In the last eighteen months I have had a steady increase in ladies contacting me for lessons.  I have had total beginners, improvers and a couple of ladies even wanting to become instructors. I don’t know why this has suddenly happened, but I must say all the ladies I have taught have been a pleasure to work with. They give you one hundred percent concentration and I very rarely have to slow them down and ask them to ease up on the power like I do with male students. They seem to have a  more relaxed manner about them and they don’t force the cast as much as males do. Some of my lady clients have now become very accomplished casters. I have a couple of ladies who have lessons on a regular basis, usually just before a destination fishing trip to brush up. They have recently had a series of lessons with micro skagit and switch rod set ups prior to a very successful trip to Iceland.  I think their next trip is to Russia later this year. I look forward to seeing them again prior to that trip. This year I also mentored Marina Gibson through her exam to become a qualified instructor. That was intense as Marina approached me about mentoring her in December and she was looking to take her exam in the following March.  I worked her really hard, she even used to assist me with teaching groups etc to gain teaching experience, but all the hard work paid off as she sailed through her test. Out of that has also come a friendship and  my wife and myself were invited to her wedding which I thought was very nice of her. I have had a couple of ladies who  travel up from London to have private one to one lessons. That’s commitment. One lady Susan Skrupa  I feel has the right attitude to become very good. Her thirst to learn is very impressive and she improved immensely on her first lesson.  I look forward to watching her progress on future lessons, I think there is an instructor in the making there if she decides to go down that path., but it is a big commitment of time and effort to become certified with any organisation. The ladies mentioned are just a few, there are too many to mention but I think it is fantastic for the sport to have this influx of passionate lady anglers. It is imperative that any ladies wanting to take up the sport should get some professional instruction, otherwise you will struggle and probably fall away from this magnificent sport. For any ladies interested in fly fishing lessons please  don’t hesitate to contact me. 

written by Chris Hague www.flyfishingwithchrishague.co.uk.