Newsroom - Mar
08
The Avon trout season is just around the corner
and twice a day as I cross the river at Netheravon
I am fortunate to be able to watch as the river valley
embraces Spring. Occasonally I just have to stop and
peer over the bridge at one of my favorite stretches!
The Avon is clearing up after a wet winter which saw
the majority of the winterbornes flowing well and
lots of water in the main river. Weed growth already
looks very good and as the hawthorn bushes begins
to blossom I can easily imagine catching my first
trout of the season on an ungainly black fly.
Opening day is 24 Apr and I am surprisingly fairly
well prepared, although I have not tied enough flys!
I have been lucky enough to keep instructing throughout
the winter on some of the local still waters which
has at least kept me sane, but I am now ready to get
back to river fishing for brown trout. So much so
that I have spent the last week or so preparing and
sourcing tackle for the new season. This year will
see me using my favorite DT lines which I have now
dyed green, some modern silk lines, new leader formulas
and hopefully even a fibreglass rod or two to complement
the carbon and bamboo ones that live in the car!
I now have a busy couple of weeks before opening
day but will try to post a few pictures of the river
as she warms up.
FFF CI - Feb 07 - Thank You
I met FFF Masters Larry Allen and Bruce Williams
last year on a business trip to Phoenix and was completely
taken aback by their generosity. They hosted me as
a fellow instructor despite being a complete stranger
and I can think of no better ambassadors for the FFF
than these two gentlemen. We exchanged ideas and found
that our two organisations have a very similar ethos
so when I was to return to New Mexico on another business
trip in Feb 07 I took the opportunity to catch up
with them again in Phoenix, it was after all only
a 5 hour drive!
Larry was again generous to a fault and he had taken
the trouble to organise for Bruce and Tom Harper (another
FFF MI) to assess me for my FFF CI over the weekend.
What can I say, I had a great time, Larry and I cast
our arms off; an introduction to the ACA games for
me and some Chalk Stream Spey trickery for Larry.
I had a great time and whilst passing my FFF CI was
wonderful it was the friendship and camaraderie which
was the highlight of the weekend. Wild brown trout
fishing on the Avon is so far removed from the fishing
that Larry, Bruce and Tom do in the southern US but
once we all picked up a rod and started casting it
was as if we had been life long friends, which is
what I hope we will be.
Larry, Bruce and Tom I owe you a debt of thanks and
look forward to repaying your hospitality on my side
of the pond!
Thank you
Martyn
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