Now that spring is here, the brighter weather is beckoning us to explore the great outdoors. Fishing is said to be a great stress-reliever.

Spotting those who patiently pursue it as a pastime on river banks and pondering what enjoyment they could possibly get from it led me to contact a couple who love fishing so much it’s become both a pastime and a profession.

Stephen and Christine Cheetham have been fishing for more than 15 years. Stephen fished as a young boy with his father, and he later picked it up and put it down, as many people do through various stages of their lives. Christine encouraged him to take it up again. She accompanied Stephen on his river bank excursions but the retired company director admits she wasn’t really one to sit and read a book so she asked if she could have a go. “And I was hooked!” she laughs.

“She picked up a rod and within a few hours she was casting a fly and catching a fish,” smiles Stephen proudly.

Christine says women are still in the minority when it comes to fishing. “It’s not unusual for women, but there aren’t many who do it,” she says.

She believes women are ‘tentative’ about fishing as they feel it’s a pastime they can’t easily do on their own. “It is difficult for a woman to stroll down a river bank on her own,” she says.

Stephen, a professional instructor and member of the Game Anglers Instructors Association, says that while he often teaches women to fish it is still very much a male-dominated sport. He wants to see more females taking up fishing, children and young people too.

He understands the Government is currently considering adding angling into the curriculum for physical education.

For those who aren’t used to exercise or who may prefer a less strenuous sport, fishing is the perfect pastime. It’s both relaxing and exhilarating, even if you lack patience. “I’m an impatient person and I never thought in my life I would want to go fishing because I thought you are just sitting there with a rod in your hand, but it totally takes you away from everything else,” explains Christine.

“There is a lot more to fishing than catching a fish. It is the environment and the surroundings.”

Striding towards the pontoon on the edge of beautiful Billing Dam in Rawdon on a lovely spring afternoon, I can appreciate Christine’s philosophy.

Fresh air and the satisfaction of outwitting a wily trout are the main benefits of this ancient angling method – so called because of the artificial flies used to entice the fish.

Stephen explains some of the ancient masters of fly fishing were born around here. Where possible he replicates the artificial flies he creates to original designs dating back centuries. “We get them as close as we can to the traditional ties,” he says.

Learning to tie his own – and there are thousands replicating the various insects fish are attracted to – led Stephen and Christine to set up Fishing With Style, selling flies and quality fishing gear online from their Yeadon home.

Stephen also runs courses for improvers and beginners. He has a Salmon and Trout Association National Instructors Certificate and is a member of the Game Anglers Instructors Association.

Fly fishing is supposedly the elite form. Stephen explains historically it stems from people spending thousands of pounds on salmon fishing. Today fly fishing has become more of a pastime for all with more fishermen switching from coarse – fishing for carp and pike on canals and rivers – to fly fish for salmon and trout in clear waters.

The satisfaction is apparently in the snaring as most of the fish they catch they put back, especially if they snare the indigenous brown trout. Stephen’s biggest catch was a 13lb rainbow trout. Christine’s was an 11lb rainbow trout. “It’s a matter of you have fooled the fish; you have found out where it lives and you have caught it using your knowledge and integrity and skills,” says Stephen.

“The fish are very wily and very clever,” says Christine.

It took me long enough to master the art of casting – the technique of actually getting the line out straight in the water.

Watching Christine and Stephen cast with such ease and precision, I decided it was a well-practised skill. Spotting the occasional trout arching out of the water, I conceded that I wouldn’t be eating fish for tea. Apart from the fact that I’ve only just learned how to cast never mind catch a fish, the piece of red wool hanging on the end of my line is hardly likely to snare some trout, unless they are suddenly tempted by textiles!

Glancing round the shimmering dam I can appreciate why people like fishing. In bygone times it was a necessity for feeding the family. These days it’s a pleasurable pastime.

There are competitions for those who want to pursue it competitively but for Stephen and Christine it is purely a hobby. “We live and breathe it,” says Stephen.

Adds Christine: “It’s really good for your soul.”