Current activities
Activities have been suspended until further notice because of the Corona virus outbreak.
Welcome to Cheltenham & Gloucester Fly Dressers Guild. We meet at the Hucclecote Community Centre GL3 3RT on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays every month at 8pm.
Have we got you interested? Then drop in and visit us! We'll look forward to seeing you.
SALMON FISHING IN NORWAY
New article by David Wilson in Members articles
(GWR: carriages are painted in brown and cream!) at the beginning of July 2019.
Thirty-six members, partners and friends gathered at Toddington Station to board the Fish & Chip Special which runs
from Toddington to Cheltenham, picking up fish and chip suppers at Winchcombe Station. We were able to get out and
look at the engine, the waiting rooms, gardens and well kept stations on the way; all run by volunteers who
obviously enjoy it all, too! At the end of the line in Cheltenham (at the racecourse) the engine is manually
unshackled, goes off ahead, the points are changed and it reverses past the carriages to be connected to the end one,
so it then reverses all the way back to Toddington via another stop at Winchcombe to offload the rubbish from the meal.
All good fun and much enjoyed by everyone. Thanks to Colin for the idea and to Adrian for organising!
BIG FISH
COMPETITION 2019
CHELTENHAM & GLOUCESTERFLY DRESSERS
GUILD
Big Fish Competition 21st May 2019
The annual competition was once again held at Springfield Lake near Evesham. Thirteen members fished the lake on a lovely warm evening with enough wind for a slight ripple; buzzers were the early order of the day, changing to dry or wet flies later on. Most people caught at least one fish towards their two, one brownie and several rainbows were returned. A monster of at least 5 lbs took a size 16 dry sedge but got off by straightening the (Kamasan) hook which was taken by another fish on its way back to David Wilson, but the biggest catch was one of the resident Canada geese, which fortunately also escaped.
At the weigh-in Mike Hall was found to have caught the biggest rainbow at 3lb 10oz, followed by Dave Orritt (2017 winner) with one of 3lb 6½ oz and Colin Playdon (last year’s winner) at 3lb 2oz.
It was a most enjoyable evening, and we are very grateful to our President Terry Beale, who organises the event and keeps everyone in order. Tea, coffee, cake and wine seemed inexhaustible and much fun was had by all participants!
2018 Competition Winners
Advanced fly dressing – David Wilson
Intermediate – Colin Playdon
Novice – Mike Hutton
Best Fish – Mike Perrin
Photographic – David Wilson
Big Fish – Colin Playdon.
A great turn out lovely to see so many attend a really good evening
many thanks to Adrian for organising it and Lilla for officiating
Dreaming !
WHERE TO GO FISHING 2018
You can buy day tickets for
- Bull Hotel (Fairford) from the hotel – River Coln
- Burford Angling Club from Orvis – River Windrush
- Williamstrip Estate from D&J Sports, Cirencester – River Coln
- Lechlade & Bushyleaze – Small stillwater,Tuition & rod hire available
- Woolaston Court (near Lydney) – Small stillwater
- Chew Valley Lake (Chew Stoke, near Bristol) – Reservoir
- Blagdon Lake (Blagdon), near Bristol) - Reservoir
- Barrow Tanks (Barrow Gurney, near Bristol) - Reservoir
- Farmoor (Eynsham/Botley, near Oxford) – Reservoir
- Draycote Water (Dunchurch, near Rugby) – Reservoir.
- Witcombe Estate,Witcombe, gloucester Tel 01452 863591
.
The Fishing Museum Online
Have you ever visited The Fishing Museum Online? It covers fly, coarse and salt water fishing and includes sections on fishing tackle and a library.
The library comprises pdfs of books important in the history of fishing, which may be downloaded at no cost. It includes titles such as Pritt’s “Yorkshire Trout Flies”, Halford’s “Floating Flies and How to Dress Them” and “Ogden on Fly Tying”. The reason why you do not have to pay for these downloads is that the copyright has lapsed because of the years that have passed since their publication, and some dedicated folk have been willing to spend time scanning them. The pdf format might not be as satisfying as the beautiful leather-bound reprints that are produced from time to time, but if you are thinking of buying a copy why not check whether it would be of interest before spending your money? The site contains a link to Medlar Press via its “Shop” where you may purchase some of the titles.
This site is well worth visiting for anyone with an interest in fishing. You can reach it by following the link below.
http://www.fishingmuseum.org.uk/
Adrian Pound
12/04/16