Tuition with AAPGAI

Are you interested in taking up fly fishing or fly dressing?  Do you need to refresh your basic game angling skills on the water or behind the vice?  Do you feel ready to move on to more advanced techniques?  What about targeting coarse or saltwater species on the fly?  Are you planning a trip abroad in search of more exotic quarry in far-flung locations?  Or, do you simply want to ‘give it a go’ and see how you feel afterwards?  No matter what your level of expertise, or the particular aspect of fly fishing that interests you, AAPGAI’s professional, highly-experienced instructors are here to help you stay safe, learn, improve and enjoy.

Getting Started

Complete beginners can be assured of a top-quality introduction to the essentials of fly fishing and game angling from AAPGAI. If you’re unsure about the behaviour of the fish you’ll be pursuing, the environments in which they live, the food items they eat and the fly patterns that imitate fish food, why not arrange a session with your local instructor? They’ll be well-placed to advise on all of this and can also assist in choosing a balanced set of equipment to get you started. AAPGAI instructors help many fly fishing newcomers to select suitable rod, reel, line, leader and accessory packages that suit them, where they’ll be fishing and what species they’ll be targeting.

Catching a fish on a fly that you’ve dressed yourself is a hugely-rewarding experience and you’ll certainly remember the ‘first time’ for the rest of your days! For those just starting out, the sheer variety of vices, tools, natural and synthetic materials available can seem a bit daunting; however AAPGAI’s specialist fly dressing instructors will soon have you at your ease and focusing on the essentials for making a core range of straightforward and effective fly patterns.

A number of AAPGAI instructors are endorsed by specific fly fishing and fly dressing equipment companies; however there’s no ‘hard sell’ here. Our aim is to get you ‘good to go’ quickly, safely and comfortably by establishing what you need, what works for you and what’s affordable – no more.

Where core skills are concerned, getting into good habits from the very beginning can speed you along your learning curve, help to prevent faults creeping in and reduce frustration; another good reason why it’s worth starting out in fly fishing and fly dressing with AAPGAI. Helping you to choose or dress appropriate flies, safely and efficiently set up and use fly fishing and fly dressing equipment, present flies appropriately and deal with hooked fish in as efficient and humane a manner as possible, lie at the heart of everything we do as instructors. Why not get in touch and find out how we can work together to start you off on the best possible footing – whether on the water or at the fly dressing bench.

Moving On Up

A life in fly fishing and fly dressing is sometimes described as taking an elevator from the ground floor and ‘going up’, with the option to get off at a number of different floors along the way. Think of the elevator ride as your journey, the ground floor as the ‘basics’ and those above as different ability levels and skill sets. Whichever ‘floors’ you wish to get off at, there are AAPGAI instructors ready and waiting to help you make the most of your interests and ambitions.

Fly fishers with a good grasp of the essentials will find that more advanced challenges such as gaining distance, refining presentation, coping with tricky conditions and surroundings, and getting the most from specialist equipment, are made easier to tackle by spending time with an AAPGAI instructor. Are there fish out there that you’re struggling to reach? Do you feel that there’s a problem with the appearance or behaviour of your fly that’s putting the fish on their guard? Is there something about the wind or your surroundings that’s preventing you from getting the line, leader and fly out to where you want them appropriately? What about the new equipment you’ve tried or bought for a particular purpose that you want to get the best out of?

Those looking to expand their skills behind the vice can also benefit greatly from more advanced tuition with AAPGAI’s fly dressing instructors. Are there more intricate-looking patterns in your friend’s box, the local tackle shop, a book or magazine that you’d love to produce but aren’t sure how to? Do you feel you’re being held back from developing as a fly dresser by uncertainty or frustration regarding certain materials and/or techniques? Are you looking to stock up a fly box or two as part of trying a different branch of fly fishing – such as pursuing coarse or sea fish?

With AAPGAI You Can!

AAPGAI instructors gain huge levels of satisfaction from seeing clients of all experience levels and interests overcome specific problems and unlock the door to even further rewards and enjoyment. With that in mind, get in touch with us directly or contact your local instructor about exactly what it is you’d like to work on. All our members are trained to what we believe are the highest standards relative to our extensive single-handed, double-handed and fly dressing requirements; however some inevitably specialise in certain species, environments, equipment and techniques based on their own interests and client base. So if there’s something particularly specific that you’re interested in, and we have people who are particularly experienced in providing it, we’ll be sure to let you know. Let’s put it this way – if it can be done, there’s always someone in AAPGAI who can help you do it!

Click here to email the AAPGAI Secretary (Peter Hastings) with any questions regarding tuition and guiding with us.

Click here for the locations, qualifications and contact details of current AAPGAI instructors.

Contact AAPGAI

The committee and subcommittee members of AAPGAI are listed here, together with their contact details. They would be delighted to hear from you regarding anything that falls within their respective remits and responsibilities.

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