2wheels1rod

It's back - River AND Stillwater

Right, the line I was going on about last night. You might remember the fuss I made about it last summer - I called it the 'SPUD', Spectre Pro Ultra Dry, and it's not left my reel since. An extra season in the line and it still feels (and performs) as good-as-new. Read the very end of this email to grab our 'Special Discount & FREE 1st Class Delivery Offer' today - but I want something in return!

The bit of your kit nobody thinks about

Hi, Sorry to interrupt your Monday evening. For years I'd under-rated my fly line - rod, reel, flies, tippet - all fussed over to the n'th degree, all bought and treated with proper care. The line? Usually, so long as it was rated the same as the rod, I didn't pay too much attention - or I chose whatever was the best value when I needed to by one. An Autumn day in 2024 cured me of that.

Grubs Up - À la carte waterside dining

I hope you're waters have been topped up with all the rain we've seen over the last few days - typical of a Bank Holiday weekend! I want to take you back - just a few weeks - to the baking hot temperatures we experienced in July. When the grass was brown and the rivers had hardly seen any water in months and the majority of Stillwaters were closed (due to the water temperature) - the fishing outlook was pretty bleak! Just as I was tucking into my ice-cream (trying to keep cool), a parcel arrived from France. It was packed full of 'grub' style patterns - just what you need when there's no water to be seen anywhere! It was from good friend and French fly designer, Stan (of Nymphèvolution fame) - all tied to his usual exacting standards and that little bit different.

Fancy a bit of 'parkin'?

I hope you had a great bank holiday weekend - and it wasn't too wet for you! I had my promised day out on Sunday on a nice and quiet stretch of the Derwent - didn't see a soul and had a few fish, in beautiful surroundings - although there was a mishap (or two).

Don't Get Skunked This Summer/Autumn + FREE Stickers

This summer has been a strange one for us - essentially, it's been really quiet since June. Which is not really surprising with the amount of sun (and no rain) we've had, people are just not fishing - which is very wise when it's detrimental to fish welfare. However, it does cause us an issue when we sell fishing flies!

Time To Start Digging - For Those Derwent Worms

You've probably not thought much about worms lately - not since you were about eight, digging for bait with a garden fork. From the forecast I've seen for this weekend (it is a bank holiday!), we are about to get a fair bit of water into our rivers & stillwaters. That's really what this email is about. Not a gimmick, not a new gadget - just a fly pattern (which I use myself throughout September and October) that answers a very specific, very real situation you'll likely find yourself in pretty soon.

Kendo Nagasaki - Whatever happened to him?

Easy ... Easy ... Easy It's time to deploy the Big Daddies, but how 'BIG' is big? If you're around my age (let's just say 55+) then I'm sure you can remember sitting around the TV on a Saturday lunchtime with the dulcet tones of Kent Walton ringing in your ears! These images and sounds came flooding back to me over the summer when our local history society had an exhibition showcasing some of the 'sporting' heritage of our local town (Scarborough) - that led me to think of the legendary bouts between Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks (and my personal favourite Kendo Nagasaki - whatever happened to him?).

The Brassie - The perfect 'summer nymph' from Nymphevolution

Stan's been on the tools again! Last month, I received this cool looking tin through the post: It was from good friend and French fly designer, Stan (of Ceramic Flies & Nymphèvolution fame). I opened the tin and read the accompanying note - it described some new nymphs he'd been working on - now he had found the perfect body wire material, he'd tied some up and sent them over for me to test - I love receiving packages like that!

Summer 'fishing' Strategies

Now that the summer is well and truly with us, I wanted to try and get us ready for the more challenging part of the season, namly 'August' & early September. This part of the season usually sees the fish quite languid, especially with the midday heat some of us are experiencing; however, there are some heavy showers on the way for most of us early next week! In this missive, I'm going to give you what is, hopefully, a good grounding on how to approach these conditions, and that is by using - smaller flies. Also, we have some superb 'small' flies, long leaders and a specialist fly rod, all ideal for your summer outings.

The SupaPupa (no, not the 8% DIPA)

Over the last couple of months I've seen a certain fly name crop up on various forums across the world - it's called a SupaPupa. It seems to be taking both the USA and Eastern Europe by storm. But, let's clear something up before we go any further. If you've Googled "SupaPupa" since my email last night, you've probably landed on an 8% Imperial DIPA - all mango, pineapple and citrus, dangerously drinkable, and (I can personally confirm, purely in the interests of research) it's pretty good:

It's a Saturday - Let's talk about a metal

Richard here. I want to talk to you about something a bit unusual for a fly fishing email, especially on a Saturday - a metal. But first, I'm hoping you can help me help ...

New Sedge/Caddis Selection for Aug-Sep

After recording my River Walk last weekend (thanks for all the positive comments), I popped home for something to eat. and then headed straight back out again, to a little further upstream of the filming location, to have a walk - this time with a 7'6" 3wt in hand.

Innovative Scuds

The Bacchus Bug Selection

Barbless. Clothing