By Chris Taee, a Member of Meon Springs Fly Fishery and a regular on the Meon Beat

I’ve probably had more than my fare share of time on the catch and release waters at Meon Springs this year, which has been a lot of fun -  even if it can get a touch frustrating at times.
 
Firstly, thanks to Brian Richardson for his advice to go small. I rapidly armed myself with plenty of barbless 18, 20 and 22 nymphs, which have been by far the most effective way of catching fish, rather than just practising my casting!
 
Picture attached of my fly box which might give some folk a bit of help when choosing types of fly to use. I think pretty much most all of these have caught fish.

​The fifth annual Fishing For Forces (FFF) 'Cast and Blast' at Meon Springs was a great success  raising £8640 for this fantastic charity.

TV host Chris Tarrant managed to squeeze every last penny out of the 60-strong group of FFF supporters at the lunch time auction.

Bill Bishop caught the largest fish at 6lb 12oz. The largest bag went to Paul Robinson with four fish well over 12lb.

Hank Di Mond was the best shot with 19 hit out of 20.

Next year's 'Cast and Blast' in aid of Fishing for Forces is Saturday 13 July 2019.