Tracy&James | Sunday, 11 September 2022
This weekend James and I are in Jersey, with Mark S. Today we started off the morning with a good breakfast at a local café, then checked out the trout hatchery on the island and fed the fish. After this we went on a fantastic vineyard tour where they provided us with cider, several glasses of wine, chocolate and a brandy cream liquor – all before lunch (thankful we had a good breakfast) so we were all pretty merry when Bob picked us up to go salt water fishing. Or rather for Mark to go with a group of anglers and James and myself to go sightseeing by walking to Gorey to wander around the castle, have a few more drinks and an ice-cream as the weather is currently lovely and sunny. We couldn’t go fishing as we could only get the club gear into the cases within the weight limit, so our fishing gear was sadly left behind – next time we’ll bring an extra case!
The castle was amazing, lots of hidden rooms and interesting displays – there was also a wedding happening there, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to blag any of the champagnethat was flowing (James does love to go minesweeping at times, but I insisted that this wasn’t the time or the place). However, one very handy features of the castle was at the very top there were telescopes that we could survey the surrounding area and, as such, James and I were able to watch Mark, Bob and the rest of the anglers fishing in the distance.
When we caught up with Mark and Bob, sadly it had been a typical British salt water day – very tough. The water was coloured possibly due to strong winds the day before so visibility was difficult. The tide was also very big one so it came in quite quickly and the location choice was restricted due to the strong westerly wind. Most of the anglers hadn’t caught anything but two of them had caught bass; those that went a little further and ended up with the rising tide coming in so quick that they got a dunking with the water coming in over their waders. However, everyone seemed to have a lovely afternoon anyway including one who had his first basson a fly. It was really great to meet everyone especially young Cameron and his parents, and Michelle who had just taken up fly fishing.
We finished the day off by going for a fantastic meal with some of the Jersey anglers and had a boozy time catching up with some of them that we hadn’t seen for a few years.
Tomorrow we will run the BFCC Meeting on Jersey at the Les Quennavais sports ground with casting instruction and competitions all day. Again the weather looks warm and sunny, so we might need a few drinks to keep us going; though the wind changes direction from today and we’ll have a light easterly, so whether that affects the distances, we won’t know until the day. Whatever the weather, we hope all that attend enjoy the event.
On Sunday it’s also the final of the casting competitions at the Welsh GF – so we’re looking forward to hearing how it goes and who wins the overall championship. Good luck to everyone competing.
Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy
Cheers, Tracy
