How I learned to fly-fish on the banks of the Thames | Fishing holidays

Fishing has been one of those things, like pottery classes, or going on a yoga retreat in Ibiza, that I’ve never tried but envied from afar. People doing those things look calm, focused. The very things a hobby should bring. They don’t look like people whose minds are fraught with deadlines, meetings and calls, and an inbox where emails tick up manically.

So on a cold December morning I’m chasing calmness, standing at the banks of the River Thames near Syon Park in the west London borough of Hounslow, and focusing hard on flinging line across the brown water, with a 9ft, surprisingly light, fly-fishing rod (with a number 5 line since you ask).

With the tide coming in over my boots and the swans sliding closer in that half-elegant, half-menacing way that they do, this doesn’t feel like the classic sport of the elite.

“By no means is it now. It’s very accessible,” says Robin Elwes, of Sportfish, who is my instructor for the afternoon. A hugely experienced fisher, he is a passionate advocate for fly-fishing.

“It is easy to pick up. It takes all ages, it takes all personalities.

“There’s an awful lot of men who do it, and I wish there were more women and I wish a lot more children would turn to it and get themselves off their phones or laptops or whatever.”

It’s certainly addictive. I love the methodical simplicity of the casting instructions, lots of “lift”, “stop” and “push and pull” that penetrate the most busy of heads. It is oddly restful.

“Casting is not a great muscle movement. You don’t have to cast for miles and the rod’s an extension of your forearm, not your wrist,” says Elwes.

I’m practising without a hook so no danger of catching anything today. That suits me fine. The Guardian photographer shares a lurid tale of being put off fishing for life after being expected to beat a poor landed fish to death in a boat.

But if I’m going to eat fish then surely I should be able to catch it? That’s absolutely the idea, says Elwes.

“I’m happy to put fish back, take what you need and leave the rest,” he says.