THAMES VALLEY

FLY DRESSERS

BRANCH OF FLY DRESSERS GUILD

An early morning phone call from John A informing of a dose of the flu meant there were just 4 of us on this trip.

I picked up Richard Elbro as arranged and sadly with no Jonno to collect we had time for tea and toast at the Little Chef on the A303 before meeting Paul Lawrence and Fred Philpott in the village car park.

After setting up to prepare breakfast rolls for the guys I realised that although I had the fillings and all the accoutrements the rolls were still at home so we had to settle for sausages as finger food for lunch!

The mornings fishing was reasonable with some faring better than others. Fred and Paul seemed to catch steadily all day whilst Richard and myself had to be content with fish in phases. I struggled without a fish for the first 2 hours after lunch then in a mad 15 minute spell around 3 in the afternoon more than doubled my catch. Doing nothing differently to way I’d been fishing all day I suddenly started to catch fish. Meeting with the other guys they had also enjoyed the spell of activity when the fish suddenly decided to feed.

The fish tally totaled about 30 fish for Richard and me and over 40 for Paul and Fred. So the 4 of us caught around 75 fish.

Driving home it was evident there had been rain just about everywhere except for on us. Great fishing, good weather and great company, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Tight lines.

John Watkins.

PS – What to do with 8 rolls and 2 packs of bacon? First endure verbal abuse from your better half when you put the ball into her court.

Second enjoy stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon, rolled in breadcrumbs served with cheese sauce, mash and vegetables.