Tiggy Legge Bourke teaching fly fishing on the River Usk, Wales.
Wynn Davis asked me if I would shoot a feature for Trout & Salmon Magazine on the Welsh Usk at the Glanusk Estate. It was a truly wonderful commission. One of those shoots that we hope comes along every week. Wynn Davis (journalist for Trout & Salmon) and expert fly fisher Dave Mee, met Rhys Lleywelyn and myself at the Glanusk Estate where we were welcomed by Harry and Iona Legge-Bourke.
After a brief chat over morning coffee we set off on a short walk to the river Usk which runs through the estate. The weather was glorious. The morning sun was rising behind the tree lined valley making the river twinkle like millions of stars. Dave Mee had only made a few casts and was into his first brown trout. "Ummmm, a fly fishing shoot doesn't normally go this well"... So, within ten minutes we had fish and fish on camera. Nice... The day progressed as to plan with plenty of fish being caught, one really good one, which we guessed to be 3lb plus, escaped from the net. But I got it on camera.
Harry and Iona Legge Bourke brought a picnic down to the river bank consisting of; PateÌ, scotch eggs, mayonnaise/mustard and locally sourced treacle, rolled ham, french bread and tomatoes, finger size fruit cake, chocolate biscuits and great coffee and tea. Wow. They left saying, 'see you all for dinner tonight', wonderful...
As the afternoon wore on we fished most of the 2 miles of river which created fantastic backdrops for the photographs. More beautiful brown trout with big poppy spots where caught and released. At the top of the beat we bumped into Tiggy Legge Bourke who was teaching a group of youngsters how to flyfish. 
As the light began to fade behind the trees, we called it a day and headed up to the house for dinner. I downloaded 750 images onto my MacBook, checked all was ok, and headed to the drawing room for pre-dinner drinks. We all agreed that it was a great day and all the images we wished for had been captured. "Now lads, lets chill out, have more drinks and eat dinner" stated, Harry. That was around 8pm, we managed to get to our rooms at 4am. What a gig...
This article will be published in the July 09 issue of Trout & Salmon Magazine. And, if you fancy a day on the river at The Glanusk Estate, book now. Take it from me, it doesn't get any better. 
Dave Mee was into a fish within 5 minutes...
Nice brown trout...
Left to right; Dave Mee, Harry Legge Bourke, Me, Rhys Lleywelyn, Wynn Davis. Having just finished a wonderful dinner.
This article will be published in the July 09 issue of Trout & Salmon Magazine. And, if you fancy a day on the river at The Glanusk Estate, book now. Take it from me, it doesn't get any better.
