A glorious morning greeted me as I looked out over the beautiful Chiltern countryside, the sun was just rising over the horizon and there were already two hot air balloons slowly drifting across the sky.
This was going to be our third visit to Tringford Trout Lake, one of a series of lakes situated just outside Tring, Hertfordshire and on this occasion there were going to be 8 members, friends and family in the form of my son Andrew.
We tackled up in the car park before following the scent of bacon and sausage along the track where we were greeted by Head Bailiff, Bob Menzies and his welcoming group of Tringford members. There was the usual banter as we ate our rolls and enjoyed a cup of coffee before embarking on the four rowing punts .
After a short row out to our selected spots, we dropped our anchors and prepared to catch some of the Rainbow Trout that could be seen jumping all over the lake. The first rod to bend into a fish was that of regular guest Granville Ainley. He was accompanied by his son-in-law Glen Jenner who used to work for McNaughtons and who was a regular member of the angling section until a change of jobs.
Andrew soon followed with a beautiful fish that I netted for him and which then was gently returned to the water. It took me a bit longer to catch one, but it was just idyllic being out on the lake in beautiful surroundings.
We rowed back to the pontoon for what has become a traditional Tringford spread of Smoked Salmon sandwiches, Pork Pie, Cheese and loads more, all washed down with a beer or glass of wine. The Tringford crew really are the most sociable bunch and with good fishing in the morning and lively conversation there didn’t seem to be any rush to get back out, but eventually we set off for the afternoon session, which turned out to be just as enjoyable.
Reluctantly we had to call it a day as there were long journeys to tackle, none worse than Alan Badcock which took 4½ hours, but he had caught five fish. New member to our group, Roy Mills caught his first trout and Tony Spicer lost four after playing them for some time. Andrew ended up with 6 declaring it the best days fishing ever.
Our thanks to Bob and Tringford for putting on such a splendid day and to whoever picked the most wonderful weather!