Fishing farce

Posted by @ 6:43 pm on Saturday 13th October, 2007.
Categories: A bit of a rant, Fishing, Great Escapes

Way back in July, Chris gave me a voucher as a birthday present - it was for a half-day of fly-fishing tuition. She really knows how to pick the right present - I hadn't managed to get out fishing at all this year, and this was just the excuse that I needed.

Now, I've been doing this trout-fishing malarkey for quite a few years and I'm already at an intermediate level, so back at the start of September I had a chat with the tutor and we agreed what skills I needed to improve. We agreed to meet at the Pitsford Water Lodge at 09:00 this morning.

I spent a fair part of the last week sorting the tackle, making new flies, stretching the lines and getting excited about the upcoming event. I was up early this morning, packed and away in good time and I arrived at the Lodge at 08:40. There was a very light mist on the water, a gentle breeze and the sky was overcast - fair conditions for this time of year.

I enquired at the Lodge shop as to the whereabouts of the tutor, he wasn't there yet so I went for a short walk, mooched around the shop, checked out the boats etc.. 09:00 passed and no tutor arrived. 09:30 passed, still no tutor. 09:35 passed and I was getting a bit pissed-off. I checked at the Lodge to see if a boat had been booked for our tuition... no booking.

The lady at the Lodge offered me a permit and a boat for the day. The offer was very generous but I had to decline - the day had already been paid for (except the boat-supplement) so I hadn't brought enough cash to pay for it all again. Besides, by then the fun-factor had fecked-off, and I wasn't in the mood any more. Disgruntled, I got back in the car and started back home after texting the tutor to let him know the score.

Chris was livid, she's been told that she'll get a full refund but she feels like she hasn't got me a birthday pressie after all. And as for me? It's just another wasted day (the last free day I have before Winter sets in), it's made a mockery of all the preparation during the week, and 67 miles-worth of petrol have gone up in smoke.

Yes, you guessed it... I'm not very impressed either.

One Response to “Fishing farce”

  1. Scott says:
    Monday 15th October, 2007 at 9:15 pm

    Ach that's rotten, Stef. Pretty restrained of you to text the guy, rather than going mental down the phone at him.

    Folk, eh?

    :0(

    Hope your tripod thing is cheering you up a wee bit!

    Reply? or Quote in reply?

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