About Richard
I was born and raised in the beautiful county of Devon in 1960, I am proud to be known as a Devonian!
I started my fishing exploits at the tender age of 5 years, fishing with my father on the river Exe with a starter kit to catch coarse fish.
During the next 10 years I fished on many rivers and lakes for coarse fish, giving me a good base in watercraft skills, something that would prove very useful in my later years.
At the age of 15 my friend Simon Kidd (who later became a member of the England fly fishing team) introduced me to trout fishing at Kennick reservoir.
I watched Simon tie a fly of his own design, he tied on his creation to the end of his line and caught a cracking Rainbow trout.
I continued to fish Stillwaters for trout and won many club competitions, until I moved to my current base of Cheriton Bishop in 1992, which is set in the heart of Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor National Park,and couldn’t be better placed as far as fly fishing is concerned.
It was here I met one of only 3 instructors in Devon at that time, he introduced me to river fishing for Trout and Sea Trout on the Upper Teign, and he passed on all his intimate knowledge of the local rivers to me, and the skills required to be a successful fly fishing guide.
When I am not guiding or providing fly fishing instruction, I am fly fishing!
I always manage to fit in some fly fishing on family holidays, having fished in Montana, Colorado,Wyoming,Southern Ireland, and various locations across the UK.
But my heart is in Devon, I make no excuse for having a Devonian accent, when I book a guide abroad I expect to hear a local accent, I know then they have an intimate knowledge of the area, just the same over here, book a guide and you expect a 'local' accent!
As you can see, I have a good foundation in fly fishing stretching back over 30 years, so you couldn’t be in better company.
In addition to all my previous fly fishing experience I also hold the Level 2 CCA (Certification in Coaching Angling) this fly fishing qualification replaced the old STANIC, and improved upon it.
Not all coaches have passed the casting exam! some have only passed the theory and not the technical aspect, I have completed both, if in doubt ask to see their certificate, it should look like this.
I look forward to meeting you when you place a booking with the ‘Devon Flyfisher’.