The Club is a private one, founded in 1877, of approximately sixty-four members and six Town Rod subscribers. The Club's waters consist of about 7 miles of wild brown trout & grayling fishing in the main River Frome, River Cerne and River Piddle, together with attendant carriers and side streams. The waters extend both above and below the town of Dorchester and the Club employs a part-time keeper.
If you have any news or a fishing trip report please email to admin@grhe.co.uk
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Glimmer of Hope
Nothing quite like talking about the weather, a slightly damp spring, let’s leave it at that!
Yesterday there was a glimmer of hope…
In slightly extreme river conditions, despite the height, the water clarity on the Piddle is lovely and, now this is important, the sun was out, there were Grannom and Olives hatching and a little fall of Hawthorne all drifting down bubble lines to rising fish!!!!!
Ian Stirling called by and suggested we take a look and even better take a rod, I managed to open this seasons account with a stunning Piddle fish of about half a pound that sipped down an Olive cast over flooded river bank.
Reading between the lines, Ian caught one or two earlier in the week.
If you head down to the river, take your time and be careful, these little flurries of activity are short lived, right place right time springs to mind..
Regards
River Keeper
April 1st 2018
After some torrential rain a few days ago, the rivers burst their banks and there was little hope of casting a fly on the opening day. But after just 24 hours the smaller streams were running clear and fishable.
I opened my season on the River Cerne, saw large dark olives & a few grannom hatching. But the trout had their heads down, which called for a small weighted PTN, it did the job and my 2018 seasons account was open.
I was joined by Trev & Rob and Trev was also soon into fish (photo by John Aplin).
With the forecast rain this week, I would check the river levels before venturing out. (links on the right) or if you are on Twitter :-
Maiden Newton twitter.com/riverlevel_0241
Louds Mill twitter.com/riverlevel_0242
New Members day
We had a great morning showing three new members the delights of the DFC waters, starting on the river Cerne, which is a great plan B if the main river is carrying extra water, then heading over to the main Frome.
Starting at our upstream limit at Gasgoyne then leap frogging downstream (via the Wolfeton beat) to the lower water for another walk along the river.
We then headed over to our Piddle beats for a look, Southover and Affpuddle.
All the beats are very well topped up after our wet winter (please be careful wading) and the growth of Ranunculus looks very promising.
I will be holding a pre season casting and tackle talk morning for members at 10am Friday 30th March here at the Dairy House West Stafford, please come along, coffee and cake provided!
Regards
John Aplin
River Keeper
Not Long Now
Saturdays work party was rather chilly, a biting gale force easterly followed with a blizzard. A good turnout, we successfully moved back parts of the fence, that were in the river spoiling a number of good fish holding runs… John Aplin
Don’t forget to buy your Fishing Licence https://get-fishing-licence.service.gov.uk/buy/licence-length
Last Gasp…….
Despite the chilly weather I had to make a last gasp grayling bash at the weekend before the season closed.
The water was quite clear, with a cold wind and bright sunshine. I saw several substantial grayling as I worked my way upstream, but each time they also saw me, which didn’t help. It looked like it was going to be quite difficult to get myself a first fish of 2018. I stopped for a coffee to warm up and having propped my rod against one of John Aplin’s benches, a goldcrest flew out from a bush and attempted to take my nymph as it fluttered in the icy wind. Now that would have been a first on the fly, having only managed a bat in the past. Fortunately the bird missed the fly or probably my tying was not quite realistic enough to be convincing. So I tucked into my bun whilst the goldcrest was left to forage elsewhere for its own 3 x bodyweight in food.
Finally fishing at the end of a fast run I felt a tap on the nymph and lifted into a grayling, which took a small ‘disco shrimp’ pattern. It fought well but once landed I could see that it appeared to have been in a recent brush with a pike (the beast from the east?) and had left half its tail behind in order to escape. Apart from one other fish which was on then off, that was my total. So at least I have my first fish of the year, though it would have been nice to have caught a whole one.
All the best and looking forward to another great season!
Doug
Presentation Night
Dorchester Fishing Club celebrated it’s 140th anniversary in 2017 and a dinner was organised by committee member Rob Ayles. To coincide with this, a raffle was held and the proceeds from this went to Fishing 4 Schools. The prizes were procured by River Keeper John Aplin using various means and huge thanks are due to the donors of the excellent contributions. Charles Jardine was the guest of honour and after dinner speaker.
The raffle and auction of one of Charles’s superb pictures raised the princely sum of £1877 and a cheque was presented to Charles at the January meeting of the Dorset Chalkstream Club in West Stafford close to the Club’s fishing on the River Frome.
Rob Ayles
Rob Ayles, Charles jardine and John Aplin
140th AGM & Anniversary Dinner
The 140th AGM was held on Saturday 9th December in the Wessex Hotel, Dorchester. After sixteen years of looking after the Club’s funds, Jim Chalmers retired as the Honorary Treasurer. The Chairman thanked him for his sterling work over the past years. Jim was also elected as an Honorary Member in recognition for his service to the Club and Ian Rodd was voted on as the new Honorary Treasurer.
Bryan Sennett thanks Jim Chalmers
After the formal AGM was completed we enjoyed an illustrated guide through the year by John Aplin.
Then there was a break in proceedings, to allow the tables to be set for the 140th Anniversary Dinner. We were then joined by honoured guests, along with our special guest for the night, Charles Jardine, who gave an entertaining look at fly fishing. He also outlined the importance of the charity that he founded, Fishing for Schools. It offers young people the opportunity to discover the joy of fishing, whilst learning new skills in a fun and proactive way.
During the evening Rob Ayles was busily selling raffle tickets for a collection of amazing prizes that John Aplin had gathered from his many fishy contacts. The raffle and Members donations raised an astonishing £1,877.00 and was donated to Fishing for Schools.
Big thanks to all those involved in organising the night, especially Rob Ayles, John Aplin, Bryan Sennett who did an amazing job in putting the whole nights celebrations together and all the raffle prize donators for their generosity. See you all in ten years…
We even get a mention on the Countryside Alliance website www.countryside-alliance.org/angling-clubs-provide-christmas-bonus-fishing-schools/
December 2017 Work Party
A small group of Members helped the Keeper clear a few trees above Whitfield hatches today.
Last call out for the 140th Anniversary AGM & Dinner next Saturday night – there is still time to book a seat, just contact Rob Ayles r.ayles@btopenworld.com
If you can’t attend, why not buy a few raffle tickets – details of the amazing prizes & how to purchase your ticket(s) here www.grhe.co.uk/?p=2832
Please also complete your 2017 catch returns ASAP… www.grhe.co.uk/?page_id=500
November 2017 Work Party
Weather was against us, but we still cleared plenty of willow along the Poundbury beat and time for a brew at the end of the morning.
Dorchester Fishing Club / Fishing for Schools raffle
This year the famous Dorchester Fishing Club is celebrating its 140th Birthday… At the coming AGM and dinner on the 9th December we will be holding a grand raffle to raise money for the fabulous charity “Fishing for Schools”
Raffle tickets will be on sale before and are available to all persons keen to support, you can e mail me john@riverworks.co.uk or ring me on 07889 680464
Tickets priced at £5.00 will be on sale at this Fridays Chalkstream Club, West Stafford Village Hall 7.30 pm .
Hows this for an amazing list of great raffle prizes… Buy those tickets now folks….
DFC Dinner Grand Raffle Prizes
All funds raised are for the charity “Fishing for Schools“
- Sculpture by the lakes – Fishing lodge for four and fishing for two.
- Sportarm – Smart Fly Fishing Place Mats and Fly Fishing For Pike book.
- Charles R-W – A day for one on the Frome at Frampton during Mayfly.
- Russell Brown – Framed Mayfly print..
- Portland Shellfish – Lobster voucher.
- The Wild Trout Trust – Cap and a free years membership.
- Neil Keep – A day for two on the river Otter at the Deer Park Hotel.
- David Burton – Two rather lovely Trout prints.
- Orvis Sherborne – Gift Voucher..
- Casterbridge Fisheries Ltd – A day for two on the famous “Home Beat”
- Wise Man West Stafford – Voucher.
- David Miller – Stunning Brown Trout Print.
- Funky Fly Tying – Voucher.
- Ian May – Hampshire Fly Fishing Guide – Casting Lesson.
- Devon School of Fly Fishing – A guided Salmon day for one rod, on a private beat on the river Taw.
- Colin Anderson – Champagne.
- Derwen Organic Farm – Voucher.
- Smokin Drag Films – DVD and new film viewing
- Ian Stirling – Damson Gin.
- John Grindle – A bottle of Dorset’s finest wine
- Simon Ward – Two dozen hand tied Frome flies, with notes…
- Kris Kent – Fishpond fly waistcoat.
- Lee Moreton – A guided day foraging Fungi..
- Tom Putnam – A first day cover set of British River Fishes stamps -1983, along with a box of rather interesting items and notes..
- Doug Pritchard – A box of Czech nymphs tied by real Czechs.
- Conyers Tackle and Guns – 9ft 6″ fly rod reel and line.
- Peter Leatherdale – Two Trout landing nets and four bottles of fine red wine.
- Gavin McCourt – A fabulous days hurdle making or one or two people.
- Tony Tricky – A rather nice Single Malt.
A truly massive thank you to all those who have been so generous with their donated prizes…
Cormorant Watch
Angling’s representative body, the Angling Trust, has a web site for anglers to record sightings of cormorants, goosanders and mergansers throughout the UK: www.cormorantwatch.com The site is easy to use and will gather vital data to help persuade government of the need for action to protect fisheries. Friends
