This annual meeting always means an ultra-early start for many anglers and this year I heard talk of 4.00 am but even this becomes acceptable on a glorious day with wall to wall sunshine, little wind and the expectation of the magic that is the River Test.
The dry conditions meant no hold-ups on the motorways and just after 8.30 in the morning I shepherded the last of the 21 participants through the gate and joined them to tackle up. To my surprise one Brown Trout had already been landed and returned by one of the early arrivals so the signs were even better for a good day ahead.
The river rises at Ashe and is always in full flow on our beats as it has only a short stretch to go before joining the River Itchen and flowing into Southampton Water, a total distance of 40 miles and we have the pleasure of fishing both banks for about 2 ½ miles of it.
It means that there is plenty of space for everyone and when one does meet up there is always time to stop and swap experiences of flies, etc. On one such occasion I was able to slide my landing net under a beautiful Brown trout as Gerry Overy guided it in.
This year about a dozen or more met up for lunch and to hear the usual fishy stories of ones that had been caught, ones that had got away and ones that never came near an angler, as in my case! The general consensus was that it was a superb day with everyone enjoying the ambience as much as the angling.
The final news of the day was one of our guests, Ian Hoper, landing a 7lb Salmon and congratulations to him.
Our numbers were swelled by members of the MTSFC and I would like to thank every one of them for their support and generous contributions, all of which will go to PICT after paying the Estate.
Finally our usual thanks have to go to David Gould who is in charge of negotiations with said body and who makes this annual visit possible.
MONK TROPHY
The Monk Trophy is presented annually to the member with the highest weight of fish combined with the number of fish caught over the season and has been won for the third year running by Alan Badcock.
Congratulations to Alan who is a stalwart supporter of the Angling Section and very much deserves this award.