Prospecting For Trout

Fly-fishing is solitary, comtemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations.
It is not even clear if catching fish is actually the point.                 
John Gierach, Dances with Trout (1994)
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This site and the linked Prospecting For Trout social media are intended as a way to share my interest in fly fishing here in Southern England and as an aid for those travelling independently from the UK looking to fish in America.

Like many amateurs I have to work to pay for my fishing, so for me fly fishing is a hobby albeit an obsessive one.  I do have one advantage over many of my fellow anglers and that is working in the telecommunications industry I travel a lot and occasionally I can shuffle things to allow me access to some fishing opportunities. While this usually means some tight scheduling it is always worth it, be it in search of Brook trout on a little fished stream in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia or hunting Yellow Fish on the muddy Vaal River in South Africa, as they say; a bad day on the water is better than a good day in the office.

I do not have the luxury to just turn up and hire a Guide who will do all the hard work and just drop me in the fish.  Therefore all of my overseas fishing has been organised independently and in doing this I have acquired a good amount of useful knowledge on how to do this effectively, particularly in the US.  So if you want to fish some of the many great rivers there, hopefully Prospecting For Trout can provide some useful information to help you have a successful trip.


Why Prospecting For Trout?

The name of this website was inspired by the excellent Orvis book of the same name written by the talented Tom Rosenbauer. This site is in no way associated or endorsed by him or Orvis, nor does it contain any of the books content; I just liked the sentiment that this title inferred.

As a sailor as well as a fly fisherman it reminded me of the layout in a ships logbook where the origin and destination are expressed as "From" and "Towards". The implication being that despite setting off with a particular objective in mind it is possible, if not probable that the outcome will be completely different. And so it is with fly fishing, we all know the folly of doggedly setting out to fish a certain fly or technique before you’ve even seen the river. So “prospecting” with its implications of seeking and not necessarily finding provides the right level of implied uncertainty to match this wonderfully fickle activity we call fly fishing.

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To compliment the website I have created social media connections.  Please check these out and Like/Follow to keep up with the latest activity. Also don't forget to subscribe to my blog which will be up and running soon.