Annual General Meeting & Trophy Presentations
The AGM was held at The Memorial Hall, Great Missenden on November 13th. The meeting minutes have been distributed to members on email by The Secretary, Keith Allison.
Following the AGM, the new Club Chairman, Martin James, presented trophies for the 2025 Club Competitions:
Steve Orton – Mike Knight Trophy, Clywedog most fish
John Gamon – Secretary’s Plate, Draycote most fish
Joshua Wong – Jerry Thomas Trophy, Tringford most fish
John Poote – Ray Bull Trophy, Farmoor Barbeque Day
most fish
REMINDER
Upcoming Meetings for your Calendar
November 13th - 7.30pm Annual General Meeting followed by discussion and Q&A.
Anyone wishing to meet for dinner beforehand at 6pm at The Cross Keys - please let Keith Allison know beforehand.
November 27th - 7.30pm Lindsay Simpson
Lindsay will talk about the development of his YouTube presentations on both fly tying and fly fishing. He will demonstrate the equipment and techniques used in producing high definition videos and discuss ideas about diversifying from fly tying alone, since his own analytics of hits on his website show they aren't as popular as previously.
December 18th - 7.30pm Tom Bird
Tom is going to share his knowledge and thinking with respect to his role on part of the River Test - managing an estate, its beats and how the fishing works.
Testwood Pool October 2025
Late Season Sea Trout Night Fishing River Test - Josh Wong, John Poote & Keith Allison
We met midafternoon at the aptly named Salmon’s Leap pub in Totton and suitably refreshed we headed to the Testwood Pool at 5pm for the last hour of daylight to reconnoiter the beats, and set up our tackle. We took a quick tour of the fishery, making note of casting positions, fish holding spots and importantly where to exit the river in case of falling in.
The river was running clear and we were fishing from low tide up with 2 high tides scheduled for 1030pm and 1130pm falling back around 230am. We each rigged up a couple of outfits, a floater setup with 8’ leader of 12lbs line with a snake fly, sinktip with a tube on point and a Daioni on the dropper and a fast intermediate with 5’ leader with a larger tube fly to cover all the water heights over the course of the evening. Bespoke flies had also been tied with ‘Keith’s Killer’ and ‘John’s Night Janitor’ making their debut swims. All that was left was to rub the mysterious brass fish charm, blessed by a Balinese witch doctor.
As darkness fell and the green had left the grass we headed down to the lower tidal pool with John P starting below the bridge at the Stones, Keith on the Oak Tree and Josh on the Lower Platform.
Josh had a pull on his first cast but was still fiddling about with the coils of line on his reel when the line was yanked, fish off, 1-0 to the Seatrout. Keith was fishing confidently through the Oaks and Josh then switched to the upper end of the pool just below John P who had waded out at the bottom end of the Stones. Sea trout tend to have bursts of activity and sure enough John P hooked a seatrout and Josh hooking a fish which threw the hook at the exact same moment. John landed his fresh silvery peal of about 1.5lbs and the anglers were off to the races. Despite a lot of fish showing, slow, fast retrieves and changes of fly it was proving tricky to hit the very quick bites we had been getting in the first few hours.
The first high tide came in surprisingly quickly with the water rising over a meter in the lower pools and all flow ceasing which meant decamping to the upper main pool where there was still some current from the sluice gates and salmon ladders.
Josh then landed his first fish of the evening, a bright 2.5lber on the Daioni dropper from just below the trees at the ‘Pipes’. Followed by another just shy of 2lbs from the opposite bank at the ‘Ditch’ on a Nicole’s Fancy tube.
The team then headed back to the fishing hut for the traditional ‘half-time’ break to discuss strategy and mutter oaths about lost flies and tangles in the dark! Suitably fortified we headed back out and this time fishing opposite banks in the upper pool.
At this point both Keith and Josh both hooked large ‘fish’, Keith’s decided to head up river towards Romsey whilst Josh’s made a beeline for the Southampton Docks, in the quiet night, shouts were heard; ‘I’ve got a huge one’, ‘Get the net’ before head torches revealed we had hooked each other's lines in the dark and were trying to pull each other across the river!
With the comedy over it was back to the task in hand with Josh losing 3 lightly hooked fish at the net and Keith and John having plucks from wary fish that would just not commit fully or needed very quick striking to get a lock-up.
Before we knew the time had reached 1.30am and with the river dropping we headed back down to the lower beats. Josh had 2 school peal in the 1.5lbs class and one that charged under the bridge, over the stones before parting company. We all persevered with Keith putting in a standout effort fishing on to 230am but to no further avail, it was time to pack up and head back to our fishing hut billets and sleeping bags.
In the morning as we left we took one last look under the bridge and spotted a large salmon and a shoal of big sea trout, the largest was probably over 7lbs….roll on next season
Photo by Chris Reeves from Flydresser (The Journal of The Fly Dressers' Guild) Summer 2025
Evening Workshop with John Poote
Thursday 16th October at 7.30pm in The Memorial Hall, Great Missenden
Our first workshop for the autumn will see John bringing to life aspects of the article by Chris Reeves in the Flydresser magazine Summer Edition, entitled Hare's Ears Galore! John will be tying the ubiquitous Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear and other lesser known variations, plus how to use the fur from the various areas of the hare's mask.
If you haven't done much/any tying recently, please remember to check your essential materials plus glue, varnish etc.
The fee for hall hire will be £5 cash on the evening.
Club Day at Grafham Water for the Martin Grant Trophy– 25 Sept 2025
Eight of the club met to fish Grafham on a fine and breezy day, with lots of sun in the afternoon and a mainly northerly wind. In the morning, the 4 boats scattered along the northern shore and a few drifts were attempted, without much success. Fishing at the dam proved difficult as the prevailing wind pushed boats away, so anchoring near the shore in calmer water was used quite a lot, bearing in mind that there were also a fair number of bank anglers across the North shore, some wading in 20-30m in the much reduced level of water in the reservoir.
Results were varied across the group, 10 rainbows were netted in the morning with Keith having a great start with 4 on sink tip and then dry line with a variety of shrimp Tequila FAB and Orange foam daddy, quite close to the shore at Hedge End (no.6 on the map). The group met in the Harbour View Café for packed lunch and hot drinks - the café is not doing hot lunches now and it’s not clear that it will in the future.
After lunch the fleet went to the area between Pig Bay (no.5) and Hedge End on the North Shore, where the conditions were fairly benign. Anchoring up, it became clear that there were a number of fish in the weed beds, which just touched the water surface at about 50-100m from the shore. Early results were slow, but mid to late afternoon, even in bright sunny conditions, the fish were being tempted on dry flies and washing line, often on no or slow retrieve. Foam daddies, shrimp, diawl bach (black/red), blobs and FABs were successful.
At the end of the day the total was 29 fish netted, with John Poote leading on 7, Mark close behind on 6. Mark and Keith both had double hook ups and netted both fish in each instance. As usual, quite a number were hooked but not landed, but everybody had some sport and an enjoyable day overall.
Further Club Fishing Days in 2025
Grafham Water, Huntingdon, September 25th
A party of 8 members have booked in for this trip where the angler with the most fish caught will be awarded The Martin Grant Trophy.
After a tricky period with lower water levels, the water temperature is reducing and the rod average has recently risen to 7.
Tringford Reservoir, Tring, October 21st
This compact water is now fishing well again with some of our members averaging 5+ very recently, including browns of 6 and 7lbs.
There are 7 people booked in so far with one place to spare, don't delay! If you are interested, please contact Keith Allison on 07767 128485.
Winter Workshops
A reminder that our programme of workshops restarts on Wednesday October 1st at 2pm at The Great Missenden Memorial Centre.
Club Week at Llyn Clywedog 16th – 20th June 2025
Our annual Club week at the above venue proved to be a challenging one. There were 10 in attendance this year and expectations were high as this was our third visit to this very popular lake situated in the mountains near Llanidloes.
As always for anglers the weather is never perfect and this year it was too hot! The ten anglers were Alison Fenn, John Gamon, John Goldie, John Poote, Peter Proctor, Steve Orton, Bob Sharp, Martin James, Mark Worthington and Keith Allison.
John Gamon did a great job in organizing the boat pairings to ensure we had the chance to fish with different members of our club. He also printed and laminated very good maps of Clywedog Lake which proved very useful on the boat.
Our first day proved to be our most successful regarding numbers of fish caught. The weather was cloudy with a pleasant breeze and some sunny spells approx. 20 degrees. Most of us were going to go with dry fly method as this lake is renowned for this. We kept away from the Cages as this seems to get very crowded with ‘desperate’ anglers trying to fill their nets. Results for the day were a total of 18 fish caught on fly patterns from black half hogs, black diawl bachs, Belgian crunchers and muskins. The general trend being any colour was okay as long as it was black! The most fish caught individually was 5 by Steve Orton, who has spent some time on this lake and knows the fish by their first names!
We had dinner at The Blue Bell Inn and we raised a glass to the late Mark Robson who sadly passed away earlier this year. After dinner we were given a lesson in how to play pool by Alison Fenn, who obviously had a mis-spent youth in snooker halls.
The next day Bob and Martin fished the River Severn and were impressed with their beat, but could not tempt any into their nets. No doubt they will be back to fish there another day. The rest of us took to the boats again and had a similar result this time with 16 fish to our nets. Steve and John P leading the way with 4 each.
Thursday became a very hot day with temperatures of 28 degrees and by 12 noon, clear blue skies. However, the morning session did bring some fish to the dry fly, but not many. A total of 15 caught with Keith catching 4 of them, pipping Steve by 1 fish. John P was unlucky on this last day, hooking several fish near the dam area on sinking lines, but these fish fight well and he lost them at the net.
The final evening at the pub we had a steak night with some tasty red wine and everyone agreed this was definitely the best meal of the week.
In conclusion we caught a total of 48 fish between us, of which Steve Orton had 12 with Keith and John P coming joint second with 9 each. Nobody blanked in the week and everyone enjoyed the venue and put it down to ‘the inclement weather’, being the reason for low returns.
More photos can be found in the Gallery Tab
Farmoor 2nd June 2025
John Poote and John Goldie fished Farmoor 2 and had an incredible 45 fish to the boat! The warden had suggested fishing along the causeway and so we started top righthand corner with a drift along the bank in a strong wind fishing straightline nymphs and washing line: FAB with red holo, Diawl Bachs, Crunchers and Muskins, using floating lines. We caught a few fish but noted a hotspot as we passed the birdhide about 30 to 40m from the bank. We then tied up on the nearest orange buoy and caught many fish, largest almost 4lb casting into the bank. With 30 fish netted, we decided to move to the next orange buoy towards the lodge bank for a rest, but the fishing gods decided otherwise! We continued catching on orange blob on point and DBs and UV Blue Flash goldhead damsel on point or cat's whisker. We had fish, pulls, follows and fish on and off almost every cast until we packed up at 6.30pm, when John G realised that his blob and a dropper had been broken off due to savage takes. Three flies had been completely shredded earlier. Many of the fish punched way above their weight. What a day!
Fishing frustration!
Ladies Fly Fishing International, Lough Lene, Ireland
by Claire Price
Late May brings the most exhausting week of the year – the Ladies International fly fishing competition! On the back of three consecutive gold medal years and some productive practice sessions at Grafham, the England team travelled to Ireland brimming with confidence. We were aiming for a fourth consecutive gold, which no team has achieved in the history of the competition.
After much driving and a 2-hour ferry crossing to Dublin, we arrived at the International team hotel just South of Mullingar. And so it began – the merry-go-round of non-stop team meetings, fishing practice and official dinners!
Driving to the lough on the first day of practice, we were filled with nerves and excitement to see our ‘home’ for the next few days. Lough Lene is one of the few ‘stocked’ loughs in Ireland, run by the Lough Lene Angling Association. However, the stocking density is nothing like we’re used to in the UK. We soon found that the fish were not only hard to find, they were also wily – adept at slipping the hook, or feisty if you did hook them (they took off like a rocket)! We were also faced with the most abnormal Irish weather in 10 years – the back end of a month-long heat wave that brought blue skies, high temperatures and very little wind.
The team went about trying different methods to see which were most consistently hooking fish and soon settled on a couple of solid options – dries (sedges and midges coming off) or colour alongside a couple of black hoppers on a tip line.
Day-by-day the fishing got harder – there was no let up in the hot and bright weather, and the fish were getting fed up of being boated over!
Come match day, conditions were the worst yet – flat calm and the warmest day of the week. As we prepared ourselves, made arrangements with our boat partners, and finally made the walk down to the water behind the traditional piper, I think we all knew we were in for a tough day.
Finally, the moment had arrived – the horn sounded and we were off! I had been drawn with a member of the Irish team and she had first shout. So, for the first couple of hours she directed the boatman along reed beds and bays, none of which I had found fish in during practice. I went out on the tip line, but hadn’t had a touch by the time my session of control came around. I took us to a spot that had consistently brought fish during the week – nothing. My nerves started to bubble up – this wasn’t good. I moved us to another top spot from practice, and finally – we saw a fish move ahead of us. Despite this promise, still not a touch. It was time for a change – on went the dries.
Soon afterwards, my hope was restored – within 40 minutes, I’d brought a fish up to my fly and had a swirl from another. Then out of nowhere a fish broke the surface and my line went tight; fish on! It was only a small trout, but just like it’s big cousins it ran at speed! It darted left, then back to the boat, then veered right. I’d almost got it back to the boat when it stopped – actually stopped swimming – shook it’s head, and out came the fly. My line went slack and my heart sank. Still, this was good – some positive action.
It was time to hand control back to my boat partner, and she took us off the fish we’d just found. We boated around the lough to a couple of spots she wanted to try – no fish seen, no other boats. Time was ticking away.
Control for the final session came back to me – we travelled back down the lough and happened upon our captain, who signalled that we should pull in behind them – she’d found fish. We positioned ourself on the same drift and waited… and waited… and waited. No fish moving, nothing rising to our flies. Where were these fish?
My nerves gave out and I suggested we move – one last ‘hot spot’ had been consistently good late in the day, so I directed the boatman there. One other boat there, and a red England cap – thank goodness. I signalled that I’d had no fish to the boat, and to my shock the same signal came back.
We set ourselves up for a drift, but I wasn’t seeing the same activity we’d seen in the preceding days. I had one swirl at my fly in nearly an hour. In desperation, we tried another couple of spots close to the launch beach, anxiously willing a ‘lucky’ fish to show itself. Still nothing. All too soon, the time had gone. Only my second England cap and I’d blanked – I was gutted.
It turns out I was in good company – two thirds of all the anglers blanked on match day. To say the results were close is an understatement – as they were read out, time slowed. Ireland had come third with three fish. Everyone was on tenterhooks – which name would be read out next… England in silver position with 7 fish. Our hearts sank. The Scottish team exploded in joy. They had won by 1 cm (8 fish, totalling just a smidge more than our 7). We later found out that one of the Scottish team had put a Di5 on in the last 30 minutes and picked up a random fish on a blob in the middle of the lough – luck was certainly with them! For us, it was a bitter pill to swallow. I was personally full of ‘what ifs’.
Deflated but even more determined for next year, we’re now planning for 2026 – it’s our turn to host and come May we’ll be fighting it out on Grafham. Please do support the team in any way you can.
TRINGFORD RESERVOIR CLUB DAY 15TH MAY 2025
Seven Club Members and a guest attended the above. The trophy at stake being the Jerry Thomas Trophy which John Gamon won last year. The weather in the past few weeks had been hot and dry, the warmest driest April for many years. However, we experienced a cooler cloudy day with a 13mph breeze.
Sausage baps with tea or coffee for breakfast were served by Mr Menzies and his volunteers.
Floating lines were the order of the day and the choice of flies were Terry Griffiths red buzzer used by John Gamon on the point , black buzzers , diawl bachs , muskins, and John P and Josh decided to use those popular dry flies Tequila FABS and blobs! , Keith was using washing line at the pontoon end of the reservoir and hooking many fish , but not getting them in the net. At lunch time this was the general opinion of most anglers.
Hospitality was again first class with pies, sandwiches, excellent cheeses and cakes with wine and beer, coffee and tea for all. We have to say a big thank you to Bob Menzies and Jane.
Back on the water fish were being caught again by all. Alison had her best day on Tringford, in the afternoon catching on the well tied squirmy wormy pattern! She also did a sterling job rowing John Goldie around the reservoir!
We called it a day at 4 30 pm although John and Alison had to be called in as their watches must have stopped! Our congratulations go to Joshua Wong who won the trophy with 17 fish, the second and third were John Poote and John Gamon with 16 each. The average per angler was 11 fish. The most deadly patterns were Terry Griffiths red buzzer and Tequila FAB and blob.
Keith Allison / May 2025
Josh ties another award on
Congratulations to Joshua Wong on receiving the FDG Grayling Specialist Tyer Certificate, the flies submitted shown below, another masterpiece.
In addition, Josh has been made an FDG Instructor.
Extra Fly Tying Workshop
There will be a final afternoon workshop on Wednesday 23rd April at the Great Missenden Memorial Centre from 2-5pm.
The session is an opportunity to tie flies for the annual Llyn Clywedog trip in June. Hope to see you there.
Josh Strikes Gold!
Congratulations to Joshua Wong on achieving the FDG Gold Award, the flies for which are shown below. The second picture shows Josh's flies for his Silver Award.
THURSDAY 13TH MARCH 07:30pm
Tom Bird will be discussing and tying Stillwater flies and emergers
6pm Meal at the Crosskeys
Please let Keith Allison know if you want to join us
Tringford Trout Fishery
Opens 30th March
Contact Bob Menzies on 07802 805236
CLUB BBQ AT FARMOOR
Date now confirmed
Saturday 3rd May 2025
This is always a Great Day out and usually very well attended.
As per usual John Goldie will be Chef and hopefully some of John Poote's Burgers will be on the grid.
Beer and wine and hopefully the odd fish.
Full details for timing to follow any queries contact Keith Allison
Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th February 2025
Please go to our Reports section for a review of the fair
by Keith Allison
TROPHY WINNERS IN 2024
Farmoor Barbecue Day
Ray Bull Trophy was won by John Gamon
Club Day at Ravensthorpe
Secretary’s Shield most fish won by John Poote
Club Day Grafham
Martin Grant Trophy most fish won by Mark Robson
Club Day Tringford
Jerry Thomas Trophy most fish won by John Poote
Clywedog Club week
Mike Knight Trophy awarded by Chairman for most all round performance during the week this was won by Alison Fenn
John Poote
Alison Fenn
Mark Robson
John Gamon
