Escape to the Country
Take A Lesson In Fly Fishing In The Largest Man-Made Lake in Western Europe!
Our host tries her hand at fly fishing with the guidance of one of Rutland’s local fly fishing experts!
Although Rutland is England’s smallest county, it lives up to its adopted motto of “much in little!” Rutland is home to the biggest man-made lake in Western Europe, as well as around 26 miles of beautiful shoreline. The water attracts wildlife and watersports enthusiasts to the county year round, and it’s what brought our host, Margherita, to the county on this episode of “Escape to the Country.” The sport of fly fishing is one of Rutland’s most popular lake attractions, and Margherita is eager to learn everything she can from Rob Waddington, a fly fishing expert and coach who owns the Rutland Fly Fishing Adventures Company. Join in on the lesson and take in the beauty of Rutland in the below clip!
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As we followed along with Magherita’s mission to catch her first Rutland trout, we were surprised to learn some of our own misconceptions about fly fishing were wrong! Instead of using actual flies for bait as we expected, Rob demonstrated that the bait on the fishing hook is only meant to resemble the tiny insects. Instead, the bait is usually made of hair, feathers, fur, or something similar to trick the fish.
We also learned that fly fishing is much more difficult than regular spin fishing, and actually much more different than we’d initially thought! Although both types of fishing take place in a boat with the goal of catching fish, that’s essentially where the similarities end. For example, in traditional fishing the bait is cast out and presented to fish below the water. In fly fishing, the bait is placed on top of the water to make it look like a small fly has just landed on the water’s surface. In addition, fly fishing requires an alternate type of rod and reel, distributes weight differently when casting the line and baiting, and can even be conducted in upstream waters and tighter quarters than more traditional fishing methods.
The next time we travel to England, we know we will be contacting Rob’s company for a fly fishing lesson of our own! We think it would be great to plan a trip that allows us to take in the scenery and try all the watersports Rutland has to offer, including windsurfing and sailing. In the meantime, you can bet we will be making a delicious fish recipe for dinner and wishing it was a delicious Rutland trout!
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