Fishing Reports

Brookhall Trout Fishery was delighted to be chosen for the third year running as a venue for a Casting for Recovery UK & Ireland retreat. Thirteen ladies enjoyed the CfR experience on the idyllic 4 acre lake which is spring fed from a holy well. The unique outdoor programme which provides fly fishing retreats for women who have, or have had, breast cancer, took the ladies for an unforgettable weekend on the 18th and 19th September, 2010. Brookhall Fishery is surrounded by a wide variety of mature trees and shrubs, making this one of the most attractive and tranquil fishing venues in the country.

A more pleasant change in the weather on Sunday was welcomed and the ladies arrived at the lake to a short briefing on the day ahead and then an introduction to their ‘guides’ for the day, made up mainly of experienced anglers and Brookhall Fishery regulars. After the introductions were made everyone tackled up and chose their spot on the lake and the fishing started. Almost straight away rods were bent all over the lake with the ladies catching fish. All of the ladies caught during the day and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Following the fishing there was a fantastic meal in the adjoining church hall, laid on by Brian and Sandra Fleming. The presentation and speeches followed the meal with each of the ladies receiving a Certificate of Achievement for the day and a goody bag and the Guides were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and keepsakes for their part.

At the end of the presentation there was a special surprise for the CfR co-ordinators Sue Hunter and Sue Shaw, they were presented with a cheque for £2800.00 by Kenny and Cathryne from Brookhall Fishery. This amount was raised firstly by an all night sponsored competition which was held at the fishery. Plenty of anglers turned out to brave the cold temperatures for the competition, the entry fee for each angler was to raise a minimum of £60 in sponsorship although most anglers surpassed this sum by some margin.

 

In addition to the competition, Brookhall regular Brian Kerr tied a flybox with 365 flies and with the help of partner Linda Straghan sold raffle squares both at the fishery and via fishing forums to help Brookhall raise funds for CFR to enable them with holding future retreats. The sum raised was £705 and the winner of the fantastic prize was drawn at the retreat dinner. Tommy Wright, a Guide on the day, was delighted to be drawn as the winner and in a great gesture he gave the box of flies back to the CFR ladies and asked that they use it to try to raise more funds.

 

Congratulations and a big thank you to everyone who supported the competition, collected sponsorship, and bought raffle squares. The total money raised for casting for recovery surpassed all our expectations and we were delighted to present the cheque to CfR co-ordinators Sue Shaw and Sue Hunter who have said the money will be used to ensure further retreats will take place.

Brookhall Trout Fishery would like to pay special thanks to the following people for all their help and support in raising this money for a most deserving cause.

 

Brian and Sandra Flemming for the outstanding food.

And particular thanks to the Brookhall regulars who supported us with the competiton sponsorship, the raffle and guiding help on the day. Please visit www.castingforrecovery.org.uk for further information.