Everyone was very quiet, even Willow refrained from whistling or singing, the last day of their trip and the finality of it hurt like hell. When they finished the coffee, Dougsden, cleaned the tankards and disappeared into the RV. “Frog hunter must be looking for clean pants”; said Hank, listening to the clattering and cussing from the RV.
Time to be going said Dougsden, pack up your cars. Each packed away their stuff and they then took a quiet stroll to the river. Dubbn , took out his flask , poured a drop into Turners Cross, sipped and offered it to his friends. Each in their own way said goodbye to the most extraordinary of rivers. They were very jealous of William and Bill, able to fish here anytime they wan't.
"Bet ya, every time they go up a pool they will looking over their shoulder's wondering if one of us is looking. Aaggh all good things come to an end. " ; Willowhead gave William a hearty clap on his back.
Dubbn corked the flask and they turned and went back to base camp. On the way they passed the stream, Hank saluted the toad pool and winked at Dougsden. " Thats a mighty fine stream William, I bet there's a big old trout in there somewhere"
Bill took the lead, the convoy of vehicles followed him up some dusty lanes till at last they came to a small pond. Clambering out they looked at Dougsden in horror. “Frog Hunting , he wants to take us Frog hunting “. Willowhead burst out laughing, “ that’s taking trout conservation to a new level, frog hunting here I come”
When they all finally calmed down Dougsden took control. Okay friends, you will not be needing your waders or your fancy carbon rods or flies for that matter. With that Dougsden went to the RV and returned with a bundle of sticks, each about four foot long, the tins of worms, corks, some twine, a spool of nylon and some barbless hooks and a large plastic bag.
We are going fishing Tom Sawyer Style and this is for you Becky he said taking a pink wig from the bag and throwing it in Willow’s direction.
A straw hat for Huck LetumGo and the other for Tom Hank.
Take your sticks gents and make up your fishing poles. Happy as pigs in muck the motley crew set to work , attaching the string to the poles. Willow struggled a bit with the wig covering his eyes and eventually LetUmGo came to his rescue. “ Let me hold your hair madam”
When they were ready Dougsden set out the game plan. “ I know none of you are competition folk but there’s two bottles of Whiskey left and I want to be rid of them. First hour its pole fishing, biggest fish gets a bottle, Second hour , you will be tying the string to your big toe and we will be doing some toe jigging, best fish gets a bottle.”
And so the seven friends marched down to the pond, sitting close together they cast out their worms and waited for a bite. "Who was it that said "a worm on one end and a fool on the other";asked Bill, " there is six fools here".
Willow as usual provided the background music..
Ol' man river.
That ol' man river.
He don't say nothin'........
They didn’t catch much, in fact the first bite came right on 56 minutes, Hank’s cork twitched and all six jumped to their feet in anticipation. Hank struck and brought a 2” minnow to hand. “ Awesome “; shouted Willow, “ Hanks finally caught the big one” They all howled with laughter, congratulating Hank. Hank took a bow, posed for a photo , kissed the minnow and released it.
“Now for the main event”, said the Frog Hunter, “off with your socks gentlemen”.
“Jeez, when did you last wash your feet Dubbn”; squealed Hank moving a yard away from Dubbn. Willow turned to Ray, “ My bellys in the way, can you tie this on my toe, I haven’t seen my toes since 19XX”.
"Look at Bills big toe, you could Jig a Marlin that "; William was enjoying the banter.
For the next hour they howled with laughter, jigging their toes up and down and surprise surprise they all got skunked. Willow did manage a hook up but the twine slipped of his toe when he tried to strike and so was declared the winner anyway.
Dougsden threw the poles into some bushes, released the remaining worms and tidied away the tackle and hats. He refused to take back the wig reckoning that it really suited Willow and improved his looks and would be great if he should ever decide to do some busking.
He then took the six tankards from the RV and handed one to each of his friends. Each engraved with their names, he had been busy with his penknife. Bushy Wet Arse, Lucky William, tie2fish , Dubby, Willow and LetUmGo. Raising their empty tankards and dougsden an empty beer tin, they toasted friendship.
One by one they left , each leaving a trail of dust along the old track.
Dubby and Dougsden had retreated to the RV, sad that the road trip was almost over.
Watching the last of them go, Hank raised his tankard one final time.
“To the Fellowship of the Trout, may we meet again some day”.
Hank opened the door of the RV for rascal , then Hank taking one final look, jumped in , switched on the Sat Nav and looked at Rascal.
“ West rascal, we are going West”
THE END
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The Cast
Hank "Bushy , Wet Arse" - Catcher of Big Trout and a heck of a coffee drinker.
He dreamed of a great trout and inspired a saga.
Rascal - as Rascal. A mans best friend and a fine face licker.
RV - The smelliest RV east of Utah, Dubby's missing sock is in there somewhere.
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William " William the Lucky", Gentleman and a fine guide, awesome fly tier.
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Dubbn " Dubby , Daniel Boone" Trout Hunter and Frontier’s man, few of his kind are left.
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Dougsden "The Frog hunter" - Toad Catcher par Excellence, Trout Hunter supreme
To protect Dougsdens privacy from marauding commerical angling enterprises seeking to sign him to their brand we are unable to reveal his identity at this time.
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Bill "as himself tie2fish " Fine fine guide , man of few words even after a few whiskeys.
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LetUmGo " as himself" - Fly tier most excellent, will travel long way just for a beer with friends.
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Willowhead " Willow, Becky, Louis Armstrong, .......the Beatles................."
Trout Hunter for a day, Entertainer for life.
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Otter
Hunter by night, Spinner of Yarns by day.
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Coming to your favorite forum, some day , some season, some time
" The Two Rivers "
" Return of the Trout Hunter"
..... 