As parents, students and mentors arrived at Grafham lodge
for the 09.30am start, the day was overcast, cold and with a steady 14mph wind
from the north east. Everybody had been
warned to dress correctly for the near zero temperatures, so it was no surprise
to see varied trapper hats and ski clothes on display.
The students headed to the warm of the class room tutorial
with instructor Allan Sefton, while the mentors grabbed fishing kit and headed
out in fishing boats to locate the fish shoals for the afternoon session.
The day began by finding out how much
fishing each individual had done in order that the tuition could be tailored to
the individual. The programme covered
boat safety, necessary equipment, rods, reels, lines, flies, how to set your rod up and how to tie knots.
The session then covered ‘what makes a trout tick’ as well
as trout behaviour, biology of the trout and gutting your catch!
The mentors all returned to the lodge in time to take their
students onto the water at 12.30. Better still all mentors seemed in a positive
mood as they greeted their pupils and discussed the tactics that had caught
them fish in the morning.
The mentor / student pairings took to the water and most
boats headed to the north shore of the reservoir. It was at the’ top of wind’
and the wave was more of a ripple, it even felt a coat warmer than the boat
dock!
Boats spread from Cove Point, past G buoy, Marlow Bay and the
Willows and started to fish. The mentors had mostly decided that it would be
more productive for the students to fish at anchor because the fish were close
to the bottom.
My student was Joshua Clayton was happy enough to set up his
own tackle and tied on his own fly. It was only during conversation that I
realised his father was the head fishery warden at Pitsford reservoir!
I carefully motored the boat into Marlow Bay near the jetty
and ‘dropped the hook’ in about ten feet of water. We had both put on fast
sinking lines and I had chosen a Black n Green booby tadpole on the point with
a Cat’s whisker on the dropper, while Joshua had chosen an Orange blob.
I was immediately impressed with the reasonable distance
that Joshua could cast, my job to get him catching fish had just become a lot
easier, hurray!
A couple of casts and I caught a fish on the black n green
and it was quickly followed by another. I suggested that Joshua alter his
retrieve to the ‘roly poly’ and change his fly colour. He quickly tied on one
of my black n greens, cast out and success he hooked a fish. He played the rainbow
and netted it proficiently. After high
fives and smiles he cast again eager to get another.
The weather was dramatic at times with snow storms sweeping
across the reservoir and then you would bask in sunshine but there was always
the ever present wind chill keeping the temperature near zero.
Joshua had caught his first Graham fish, he went on to catch
his largest ever trout ( 3lbs 7oz ) and his most fish in a day ( 7 ) and I was
‘well chuffed’.
Back at the boat dock there were lots of happy students and
proud mentors, more friendships had been forged from the common love for fly fishing.
It was clear that all the mentors had only one aim of the
day which was that their students caught fish, and they all did, the largest
of the day being a 5lb 8oz rainbow caught by Harry Mason.
Even three complete beginners to fly-fishing Joshua and Alex
Hoxey-Smith and Alex Farley all caught their first Grafham trout.
Martin Matthews from Norwich caught 6 trout with his largest
being 4lb 11oz. Most youngsters including Jason Pusey and Owen Whittle kept a couple
of their fish carefully returning the rest for another day.
Huge thanks to everyone who assisted to make the experience
for these youngsters a successful one. Each youngster went away with a goody bag and memories to treasure!
Report by Simon Lehane
Harry Mason with his 5lb 8oz rainbow Allan Sefton demonstrating in the classroom
