Yorkshire fly-fisher Keith Saunders shares his angling treasures
1. THE WHARFE
I began fishing my favourite stretch of the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey in 1961. Then, trotting for grayling was allowed in November and December. But I realised that if I wanted to fish in the trout season, I would have to learn to fly-fish. After finding pointers in Trout and Salmon, I took the plunge (literally on occasion) and bought this 8ft 6in Hardy Jet glass rod with a suitable Marquis reel and Air Cel line. Things progressed slowly, but with help from people like Charlie Moon, a local farmer, things began to improve.
2. THE NIDD
Here, I’m in my element on the River Nidd at Pateley Bridge. This photo was taken by Peter Gathercole during his visit with Trout and Salmon’s Rob Hardy for an article about Nidderdale Angling Club, of which I am proud to be a trustee and vice president. We had a great day and I think Peter enjoyed catching a few fish with my 6ft 10in cane rod. The club always offers a day’s fishing for two on the Wild Trout Trust annual auction. Iʼve enjoyed taking the winners on the Nidd for several years and hopefully many more to come.
3. CANE ROD
This is the aforementioned cane rod, made for me by my friend Trevor Smith. Sadly, Trevor is no longer with us. He took 50 hours to make a rod, with two tops, mainly for the American market. I remember Wharfe keeper Simon Ashworth demonstrating the rod by bending it from butt to tip, proving that it was up to the task. I was always under the impression that cane rods were floppy and only okay for fishing Spiders. Not so, said Trevor, they can be made however you want. I use this one for fishing small dry-flies on the Nidd. It has a nice middle-to-tip action.
4. ORVIS CFO
This reel, which at the time was made by Hardy in Alnwick, was a retirement gift from my colleagues at International Paper. It’s not as light as some modern reels, but it sounds good when a fish runs off. It’s also completely reliable. Although I visited the USA many times for work, I only managed one fishing trip, on the Davidson River in North Carolina. After overnight rain, the ri
