Other than the blogs that I visit regularly there are a few forums that I visit to glean new information and to generally have my questions answered. It is quite interesting really as they all have entirely different takes on fly fishing with their own particular attitudes and user base. I thought it might be nice to give a wee run down of them and share my thoughts on them.
Fly Fishing Forums
This is mostly a UK based board with lots of colourful characters. It is kind of affiliated with Fish & Fly although I think the owner likes to keep it at arms length due to some of the more colourful content. It is pretty “Wild West” in that there are no moderators other than someone who deletes the spam and stops libellous material from developing. Many arguments and flame wars start as lots of people profess to be experts of the angle and can really get quite heated, it often becomes so bad that people leave and delete all their posts (after announcing their intentions) and then come back a week later as they miss the banter. It is a great forum where you will have a question answered by 10 different people all with varying opinions – one person will tell you your post should be in classifieds.
Even though the forum has a few characters that loathe each other and will deliberately put each other down at every available opportunity they all stand united against their arch enemy…..
The Complete Fisher Forum
Some people from the Fly Fishing Forums got together and branched off forming their own forum- one that was moderated by a few dedicated individuals. The main aim it seems is to talk about fishing in all its guises, not just with the fly and certainly not just trout. Its hidden agenda however is to continue the secret feud with the Fly Fishing Forums, on one memorable occasion an early version of The Complete Fisher Forum was shut down as the members were reported for passing around copies of fishing DVDs. The reporting culprit was suspected to be from The Fly Fishing Forums. The feud continued for a bit with members from each forum showing up on each other posting things to noise people up. Other than this the forum is full of interesting info on catching coarse fish on the fly. In fact I would would probably say the best place.
The feud is now all in good sport with individuals swinging their handbags left right and centre before getting told to wash their hands for dinner by their wives.
The Wild Fishing Forum
This mostly Scottish forum sits on the sidelines quietly giggling about the other two forums. It is part of the Wild Fishing in Scotland site with lots of in depth info regarding loch fishing. Its members don’t profess to be experts at catching trout but merely learners no matter whether they have been catching trout for 1 year or 50, in fact the smaller the trout the better and if you caught it on a fly that your grandfather gave you when you were a boy then all the better. Extra points will be added if you walked 20 miles to get to a remote loch and set up your £9.99 Argos Tent in a howling gale whilst making a brew in your Kelly Kettle.
A lovely forum where you will always get a cup of tea….you will have to wear midge repellent.
The Sexyloops Forum
If there is an opposite of the Wild Fishing Forum it is the Sexyloops forum. In fact a classic link on the Wild Fishing Site stated next to the link for Sexyloops if you ever think you might be taking yourself too seriously then head over to Sexyloops or words to that effect anyway. The Sexyloops site is stuffed with a mass of info about casting and general fishing and this is discussed at great length on the forum. When I say great length I mean essays on casting technique, there are many videos that people have posted for others to critique. There are debates raging for pages on the merits of various technical points of rods. As for rods the faster the better although the Sage XP is the one to go for and the one that you will buy if you hang around too long. If you don’t have a girlfriend or wife then after reading the Sexyloops site you will pack it all in and move to New Zealand to stalk massive brown trout. If you do have a girlfriend or a wife just don’t go it will only put you in a bad mood.
Posting there sometimes scares me, sometimes I expect a graph to illustrate a point in answering a question that I just dont understand. Be sure that a question will be answered fully though !
Smallstreams
It almost makes me feel guilty posting this little forum, it is not widely visited but it seems to be the same old faces popping up. Fishing tiny streams for micro trout with a bamboo rod is the way to go. Don’t go asking for advice on prime spots- noone gives away any secrets and it is strictly taboo to ask anyone where a picture was taken. It is a lovely personal forum and even though I have only made a few posts I read the threads with wonder at the size of trout they winkle out of small streams in the States.
So that is my wee round up of the forums that I visit regularly, there are hundreds of forums out there but I think these ones are if not the best then certainly the most interesting and entertaining. It is funny as I see the same old names cropping up which just goes to show you what a small angling internet world we live in.
Enjoy!
hi Alistair,wonder if you could help me out. I live in the Anderston area of Glasgow my problem is i dont drive and have partial disability i cant seem to find anywhere to fly fish close at hand,i notice you said you dont drive,so how do you get about? robert.
I do drive – I learnt a couple of years ago – still before that I did not let it hold me back (obviously). What you could do is get the train to Partick and fish the river through Kelvingrove park…..although I am pretty sure you could get a bus that would take you there as well. Saying that though there is a couple of fences that must be climbed …small ones though and no barbed wire!