Herefordshire rod Dr Stuart Macoustra shares fond memories
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1. HOOKED ON FISHING I was introduced to fly-fishing on the River Usk in the early 1960s. Dad brought mum this 8ft Sharpe’s Scottie split-cane rod for her birthday. She was unimpressed and I was the beneficiary of his largesse. The Roddy 32 was an early 1960s Japanese imitation of the Hardy Princess, possibly the first example of fishing tackle “going green”. Still serviceable, although lightly used and less coveted than the Princess.
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2. TIMELESS CLASSICS The Westley Richards Walter Dingley reel (circa 1920, pictured left) was purchased from Hatton’s of Hereford. This schoolboy remembers gazing in awe at the casts of numerous 40lb Wye salmon on the wall and plugs for sale with exotic names such as Heddon River Runt Spook Sinker. The Dingley was to be used for trotting prawns under a float. Dad also acquired this very early Ambassadeur 6000. He was a gifted caster with both and could propel heavy baits accurately all day with never a bird’s nest in sight.
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3. BACK TO MY ROOTS My happy boyhood was spent catching many trout in the Usk’s prolific spring hatches. In common with many fly-fishers, life tends to interrupt proceedings.
After medical training and practising “catch and release” in Liverpool hospitals for years, I eventually found “the keeper” (the beautiful nurse who still puts up with fishing widowhood 46 years later). We moved to Abergavenny where the hospital grounds just happened to back on to the banks of the River Usk. I never did tell the organisers why I picked their GP training course. Flies used include Olive Quill, March Brown, Grey Duster, Kite’s Imperial, Dogsbody and Dark Sedge, tied by Jean Williams in the 1960s. She remains a good friend to this day.
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4. THE AFFLICTION I became afflicted by the (so far) incurable illness, salmon madness, on the Kola peninsula, where I caught my fir
