June 18th 2026 ORSA Day @ Meon Springs.
Once again, the weather gods were kind although the day started with a mist in the valley greeting us all with a ghostly view of the fishery, but it cleared quite quickly with the sporadic sunshine. We welcomed our guests from Battle Back with T/C and Bacon rolls and pastries supplied by the fishery and Bolly the clever caterer, everyone was also supplied with water as the temperature was quite high and was surely going to rise. The H&S lecture and a short casting display completed it was off to the waterside for mentors and our guests from all three branches of HMAS (Army, Navy, RAF).
Competition between all branches for the superbly engraved glass tankards supplied by our sponsor ORSA for the day was clear from the outset. As usual the banter and insults that cannot be printed rang out loud and clear especially when a fish was landed by a guest and had us all chuckling throughout the day, but the camaraderie and the good humour was obvious throughout the day.
Although the bright sunshine made fishing a little a little difficult the mentors skills came to the fore and fish came to the scales quite regularly accompanied by huge smiles and the usual fisherman’s tale as to how it fought etc etc. It never ceases to amaze me as to how quickly a guest who has never caught a fish before mastered the angler’s art of storytelling as to how they manage to land the fish that weighed 2lbs when hooked and grew to 5lbs when landed until I say “get your hand off the damn scales” at weigh in. Skullduggery seems to be a class included in their training.
As we finished the superb two course lunch after the weigh in the heavens suddenly opened during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd prize giving and it was a bit of a scramble to present the prizes and the superb gifts generously supplied by our sponsor.
As I frequently say, “the smiles say it all” and our sincere thanks to the chef, the fishery team and the mentors who all give so much of their time plus the generous gifts from our sponsor. I can say another excellent day of no blanks in the annals of FFF and “Mission accomplished again”. Several 4 fish bags were weighed in ranging from 6lbs to12.4lbs which speaks volumes of the quality of the fish and the excellent stocking system of the fishery team.
-Biggest Fish of 3lb 4ozs went to Cpl Ian Lund. Mentor Richard Noscoe.
-Biggest Bag of 12lbs 4ozs went to FS Paul Jackson. Mentor Neil Mundy.
-Smallest Fish of 1lb 12ozs went to Liam Macaw. Mentor Mark Roberts.
My sincere personal thanks to all the mentors as it is your dedication and enthusiasm that makes FFF so successful.
Tight lines to you all.
Bill Howell.
Founder, dogsbody etc etc.
Competition between all branches for the superbly engraved glass tankards supplied by our sponsor ORSA for the day was clear from the outset. As usual the banter and insults that cannot be printed rang out loud and clear especially when a fish was landed by a guest and had us all chuckling throughout the day, but the camaraderie and the good humour was obvious throughout the day.
Although the bright sunshine made fishing a little a little difficult the mentors skills came to the fore and fish came to the scales quite regularly accompanied by huge smiles and the usual fisherman’s tale as to how it fought etc etc. It never ceases to amaze me as to how quickly a guest who has never caught a fish before mastered the angler’s art of storytelling as to how they manage to land the fish that weighed 2lbs when hooked and grew to 5lbs when landed until I say “get your hand off the damn scales” at weigh in. Skullduggery seems to be a class included in their training.
As we finished the superb two course lunch after the weigh in the heavens suddenly opened during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd prize giving and it was a bit of a scramble to present the prizes and the superb gifts generously supplied by our sponsor.
As I frequently say, “the smiles say it all” and our sincere thanks to the chef, the fishery team and the mentors who all give so much of their time plus the generous gifts from our sponsor. I can say another excellent day of no blanks in the annals of FFF and “Mission accomplished again”. Several 4 fish bags were weighed in ranging from 6lbs to12.4lbs which speaks volumes of the quality of the fish and the excellent stocking system of the fishery team.
-Biggest Fish of 3lb 4ozs went to Cpl Ian Lund. Mentor Richard Noscoe.
-Biggest Bag of 12lbs 4ozs went to FS Paul Jackson. Mentor Neil Mundy.
-Smallest Fish of 1lb 12ozs went to Liam Macaw. Mentor Mark Roberts.
My sincere personal thanks to all the mentors as it is your dedication and enthusiasm that makes FFF so successful.
Tight lines to you all.
Bill Howell.
Founder, dogsbody etc etc.
