Ralph's loops

The fishing season is well under way now, and I just had to post this picture of Ralph's loops.

Novice angler Ralph Cook wanted a casting lesson to improve his distance and presentation, and I was delighted with how quickly he made progress. In less than two hours he was regularly casting beautiful tight loops like this.

He focused really hard on the casting during the session and revealed a natural aptitude for the timing. Well done Ralph. I hope you're primed for a productive season now.

Incidentally, the water in the lakes is warming up now and I think the spring fishing will be warming up in the next few weeks too.

Unbelievable Argentina

7kg sea trout

The jet lag is still lingering, but that's a small price to pay for one of the most amazing week's fishing of my life. Our trip to the Estancia Las Buitreras on the Rio Gallegos in Patagonia, about a three-hour flight south of Buenos Aires, lived up to its billing as the most incredible sea trout fishing on the planet.

The small rubberleg flies worked brilliantly as you can see from the shot of the 15lb sea trout above, my biggest for the week, taken on my variant of a bead head yuk bug.

But even bigger fish were caught, including three 20lb+ fish, by the party of nine rods.

The fishing started well from the first morning with double figure fish being caught within the first hour. The action slowed a little midweek as cold air temperatures took the edge off the fishing, but by working our flies a little deeper, we still took fish. The wave action caused by the strong Patagonian wind also coloured the water a little, but a switch to larger, brighter flies took care of that. And by the end of the week, fresh fish were streaming into the river ahead of a big tide. I don't think any of us wanted to leave this incredible river.

During the week we were accompanied on the water by flamingos, rheas, eagles, armadillos and skunks.

The frantic pre-trip fly tying certainly paid off spectacularly - especially for fellow rods. AAPGAI instructor Brett O'Connor stole a bunch of flies and proceeded to take seven fish with them on the first day, including three over 10lb. I'll never get those G-Force nymphs back off him.

And trip host Jim Curry, relaxing on the last evening, "borrowed" my rod as we fished a gorgeous run and had the cheek to take an 18lber within a few casts. It was a spectacular fight, not least because I was trying to wrestle the rod back off him at the time.

But really it was no more than the guy deserved for organising such an awesome trip. Jim's agency, Halstead & Bolton, are already planning a return trip next year - so get onto these guys if you fancy a fish like this:

Jim Curry with his 18lber

Patagonia dreaming

Yuk Bug

Bitch Creek

I'm just off to Patagonia to swing some flies over the biggest sea trout in the world. So the late night fly tying has been a bit frantic in an effort to make sure the fly boxes are well stocked - particularly as I know my mate and fellow instructor Brett O'Connor will be raiding my boxes as soon as we get there.

Here are a couple of typical Patagonia flies that I've tied, the Yuk Bug and Bitch Creek, both with those trademark rubber legs that seem to drive the sea trout nuts down there. They're not the prettiest flies in the world, but if they work, who cares?

The season down on the Rio Gallegos in southern Argentina has been stunning so far, with fish up to 28lb and regular 20lb+ fish. Can you imagine a 20lb sea trout?

I can't expect anything quite that big but the nerves are certainly jangling already.

Our mate Jim Curry at Halstead & Bolton has organised the trip so it'll certainly be a great laugh. But I'm not sure we'll be laughing if we hook into one of those big bruisers.

I'll let you know how we get on...

Salmon science

Just back from a fascinating day up on Scotland's mighty river Tay with the fisheries biologist and author Richard Shelton. No salmon around, but the conversation was sparkling, covering threats to salmon from global warming and intensive fish farming, conservation, and I even managed to pick his brains for some scientific fishing tips.

Richard has just published a new book on the life of the Salmon, To Sea and Back, but really it's much more than a natural history book - it's a treasure trove of stories about Victorian naturalists, ghillies and gamekeepers and a personal history of his relationship with the fish.

And no-one knows more about salmon. Richard was research director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, and spent years tracking and recording salmon at sea.

Threats to salmon abound, but Richard's scientific knowledge was a source of great optimism. This is what he says in his book: The enduring power of this remarkable fish to capture the imagination of naturalists and sportsmen has so far proved a sure shield against its extinction.

So what did I learn? Read all about our day in a forthcoming issue of the Financial Times Weekend Magazine. It will be illustrated by the usual stunning pictures from Ashley Coombes at Epic Scotland, who took great advantage of the wonderful Highland light.

Catch my casting demo

I'll be joining the country's top instructors giving casting demonstrations at the forthcoming open day, organised by the Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors.

It's a fantastic day of fly fishing demos and workshops that is open to anglers of all abilities - it's certainly not just for instructors.

And everyone who attends will get a couple of hours of individual tuition with an AAPGAI instructor at the end of the day.

The programme will include a demonstration from master fly dresser Paul Little. And I'll be casting rods from ancient cane to the latest carbon fibre innovations along with Gary Champion.

It's all happening on Saturday 10 April at Caer Beris Hotel in mid-Wales.

I guarantee you'll love it. Find out more details here.

Fishing with friends

As we get ready for the new season, I found myself looking back over 2009. The most memorable trips were, as ever, those days I enjoyed with friends. Here are some of the best memories of the year.

Stalking the crystal-clear Lambourn

with FT Weekend editor Andy Davis.

... and landing stunning grayling like this.

Searching for a night-time Dovey sea trout

with Illtyd Griffiths, the Sewincaster.

Wading deep in the river Wye with master instructor Gary Champion

to play with his new 7ft bamboo rod and an ultralight 0-weight

... and catching dozens of great grayling

And even a rare fishing trip with the wife.

Kate showed us how it's done with a superb Wye trout on the dry fly.

First trout

You always remember your first trout on the fly. And it's always nerve-wracking for me to watch clients playing their first fish. Here are just a few Wild Fly Fishing clients that netted their first fly-caught trout with us last season.

Simon with a pristine rainbow on a bloodworm.

Rob gets his trout - minutes after losing the first fish he hooked.

Roy is surprised by his trout - on the last cast of the session.

Gary scores first on a two-day trip with his friend Richard

- but Richard has the last laugh with two four-pounders

And American visitor Elizabeth lands her first roach on the fly

- just after a pike had grabbed her first trout as she played it.