Fly-Fishing for Business Wellbeing , livre ebook

F ly- F ishing f or B usiness W ellbeing
A story of keeping physically and mentally fit in work and beyond
Mike Marshall
Austin Macauley Publishers
08-01-2021
Fly-Fishing for Business Wellbeing Achieving Wellbeing Introduction Foreword Chapter 1 Wartime & Minnows Chapter 2 Tench & The Railway Lorry Chapter 3 Starting Work & Fishing Travels Chapter 4 Fly-Casting & New Clients Chapter 5 The Civil Service & Tying Flies Chapter 6 New Doors & The Dry Fly Chapter 7 The Rolls Royce & The River Towy Chapter 8 Takeovers & Sea Trout Chapter 9 Grayling & Product Quality Chapter 10 The Evening Rise & New Products Chapter 11 The Sinking Line & Cash Flow Chapter 12 The Floating Line & Customer Relations Chapter 13 Fish Finders & No Investment Chapter 14 Brown Trout & Rod Building Chapter 15 Retirement & Salmon Chapter 16 The BFCC Success Story & Reflections Acknowledgements About the Author
Dedication
To Julia, Neil, Ann, Áine and Niall for
their love and encouragement.
Copyright © Mike Marshall (2021)
The right of Mike Marshall to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781398403499 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781398403505 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781398403512 (ePub-e-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2021)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Achieving Wellbeing
We all know that we should keep physically fit and mentally sharp throughout life, with the achievement of these objectives ideally being enjoyable and stress-free. It is also highly likely that this will all take place in a very pleasant natural outdoor environment. However, it is true to say that many people expend much time, effort and money seeking these desirable outcomes, often without sufficient information to know if their project is viable, given their personal circumstances. Sports, such as ball games, are unsuitable due to being stressfully competitive and require running which, with age, we find increasingly difficult. Games, such as chess, exercise the mind well but do not require fast reactions and are also competitive. Then there is the ‘gym’, which is usually indoors and requires boring, comparatively slow repetitions or running on a treadmill.
So, having taught countless people to cast a fly and had their feedback, together with fishing many lovely UK and Irish waters himself, Mike Marshall would like to pass on his accumulated knowledge, mostly gathered in parallel with the demands of a senior management career in engineering. This is not a detailed, ‘how to do it’ book, but more a light-hearted anecdotal account of the various key factors leading to successful exploits in a wide range of fly-fishing situations. In this way, he hopes to convey the fact that fly-fishing, probably unexpectedly, contains all the elements required to create personal, physical and mental wellbeing, but is free of the unwanted aspects mentioned earlier.
Introduction
When my mother, Ruby, and father, John, set up home in their new council ‘semi’ in Chelmsford, on the safe edge of miles of the River Chelmer’s flood plain, they would have had no idea that they were providing a superb playground for a child with fishing potential. Later, when this became an unsurprising reality, I took for granted the value of the exercise achieved while walking quite long distances to chosen fishing spots and the quiet, but exciting prospect of a catch when I arrived. Now, I fully understand it was much more important than that!
In this stressfully frantic, over-indulgent world, with rampant technology and success measured by celebrity rather than ability, how can we possibly achieve a sensible work-life balance for physical and mental fitness? Well, anything with fishing in its name conveys the impression of a sedentary, slow-moving sport, so my suggestion to embrace fly-fishing will come as a surprise to many people and, therefore, needs explanation. In fact, fly-fishing is all-action in various ways from getting to your chosen fishing place or places by walking or managing a boat while spurred-on by anticipation, to casting which needs to be quick and precise and then, attractively moving a fly by hand. Added to this, you can also separately practise casting as energetically as you wish. This all has to be thought about which tends to make us anticipate possible sport rather than worrying about things like business, although I enjoyed it given capable owners. Regarding mental stimulation, there is as much information as you can process, from what species to fish for considering the weather and time available, what fishery and tackle, which are not as expensive as you might imagine, to what fly to use and its depth of fishing. And there is much more when you read on, because there is almost certain to be some fly-fishing to suit your personal circumstances and, when doing it, you will not be able to think about less pleasant things, examples of which I also describe! However, perhaps the most important point of all is that you do not have to give up your exercise and problem-solving with age, because I have known several fly-fishers in their 80s who have had to stop wading in fast rivers, but then fished for salmon from a boat instead.
Regarding technology, I treat it purely as a tool and it can be incredibly helpful, with the internet on top of the list. It provides the accommodation information and detailed weather predictions for your intended fishing area, together with the frequent river gauge heights which are often so important to achieve success. Tide tables are also very useful because fly-fishing is increasingly taking place in the sea. But prepare before you go as you cannot expect full mobile reception, particularly in river valleys.
I suppose it is no accident that the ambience of fly-fishing is very good because participants do not fish with bait or metal lures and, instead, use small caricatures of ‘naturals’ held together with fine thread. So, by definition, they must appreciate the finer points in life and will gravitate to the most enjoyable fishing, nearly always returning their fish unharmed.
Finally, it must be said that nothing will give you more comfort in the great outdoors than breathable waterproof clothing, so please do not neglect this. Your jacket should have a hood with a wired peak and be worn over a baseball cap with a large peak to keep water off the safety glasses you will wear, together with a large towelling scarf around the neck to keep out trickles. Then full-length waterproof trousers will be needed over wellingtons, or a pair cut off at the knees if thigh waders are chosen.
So, it only remains for me to wish you tight lines and long casts, if you take-up any of the following ideas.
Foreword
When I took up fly-fishing many years ago, it soon became obvious that if I was to achieve any measure of success, professional casting tuition was required. And that is how I came to meet Mike Marshall, a respected fly-casting instructor, successful tournament distance caster and the author of this book. Initially my mentor, he soon became a good friend.
As the title implies, the main thrust of the book is that fly-fishing provides a very relaxing and enjoyable means of promoting both physical and mental wellbeing. Mike explores this idea by giving a detailed account of his senior-management career in engineering alongside his many fly-fishing experiences. It soon becomes clear that the life of a company director is not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, Mike had to contend with many diverse problems, and issues such as takeovers, industrial disputes and even suspected sabotage of highly productive equipment, all added to his pressures.
But fortunately, regular fly-fishing adventures to various locations throughout the UK, in pursuit of trout, salmon and other game species, came to the rescue. With mounting occupational challenges, these fishing breaks became increasingly important and the source of many anecdotes. Some are very informative, others delightfully entertaining, but all serve to illustrate how fly-fishing benefitted Mike enormously. As he commented after a memorable visit to the beautiful River Esk in Cumbria, “I left this haven of tranquillity feeling better able to face the problems of an inconsiderate business world.”
The detailed descriptions of the tackle, tactics and fly patterns Mike employed during his fishing trips will interest keen anglers, and struggling casters will welcome his excellent casting advice. However, there were other aspects to Mike’s fishing exploits. A fly-fishing business with his own range of quality fly rods provided more scope for coaching, and seeing clients realise their full potential clearly gave him much satisfaction. His comprehensive instructional DVD on distance casting and numerous articles in fly-fishing magazines offered further opportunities to impart his extensive knowledge and experience.
Mike recounts his long-standing involvement with the British Fly Casting Club (BFCC), of which he is president, explaining how it evolved, its principles and the role he played. At a personal level I can add that he was instrumental in my own modest BFCC achievements, and his generous help in identifying the correct equipment for me to perform at my best was invaluable. Typically, he was just as delighted as