Flies are one of the cheapest items when it comes to fly-fishing but they are probably an item that more money is wasted on than all the other paraphernalia that we fly fishers accumulate.

When I was at school I lived a few hundred metres from the river, THE river, as it was the only one I fished. Planning an outing was easy run across the paddocks, or bike down to the bridge to check the water conditions. If it was clear it would be a fly-fishing day if it was coloured it would be a worm fishing day. Simple. Now it is not so simple most of my favourite waters are more than an hour’s drive away...

Preparing for the start of the season is all part of the build up to the big day. There is no way we want to spoil it all by forgetting some essential item or finding that something is broken or not functioning properly.