Maybe we’ve not been paying proper attention, but some reason it feels like a while since we spotted a full-on urban fishing feature in one of the leading print magazines.
Whatever the case… it’s been a real pleasure to pick up the July issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying, and find an article by Sean Morrissey on his local White Cart Water in Glasgow.
In this 5-page exploration of his local urban wilderness in the time of C-19, Sean helpfully reflects on lots of the USPs that city fishers can rightfully claim for their own:
Simply cutting down on travel is immediately and profoundly beneficial. There is a great irony in anglers (myself included) preaching the values of environmentalism while at the same time travelling hundreds and in some cases thousands of miles in pursuit of trout. Local waters on the other hand offer a truly sustainable angling experience, especially if you get involved with your local angling club’s river cleaning or habitat improvement works. In a world of global health concerns and an ever-worsening environmental crisis, staying local could literally mean saving lives.
Because you’re only ever a stone’s throw away from home, a trip to your local river doesn’t have to involve a commitment of several hours. You can fish around your schedule… and it’s much easier to become properly acquainted with your home water. When are the main hatches? Where do the trout hold in various heights of water? Armed with this information, your catch rates will almost certainly improve, and you’ll have more fun as a result.
Of course, when travel is restricted by global externalities like the pandemic we’re still living through, fishing locally is also a realistic way to visit a new kind of destination which might just become one of your favourite fisheries in predictable but unanticipated ways. (For example, Sean also mentions that the White Cart Water is known to hold wild trout up to 3lbs – and we know there are plenty of other urban rivers with a similar stamp of wary wild fish!)
Our recommendation: get hold of the July issue of FF&FT today, and feel all inspired to #FishWhereYouLive in this imminent summer of staycations…
