The seasons end comes all too soon and it seemed surreal to be walking through the familiar doors of the Half Moon Inn at Sheepwash for the Torridge Rivers Association end of season Egg Box Dinner. The Torridge Fishery Association was formed back in 1979 with a young Charles Inniss at its helm. Forty five years later Charles is still very much the engine room of the Association and continues to welcome anglers to the Half Moon Inn with his cheery demeanour and resilient optimism.
The new owners of the Half Moon have wisely embraced Charles and Adam who has worked behind the bar for many years. A fascinating insight into the Half Moon can be gleaned by listening to the latest Fly Culture Podcast with Pete Tyjas. Interviewing Richard Miller.
It has been a difficult salmon fishing season across North Devon and the chalked writing on the Inns blackboard told a woeful tale.
Sea trout numbers were not so bad and the brown trout returns very encouraging with close to five hundred brown trout recorded. In fact the general consensus is that the wild brown trout fishing is the future for North Devon’s rivers.
The annual dinner sees those with a deep love of the Torridge travel from all over the UK. It is always a joy to sit with fellow Torridge fishers and hear stories from the water’s edge told with a burning passion that flows through generations.
There was of course much talk about the sad demise of salmon across the UK and beyond with the complexities and causes of this debated over plates of delicious food, wine and ale.
Charles Inniss gave a short humorous and impassioned introduction to Lord Clinton who has taken on the role of Torridge Rivers Association President.
A Memorial Service for the late Lord Clinton was held on July 15th at Exeter Cathedral. It was attended by Association Chairman Paul Ashworth and his wife Geraldine along with Charles Inniss and Steve Phelps. Lord Clinton was the prime mover in the creation of the Association and was its first Chairman and President for Forty years.
The Grand Egg Box Draw once again raised considerable funds towards the running of the associations hatchery a project that requires much work and dedication and rewards with a glimmer of hope for the future.
Before I sat down to write this I walked out into the garden and smelt the comforting scent of woodsmoke drifting through the valley. Autumn has arrived and another salmon and trout season has drifted into the past. In less than six months anglers will once again be wading into those perpetual flows as yellow daffodils once again decorate the banks.
Lines will be cast and flies drifted in renewed hope for a true anglers optimism is both strong and resilient.
