New member Rex Key, who joined the Society in June, and now in his mid-70s, has had catching a salmon on his "bucket list." He tried when 16 years old and cycled seven miles in the early morning to fish at Shrewsbury weir but only had three blank years. Now, a few weeks with the Society, Rex, from Broseley, landed this lovely-looking 10 pounder from the Rookery swim, using a bunch of worms.

“It was the most exciting thing you can do in Wellington boots – well legally anyway,” said Rex. “I’m grateful to Chris Cottrill and a couple of other members, who gave me advice on where and how to tackle the challenge. I used some tackle I have had since my teenage years, including a rather inappropriate eight-foot, fibre glass rod with hardly any action and a battered Okuma Epix fixed spool reel bought from a Dawley second-hand shop. The worms were held down by a lead musket ball cast then drilled when I was still at school! The monofilament line was on the reel when I bought it so no idea what that was. I used 8 lb line as a leader, so playing the fish was a nervous time, especially when it began dragging around a mass of weed. I’m used to fly fishing for trout using 3 lb line, so am reasonably adept at being delicate, although running down the river bank as the slipping clutch screamed threatening a few cardiac arrests. Great stuff, and thank you again Chris.”

Rex Key - First Salmon.JPG (1.59 mb)

A few members have contacted me since the story above was published to say that Rex's fish is not a Salmon, but an absolutely fantastic Sea Trout! In many ways this is an even more rare catch, so is worthy of recording. But Rex's quest for his first salmon continues..... Tight Lines Rex!

As the first "proper" match had to be postponed because the river was over its banks, this match, fished on 30th June, was the second date on the match calendar. The river was still carrying quite a bit of colour and had a pace to its flow too. Barbel were hard to find and many top rods found it difficult to locate them, but Colin Morris found the walk to peg 95 worthwhile and managed to put 16 Lbs 8 Ozs onto the scales consisting of 2 barbel and a bream to take the win. Second, from peg 3, was veteran angler Reg Ford with another 2 barbel for 14 Lbs 10 Ozs. Good to see you back on our waters Reg! In third spot from peg 117, was Paul Stych with 12 Lbs 14 Ozs. Click on the link for the full result.

Leighton 1st match 2019.pdf (178.62 kb)