Taster Session

Thinking about trying fly fishing?

Then search no further, at Barn Elms I offer a structured path which takes you from complete novice to confidently fly fishing on your own.

This journey starts with a 3 hour taster session. If possible, this will take place on Friday or Sunday mornings. These tasters must be booked in advance.

The cost is £90 for one person, £140 for two and £190 for three. These prices include a £30 one fish ticket per person which allows each person to take home a fish for supper or release if preferred. Catching a trout of course cannot be guaranteed, though I do my best to help my customers, at the very least have a chance to bring a fighting fish in.

I provide all the equipment and the taster starts with learning basic casting techniques on grass, retrieving techniques and practising reacting to a bite followed by how to successfully get a lively fish into your net.

Next, we take a coffee break and I show how you set the line up for fishing, explaining the various knots and flies used.

Onto the lakeside to try to catch a fish; I explain what indications to look for and the natural hot spots. At this stage I may be making some casts for you and if I should catch a fish I will hand you the rod so you can try to bring the fish in yourself.

During your taster I will take video clips of your progress and for a small extra charge you can choose to have the videos sent to you with notes advising what was good and what could be improved. The highlights of your taster are then mixed with music to produce a short 30 sec media clip which can be sent to your family and friends. Please see some example clips below.

The extra charge for these video clips is £10 for one or two persons and £15 for three.

Also, souvenir trout fly packs are available; 6 assorted flies for £5 all of which are specifically suited to Barn Elms and hand tied by our in-house specialist with the proceeds supporting a local SEN school.

Gift vouchers for ‘tasters’ can be purchased as presents as well as the flies and video clips.

Finally, after the session, I will send links for suitable starter rod / reel combos, so you can get practising and start fishing on your own. These combos typically cost around £80.

However, fly casting can rarely be learnt in a few hours. It is counter intuitive and takes lots of practice; many of my students come back with their own rods for a 2 hour ‘refresher’ session costing £70. Then when this ‘refresher’ is over, they can continue to fish on their own using their own equipment.

The NHS now recommend fly fishing to counter the stresses of modern life so do get in touch. A word of warning…fly fishing is highly addictive!