Another great year for the Wandle Piscators – and as if to prove it, another superb AGM on Trafalgar Day last week, in the upper room of the hostelry that’s rapidly becoming our home from home, the William Morris at Merton Abbey Mills.
With Bella Davies from the Wandle Trust and Paul Stolk from the Substance angling research programme as our guests for the evening, we reviewed our activities and accounts, cheered Will’s TRRT award, discussed river restoration projects, elected the new Committee, and then moved on to the even funner bit: Trafalgar Drinks and assorted fishy business compered by John O’Brien.
First up was the half-time scoreboard for the Wandle Species Hunt, confirming what we’d suspected all along: yes, Steve Dedman’s in the lead, with no fewer than 14 Wandle species wetting his net since June (and that’s in spite of having been away filming for at least half the season so far!)
Then it was time to get the voting slips out again for “I Caught This Fish”, which developed a distinct big-Wandle-trout flavour:
1st prize: Tony and his Wandle leviathan (the winner-in-waiting of the 2009 -10 Wands Cup for the first Wandle trout of the season on a dry fly)
2nd prize: Rich and his grown-on Trout in the Classroom graduate
3rd prize: Andy’s giant Fenland pike (or is it a crocodile?)
Once again, thanks to all who’ve helped make this such a year to remember… and may there be many more!