tackle:

The list is not exhaustive but is a good indicator. If you do not have some of the tackle requirements please let us know in advance and we will ensure that they are available:

 

• Rods of 9'6" - 10'6" AFTM rated 7 or 8
• Flylines: floaters, intermediates, sink tips or full sinkers i.e. Wet Cel 2 or equivalent AFTM 7 or 8.
• Nylon or fluorocarbon in 8, 10 and 12lb
• Flies of black and silver or blue and silver in sizes 6, 8 and 10 with tubes of 1 - 1.5" with double or treble hooks size 8, 10 and 12 and possibly some Waddington or tandem lures
• Chest waders (essential). Wading staff.
• Wet weather clothing - the weather in West Wales is very unpredictable even in June!
• Flask
• Torch (inc head torch)
• Eye protection or spectacles.

 

Cost                                        £725 inc VAT

Non fishing partner                   £200 inc VAT

If anyone would like to attend this course but lives locally and does not need the accommodation the cost will be £525 incl VAT

 

Please book by telephone: 01494 524411

 

For further details about the course:

 

Illtyd Griffiths at illtyd@sewincaster.co.uk

Tel: 01654 781 365 Mobile: 07974 942 853

 

Jamie Harris at Jamie@golden-grove.org.uk or 078101 845 47

 

Or see website for the Fishery www.goldengrovefishing.co.uk.

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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