The Association of Major Fly Fishing Clubs 2011 September · Mark Brinkman 5 11lbs 7oz John McCallum 2 8lbs 4oz Chris Bobby 8 18lbs 9oz TOTAL 49lbs 6oz Hanningfield F.A. Ray Martin

The Association of Major Fly Fishing Clubs

2011 September

All the Results –All the Reports – Each Month

Final !ewsletter before the last Match

From Martin Cottis after the Group Two Match on Chew One thing I forgot to mention was that I arranged a meal after the competition. Twenty of the twenty-four angler booked to have it. I persuaded John our chef to have sausage, chips and beans ready for six fifteen.

I asked for minimal price, and he eventually agreed to charge me £3.50. It was well received. The anglers were fed, "watered", and given results and still

away before seven. That is what we anglers need when we go a long distance! I

The Fun Day

This will be the first

Fun Day without its

originator – Mike

Clark. It would be

nice to have a full

entry this year.

It is at Pitsford on

Sunday 9th. October.

It is for teams of

FOUR who fish

together in two boats.

It is an excellent event

for your less

experienced members,

because they fish with

someone from their

own club. Also it is

not too serious!

There will be an meal

and prizes after the

match.

Contact John

Caldwell for entry

form.

What’s in a �ame?

Better anglers than me have

struggled with a definition of

both Fly Fishing and ‘what is a

fly’.

Perhaps, after all it is

idiosyncratic. We all have our

own definitions to which we

‘mostly’ adhere. We all give

ourselves a little leeway! One

day on Bewl I was sitting

having lunch and threw a piece

of bread onto the water which

was immediately gulped down.

I know that casting a bit of

bread stuck onto a hook is

NOT Fly Fishing, but that is

what I did and caught the trout.

Now I do not think that

trolling, or fishing on the

rudder comes close to my

definition of Fly Fishing. I

think the flies used come closer

to the concept of ‘spinners’

than flies.

I was talking to a well know

and VERY good fly fisher (by

my definition) about this at

Rutland a while back. He was

going out for a day’s fishing on

the Rudder. He pointed out to

me that Rutland (as do many

other still water fisheries) calls

itself a TROUT FISHERY.

Well that is not correct on

two counts. Firstly it

allows anglers to fish for

PIKE and possibly Zander.

This makes it

a Pike/Zander and Trout

Fishery.

Secondly it defines the only

legal way of fishing for trout

with Flies. (It allows other

methods for predators)

If it is a Trout Fishery then

how you fish and with what

you fish becomes irrelevant.

It is only if it is defined as a

Fly Fishery then we enter the

murky world of defining fly

fishing.

In reality it does not matter

what my definition is. The

owners or the managing

committee will define the

method. This will range from

imitation of an adult fly sitting

on the surface and only cast to

a rising fish - to sitting in a

moving boat with the line

stretched out behind with an

imitation of a dead parrot, or

even a spinner/dead bait.

The big waters are capable of

giving great fishing to all

definitions. Think of

Hanningfield – now a Mixed

Fishery but the results I see

confirm it fishes well to that

definition that we use in the

A.M.F.C.

Almost Perfect Conditions for the

Group One – Round Five Match on Rutland

A Wide Range of methods and Success

Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘A’ 1 5 4 4 2 16 2

Fish Hawks ‘A’ 5 3 1 3 3 15 3

Grafham Water F.A. 2 2 3 2 4 13 4

Hanningfield F.A. 3 1 2 1 1 8 5

Rutland Water F.F. 4 4 5 5 5 23 1

Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd 5 Rd6 TOTALS POSITION

Dave Lang

Best Bag

Jim McCallum

Best Fish

Results &ame &o Weight

Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘A’ John Dunmall 2 4lbs 9oz Phil Thompsoin 8 19lbs 15oz

Nick Cox 6 13lbs 15oz

Ray Burt 4 7lbs 12oz Martin Gray 3 4lbs 14oz

***

TOTAL 31lbs 1oz

Fish Hawks ‘A’ Phil Thomas 1 4lbs 4oz Bal Brooks 4 8lbs 10oz

Si Morris 4 8lbs 2oz

Kerry Richardson 3 5lbs 1oz Al Grice-Jackson 3 5lbs 10oz

Chris Price 2 6lbs 4oz

TOTAL 37lbs 15oz

Grafham Water FFA. ‘A’’ Richard Kesek 2 3lbs 6oz Derek Bravington 3 7lbs 12oz

Andy Linwood

Mark Brinkman 5 11lbs 7oz John McCallum 2 8lbs 4oz

Chris Bobby 8 18lbs 9oz

TOTAL 49lbs 6oz

Hanningfield F.A. Ray Martin 1 2lbs 2oz

Lee Pond 4 7lbs 15oz ***

***

*** ***

TOTAL 10lbs 1oz

Rutland Water F.F. Graham Pearson 6 12lbs 1oz

Ron Gent 4 10lbs 4oz Al Owen 8 20lbs 15oz

David Lang 8 22lbs 0oz

Paul Wild 7 12lbs 8oz Mike Barret 4 8lbs 11oz

TOTAL 86lbs 7oz

Best Bag 22lbs 0oz

Dave Lang (Rutland Water)

Best Fish 5lbs 4oz

John McCallum (Grafham)

With a light SW breeze and

cloud for much of the day

conditions seemed perfect. A

few periods of sun and a

cooling of the breeze in the

afternoon meant that any

surface activity which seemed

to beginning stopped!

Almost all the boats set off for

Fantasy Island and most stayed

in that area all day.

One exception was Phil

Thomas and partner who went

to Brown’s Island area and

fished small dries for a few

fish.

Rutland had not been fishing

well so expectations were not

high. An average of just over

4 fish was good. With four

limits and one blank numbers

varied widely.

The most successful method by

far was nymphing on either a

floater or very shallow with

sinkers. Dave Lang’s best bag

(as did Al Owen’s limit) came

from Fantasy Island. Dave

starting with a floater and

changing to a midge tip. His

flies ranged from Crunchers to

Daiwl Bach’s.

One angler reported success

with a Black Booby also fished

just sub surface.

A third consecutive first place

for the Rutland Team (pictured

below) means that Rutland

Water cannot now be

overtaken and become

Association Champions for

another year.

Strong Wind effects the fishing at Grafham for

Group Two – Round Five

One limit at the top of the wind – one at the bottom

Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd 4 Rd5 Rd 6 TOTALS POSITION

Results

�ame �o Weight

Bristol Reservoirs Martin Cottis 8 21lbs 7oz

Graham Curry 2 5lbs 11oz

John Humphrey 2 5lbs 8oz Peter de Kremer 2 6lbs 10oz

Paul Crook 0

***

TOTAL 39lbs 4oz

Fish Hawks ‘B’ Keith Gilchrest 1 2lbs 3oz

High White 1 1lb 12oz

Dale Barnfeather 0 Dean Baker 0

Gary Holdsworth 2 3lbs 9oz

***

TOTAL 7lbs 8oz

Queen Mother F.F. Steve Radcliffe 6 13lbs 11oz

Jim Longmore 2 5lbs 8oz

Dave Kidby 3 6lbs 10oz Alan Murphy 4 7lbs 2oz

Graham Herbert 4 10lbs 4oz

Danny Peat 7 16lbs 9oz

TOTAL 59lbs 13oz

Royal �avy/Marines Mark Close 2 4lbs 8oz Mark Glass 3 7lbs 14oz

Ron Tutt 1 2lbs 8oz

Nik Tompkins 4 10lbs 4oz Tony Wilkinson 8 16lbs 13oz

Charlie Bowers 3 5lbs 9oz

TOTAL 47lbs 8oz

Soldier Palmers ‘A’

�o Show

Best Fish 4lbs 6oz

�ik Tompkins (R�RMAA)

Best Bag 21lbs 7oz

Martin Cottis (Bristol Res,)

Strong winds the previous day

prevented any boats from

venturing out for practice

sessions so match day saw

everyone relying on reports

from the previous week in

deciding how to proceed for

the match.

The wind was still fresh for the

start and forecast to increase

which it duly did, with the sky

remaining overcast throughout

and temperatures reaching

18C.

Boats went their separate ways

from the off with the majority

heading for the North shore

which had fished well the

previous week, and the

remainder electing to try

Gaynes Cove.

The strong wind proved

difficult on the North shore and

a number of boats were soon to

leave in search of more

sheltered fishing; those that

stuck it out did well, most

notably Tony Wilkinson who

caught his eighth fish at 16:40

using a blob and booby

combination on a Di 5 line.

The Southern corner of the

Dam proved the most sheltered

area on the day and for many

the most productive; either

fishing alongside the weed

beds or close to the dam wall.

Danny Peat caught 7 fish from

the dam using 2 blobs on a Di

3.

However, it was Martin Cottis

who caught steadily on dries

from around the weed beds

who completed an excellent

winning bag at 16:00

.

A number of good fish were

taken which resulted in an

average weight of just over 2lb

5oz with the best of these being

one of 4lb 6oz taken by Nik

Tompkins.

Team honours went to Queen

Mother F.F. with a great

performance that saw 5 of their

anglers in the top 9 taking a

total of 26 fish for 59lb 13oz.

The missing Round Two will

be fished on Chew on 22nd.

Sept.

Tony Wilkinson

Caught his limit it the top of

the wind in very unpleasant

conditions

Bristol Reservoirs F.A. 1 3 2 3 9 4

Fish Hawks ‘B’ 2 1 1 2 6 5

Queen Mother F.F. 3 4 4 5 16 1=

Royal �avy/Marines 5 2 5 4 16 1=

Soldier Palmers ‘A’ 4 5 3 0 12 3

Group Two have a Wonderful Day’s Fishing

In the Re-arranged Round Two Match on

Chew 7.4 Average

Bristol Reservoirs F.A. 1 3 3 2 3 12 4

Fish Hawks ‘B’ 2 2 1 1 2 8 5

Queen Mother F.F. 3 4 4 4 5 21 1

Royal �avy/Marines 5 5 2 5 4 20 2

Soldier Palmers ‘A’ 4 1 5 3 0 13 3

Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 TOTALS POSITION

Results *ame *o Weight

Fish Hawks ‘B’ Keith Gilchrest 8 17lbs 8oz

Keith Jones 8 20lbs

Chris Pearce 7 12lbs 7oz Dean Baker 3 7lbs 12oz

Al Ovendon 8 19lbs 4oz

***

TOTAL 76lbs 15oz

Bristol Reservoirs John Wellman 7 14lbs 2oz Andres Wilkes 8 18lbs 12oz

Dean Harley 8 19lbs 14oz Malcolm Fisher 8 17lbs 8oz

Mark Stevens 8 19lbs 5oz

John Humphrey 8 14lbs 13oz

TOTAL 104lbs 6oz

Queen Mother F.F. Jim Longmore 8 18lbs 2oz Alan Murphy 8 18lbs

Dave Kidby 8 17lbs

Ali Munn 8 16lbs 12oz Steve Radcliffe 8 16lbs 15oz

Mike Hill 8 19lbs 4oz

TOTAL 106lbs 1oz

Royal *avy/Marines Neil Jones 8 18lbs 12oz Ron Tutt 8 19lbs 7oz

Chris Anderson 8 19lbs 5oz

Jan Minall 8 21lbs 13oz Steve Scott 6 11lbs 8oz

Mark Glass 8 22lbs 4oz

TOTAL 113lbs 1oz

Soldier Palmers ‘A’ Dean Rudd 8 18lbs 1oz ***

***

*** ***

***

TOTAL 18lbs 1oz

Best Bag 2lbs 4oz

Mark Glass (*avy/Marines)

Best Fish 4lbs 13oz

Mark Glass (*avy/Marines)

Great fishing conditions

greeted the anglers at Chew

Valley. Overcast skies, gentle

breeze and a hint of rain - what

more would a trout fisherman

ask for? Boats set out from the jetty and

opted to fish the water between

Villice bay and Sailing Club.

There was a fairly even spread

throughout that area. Looking

down on the water from the

Lodge, it was apparent that the

fish were on the feed and it

was good to see so many fish

being hooked.

After the initial frenzy, the

fishing slowed down and it was

noticeable how the boats on the

outside edges of the pack were

the ones getting most action.

Boats gradually spread out,

fishing slowed even more,

meaning that those who had

managed to get off to a better

start were in pole positions. Mark Glass not only caught the

largest fish on the day, but also

had the largest time bonus

through

finishing his

limit earliest,

thus his

reasonable

weight of

17pounds

exactly had

another 5lbs 4

ounces to add

to it! Mark fished nymphs and

blobs.

Early on the fish were high in

the water and local angler

Malcolm Fisher persisted with

dries to take his limit. Most

other anglers varied between

nymphs and lures, but almost

all the fish were taken near the

surface. Around one thirty the

wind increased and this really

made the fishing tougher.

Several anglers had caught

five, six or even seven fish in

the first couple of hours, but

the next couple of fish often

took considerably longer to

catch. Then with about an

hour and a half to go the sun

came out to make conditions

the toughest of the day.

There were several good fish

caught and around a dozen of

three pounds and more. Dean

Rudd of the Soldier Palmers

team caught a brown trout of

4lbs 8ounces as his last fish - it

was a splendid looking fish.

Tunbridge Wells T.F.S. ‘Home &Dry’ after

A Fourth Win on a Windy Pitsford in

Round Five – Group Three

Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘B’ 2 3 3 2 3 13 2=

Grafham Water F.A. ‘B’ 1 2 2 1 1 7 4

Invicta F.C. ‘A’ 3 1 4 3 2 13 2=

Tunbridge Wells T.F.S. 4 4 1 4 4 17 1

Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 POINTS POSITION

Results

*ame *o Weight

Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘B’ David Little 2 5lbs 9oz

Richard Denny 3 7lbs 14oz Ray French 2 4lbs 12oz

Ralph Painter 4 10lbs 6oz

Ray Simpson 4 9lbs 5oz Ian Watts 5 15lbs 11oz

TOTAL 53lbs 9oz

Grafham Water F.F.A.’B’ Peter Hartley 4 9lbs 4oz

Tony Sterling 0 Steve Ellerbeck 5 13lbs 0oz

John Weaver 0

Joan Russell 4 8lbs 12oz ***

TOTAL 31lbs

Invicta F.C. ‘A’ Chris McLeod 0

John Mees 8 20lbs 14oz Mark Searle 4 8lbs 5oz

Lawson Wight 0

Kieran Caulfield 1 3lbs 8oz Andy Newman 2 4lbs 14oz

TOTAL 37lbs 9oz

Tunbridge Wells T.F.S. Peter Thomason 6 19lbs 8oz

Jim McGonigle 1 2lbs 13oz

Mick Dwyer 3 7lbs 13oz Mick Priest 4 11lbs 6oz

Keith Lawrence 1 3lbs 7oz

Keith Nicholson 8 21lbs 12oz

TOTAL 66lbs 11oz

Best Fish 4lbs 5oz

Ian Watts (Bewl ‘b’)

Best Bag 21lbs 12oz

Keith *icholson (T. Wells)

With a fourth win out of five, Tunbridge Wells T.F.S. have

guaranteed a consecutive

promotion. Provided they get

one point in the Autumn Match

they will be Group Three

Champions.

As one angler said of the

Tunbridge Team, ‘They had

three Internationals and three

National Finalists in the Team

– they meant business!’

The weather forecast indicated

that winds would gust to nearly

30 mph for the match on

Pitsford. It was accurate!

Practice days saw fish in every

part of Pitsford. On match day

they were quite difficult to

find.

With fish difficult to find it

was not surprising that tactics

ranged from floating lines and

nymphs to DI5’s with blobs

and boobies.

The most successful results

went to those who pulled all

day. It was not a day for

delicate nymphs or dries.

Kieth Nicholson’s limit came

just before 3.0 pm and John

Mees only just before the end

of the match.

Opposite

Tunbridge

Wells

***

Below

Ian Watts

of Bewl

Best Fish