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Four years ago l made a decision in my life to retire form the production of fly fishing products and concentrate more so on teaching the fine art of fly fishing and related aspects to that such as
presentations to fly fishing organizations.
I was born in the country of Wales, which is part of the UK. A land full of natural river and lake systems that has had from, as long as man can remember indigenous stocks of wild brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Fly fishing has been a
cultural part of Welsh history, recorded back as far as the 14th century. Even the Romans who invaded the land partook of the silver salmon that ventured into the rivers to spawn.
In my times l have been able to fish in 46 countries around the world and meet with many past and present fly fishers. Many of those have become very close personal friends. One of those that is a very special person to me is Dave Whitlock, my fishing and hunting buddy. We had meet and worked at many fly fishing events around the world and Dave had insisted that l should make a trip to Mt Home AR and fish with him on the White and
Norfork river systems. which l of course eventually did. From that point on l made the decision that l would eventually move to live
permanently in the area.
At the time l was living in Chicago, on account that l needed to make frequent journeys to my factory based in Wales. Ironically l sold my SLF dubbin business to Wapsi fly, also based in
Mt. Home. That move took place and l now reside alongside the White river system. Here l have been able more so to devote my time to the American International Schools of fly fishing, which l own and also to build up my guide service for the river and lake systems that exist here in the Ozarks. Dave had told me many times that l should visit with him to the upper
North Fork of the White. I needed to have Dave do a photo shoot for me for some
programs for the future. Thus l made my first visit to that river.
We were met by Myron and given the use of a boat for our needs that day. Business first and pleasure
after, which for that day left little opportunity to fish. I have a passion for fishing for wild fish, stocked trout never truly
develop the habits of a natural stream born fish, but may in time figure out how to survive, and in the case of
extreme human pressure will become very selective indeed, which is not a natural element of the fishes daily life.
Brown and Rainbow trout are two very different species. Browns in particular are overall far more difficult to catch than rainbows. I fished almost
exclusively for wild browns, that is the only fish found in Welsh rivers, and for that matter most others across Europe. Rainbows were introduced in the late 1880s, but are not generally found in moving water systems.
If you can come to terms with Browns then Rainbows are generally easier to catch, if you do it right.
After four days of guiding here on the White, Friday gave me the chance to get back to River of life and fish for the afternoon on the river. A short float trip was in order for the time l had to hand. I need to get to know a river
intimately, its moods and how the fishes are in the given locations on that stream. My methods of fishing are very much traditional by Welsh standards, hardly at all understood here in the USA, They take many years to perfect and a deep understanding of many factors is needed before success is achieved. I use a long rod of some 11 ft, coupled with a four weight line, overall leaders of up to 20 feet and particular fly patterns that may have some 200 years of history. Those fly patterns are chosen based on many factors such as time of the year, water color, overhead light conditions, fishes feeding patterns and what may be abundant at the time in that body of water.
During that afternoon l caught 14
beautiful rainbows, one Brown of 2 Ib and 5 smallmouth. I was at peace with myself in that
wonderful environment save for the odd few guys who floated by on that sunny afternoon. The expectations of fishing a new water are always a big thrill to me and the fork
fulfilled those dreams, a new water will always hold that special something and l will be back there many more times to come. Thank you Dave and Myron for enriching my life once again.
Davy Wotton A.I.S.F.F.
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As soon as Davy Wotton has a Web Site for the American International Schools of
Fly Fishing, there will be a link posted here. Please check back.
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