Firstly this article focuses on safety and avoiding injury when planning or partaking in a days fishing in Scotland with us.
Naturally, safety is something we take seriously at Alba Game Fishing. Therefore there are two sections to this article, before and during a trip.
Before you fish, its vital to be honest with your fishing guide about your wading ability. This enables us to choose a stretch of wader, that offers safe wading. As a result, it makes for a more enjoyable day. Equally, we try and teach guests to minimise wading as often it spooks fish. In fact, never wade through a section of river you can cast a fly into first! In summary, we tend to avoid wading about knee length when in Scottish rivers.
Finally we provide guests with Crewsaver compact PFD (personal floatation devices). You can see one in the image below.
Most of our guests are between the age of 50-80 and guests have varying wading ability. In some instances we are able to drive straight to the river side. Therefore allowing the guest can get straight into a boat or access the bank. This is useful for anyone with limited mobility. Generally, most of our wading in rivers, is safe and easy on shallow gravel.
Safety – take time to stretch before fishing
Also the importance of stretching before fishing cannot be overlooked. If you are relaxed and supple, this will minimise injury and make the day more enjoyable. Equally, taking regular breaks to stretch is useful, especially when doing a new activity such as learning to Spey Cast. When people learn to cast, it’s natural that guests tense up and our teaching techniques emphasise staying relaxed and not forcing anything, and allowing the rod to deliver casts with minimum effort.
Another aspect of teaching, is that the correct stance is adopted, this will avoid twisting and putting joints under unnecessary strain.
Repetitive strain injuries – Safety when Fishing
Trout fisherman can often develop Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) and a common one is tendonitis or tennis elbow. To avoid this, it’s vital to stretch before hand and if you have any underlying muscle strains, know your limitations. I’m also a great advocate of using small lightweight rods. Why thrash around with an #8 weight which resembles a snooker cue, when you can enjoy a #4 weight weighing not much more than a few ounces. By the way, before you say yes but in a strong wind you need a bigger rod, I don’t buy that either.
I use a #4/5 weight or lighter for all my trout fishing. It will save your joints! Stripping line repetitively can cause strains to the triceps, I know, I have had this injury. I was fishing in Shetland for wild brown trout and this requires fast stripping of palmered flies, and covering as much water as possible, it can also knacker your triceps, so stretch before hand.
