By Emma Sandham, Community Marketing Manager, Orvis UK
Everyone has a first cast. This summer, we had the chance to see more than 1,000 of them. From The Game Fair to Chatsworth Country Fair, our Free Learn to Fly Fish 101 sessions, or FF101s as we call them, gave people the opportunity to pick up a fly rod, have a go and hopefully discover something they might want to come back to.
For me, that’s one of the best parts of these events. You never quite know who is going to stop by.
Some people arrive knowing exactly what they want to ask. Others have never held a fly rod before and are simply curious. There are anglers who have fished for years but are new to fly fishing, families looking for something to try together and plenty of people who just happen to walk past and think, I might give that a go.
Across the two events, half of the people who picked up a fly rod at our FF101 sessions were complete beginners, with a further 21% describing themselves as occasional anglers. Alongside them were confident and experienced anglers, making for a brilliant mix of people and experience levels.
It starts with a first cast
For someone who has never tried fly fishing, knowing where to start can be the hardest part.
There’s the equipment, the casting, the terminology and the question of where you can actually go fishing. It can all feel like quite a lot from the outside. That’s why the opportunity to simply pick up a rod and have a go is so important.
Our FF101 sessions are designed to make that first step as easy as possible. There’s no expectation that you’ll get everything right. You can ask questions, have a laugh when the cast doesn’t quite go to plan and try again.
And when it does come together, even for a moment, you can usually see the excitement straight away.
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It takes a community
Of course, more than 1,000 people picking up a fly rod doesn’t happen without a lot of people behind the scenes.
Our Orvis team put a huge amount of work into these events, alongside our brilliant volunteers, instructors, guides and friends across the fly fishing community.
At The Game Fair, Marie from Mallon & Green joined me, Aaron Rawling and Lauren Ball to welcome each and every person to the stand whilst our own James Doyle, Olly Newberry and Paul Bettley, alongside guest instructors Zoe Dupuy, Joe Walker and Lydia Thomas, took the lead on teaching. Many of the team were back at Chatsworth, joined by Orvis Endorsed Guide, Ian Griffin, and Orvis’ International Account Manager, Rachael Brady.
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There’s also a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to bring these events together. John Hunter does a brilliant job heading up the Fishing Village at The Game Fair. At Chatsworth, we've really enjoyed seeing the community Geoff Smith has built around the Angling Village. It’s such a welcoming space and a great reflection of the community Geoff has created there.
We couldn’t do it without our partners either. YETI Europe, Lakedown Brewing Co. and True Start Coffee have continued to support us and the wider fly fishing community throughout the summer, helping to create the kind of spaces where people want to stop, have a chat and stay a while.
The best part? The people you meet
One of my favourite things about working in the fly fishing community is finally meeting people you’ve only known online. Someone you’ve chatted to on Instagram, followed their fishing for years or exchanged messages with suddenly becomes someone standing in front of you at a show.
You catch up with old friends, put faces to familiar names and make new ones. It’s also a chance to see the people and organisations doing great things for the wider fishing community. This year, catching up with just a few of our charity partners and friends of the brand, including the Grayling Society, Fishing for Heroes and the Anglers' National Line Recycling Scheme, was a highlight. They each play their own part in supporting anglers, protecting our waters and helping to keep the sport moving in the right direction.
And, as a long time River Monsters fan, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a quick chat and a photo with Jeremy Wade. It would have been rude not to!
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Teaching the next generation
Ultimately, the FF101s are about more than teaching someone to cast. It’s about making sure there’s a next generation of fly anglers.
That’s something Orvis has been committed to for a very long time. In 2026, we’re celebrating 60 years of Orvis Schools, a milestone that says a lot about the importance we place on teaching and sharing fly fishing.
Our FF101 sessions are just a small part of that much bigger global programme, with a fantastic history behind it. We’re proud to play our part here in the UK and to continue that tradition by giving more people the opportunity to learn. Because if we want fly fishing to thrive for the next 60 years, we need to keep inviting new people in.
Goodbye Summer!
And perhaps the nicest way to finish the summer was to go fishing.
The day after Chatsworth, I headed out onto the Peacock Fly Fishing Club waters on the River Derwent with Zoe, Steve Bircumshaw and Chris Flay. After such a busy summer, it was pretty special to have a quiet day on the river with friends. An EXTRA long leader (courtesy of Steve), some lovely Grayling to the net, a very decent trout lost before my net (!) and a feast of a lunch made for a pretty perfect end to the summer. A huge thank you to Jan Hobot for making the day possible and for looking after such special stretches of water.
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| Photograph by Chris Flay |
Keep an eye on our website to see where we’ll be next. Hopefully we’ll see you out there soon.