Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. It was our gazebo….or nearly. That sums up the weather at Newark. Apart from a very cold and calm early Sunday morning it was wind, wind and rain or wind and hail, and bloody, bloody cold, and after the gazebo went for a flying lesson we were left unprotected from the elements. Did that dampen our enthusiasm? Not a bit, we carried on regardless. We are a hardy lot at the BFCC….. apart from Roger…..who made the pitiful excuse he was needed on the stand….inside…..in the warm.

 I think our first show of the year should be somewhere warm and exotic, like the Caribbean, but until that happens it will be Newark in February, the Palm Springs of the Midlands.

 Despite the weather the BFCC once again had a very successful show. We were kept busy by a constant stream of people wanting to improve their casting or those that just wanted to see what fly casting was all about. Our new B100 class proved very popular in the competition we had on Saturday. In fact Alan Bath fell only 6” short of having to join the elite casters. Carl Malpass hit a superb cast to win the seven weight and I managed to finally hook one up to pip Carl in the five. Carl will have to get out and practice more though because his father Ian can now double haul like a demon and will be catching him up soon.

 We had the annual invasion of the Walkers with Chris and Richard sucking up as much instruction as they could and father Dave didn’t break one of my rods….for a change.

 I would like to thank Mark Surtees and Steve Kemp for their unflinching efforts in the face of some very inclement weather. I would also like to thank Roger and Tracy for bringing in the punters (a special thanks to Tracy for giving a poor, cold, old man a cuddle when he needed it most) [Roger did offer, but it wouldn't have been the same]. A big thanks to James and Tracy who have brought us into the 21st century by creating a computer program that is a whizz at the recording and placing of competitors in our competitions. Thanks also to Alan and Wendy Bath who helped organised and record the competition. It was especially nice to see Wendy looking so well after recent events. MM, as always, inspires us to keep going. Thanks to non BFCC instructors who joined in and who’s brains I shamelessly picked. Special mention for Steve Yeoman who popped in for some advice from MM and we roped in to help with the instruction.

If  I have missed anyone I’m sorry.

By the way, we were missing out official photographer, Terry Jenner, and none of us thought to take any pics. If you did take some could you email them to me for the gallery please

Mike H

Happy New Year to all fellow BFCC members. I am pleased to say that there are more of you each year. Mike Marshall was telling me the other day that our membership far exceeds that of the old BCA (British Casting Association) from back in the day (’s that only Mike is old enough to remember). Of course back then it was word of mouth, telephone or letters. Not like today when we can catch you at your computer or iphone.

 2010 was another good year for the club. All of our events were well attended , we made new friends and reached parts other clubs can’t reach. One of the benefits of not being associated in any way with the taint of commercialism or any other group is that we are not seen as a threat to any particular group. Any and everyone are welcome to attend any of our meetings or events without the risk of being seen as one thing or another. We are an inclusive club, not an exclusive one. I honestly believe we are what we say on the tin, The Home Of Friendly Fly Casting, or, the Friendly Home Of Fly Casting, I can never remember. Our aim is to create, re-kindle or re-inforce your enthusiasm for fly casting. This should benefit the whole fly casting and fly fishing community from shops to instructors and you.

This year we will be travelling around our usual haunts (Newark, Reading, Wrexham, Brentwood) plus, we are going north of the border for the first time with our event in Glasgow. I have heard whispers that there might be other possibilities as well. More on that if Mike M’s tireless work comes to fruition.

 Once again, if any of you would like to contribute and article just send it to me (Mike Heritage) as an email. I promise the only thing I will do is put it through the spell checker ( like wot i doo for miself) before I publish it.

 We look forward to seeing you all again this year.

 MikeH

It is very good to be able to report that the BFCC is further expanding its areas of operation with a Meeting in Glasgow on Sunday 11 September 2011. However, we will not be doing it all on our own, since we have had help from several people, to which the Club’s gratitute must be expressed. However, special mention must be made of our friend, Alberto Laidlaw, who emailed to say “The Glasgow Casting Club is delighted to be working with The BFCC during their first trip north of the border. We have a committed group of guys who regularly meet to cast and who I know will benefit from the day with the BFCC, so a good turnout is anticipated”. 

He was also instrumental in directing us to Pollok Park, which is a very pleasant country environment within the City, with the Police Club and rugby pitches being good for casting. Importantly though, for any of you who may be concerned, they have promised to let us go when we finish!!!

The proceedings for the day will be like the very successful model established in Wrexham in 2010, and directions/other details are given in the CALENDAR.

I am sure all the Club Members will join with me in welcoming new friends to our Glasgow Meeting, which is an area steeped in fly fishing tradition.

Please email your interest to: mikemarshallbfcc@hotmail.com

After the Wrexham meeting GAIA kindly invited the BFCC to give workshops on tournament and full line distance casting at their autumn meeting. Mike Marshall accepted the invitation which meant he and I have spent a weekend in Wales at Caer Beris Manor. The meeting is part of  GAIA’s CPPD ( continuing personal and professional developement) and Mike and I gave two of the several workshops available to the sixty GAIA members who attended.

 Mike gave the tournament workshop and a demo of casting a five weight DT in the morning and I did mine on distance with full lines in the afternoon. I think it’s fair to say that the majority who attended our workshops are primarily river orientated so the sight of eighty feet of fly line being held up by a five weight rod wasn’t something they were used to seeing, nor was the sight (or lack of it ) of a T120 disappearing into the distance like a launched rocket.

 I think I am safe in saying both were well recieved and generated quite a bit of interest. I know for certain Mike and I thoroughly enjoyed doing them.

 I managed to attend a couple of the other excellent workshops which certainly have contributed greatly to my own CPPD and were worth the the trip on their own.

I don’t know why I am always surprised at the friendliness and enthusiasm of the fly fishing fraternity, especially fellow instructors. You would have thought I would have got used to it by now.

 Thank you GAIA for the invitation and your generous hospitality.

  Mike Heritage

For very sound business reasons the Fly Show has been merged with the Shooting Show at Newark on the 26th and 27th February. Unfortunately, this large event  submerges our usual casting area under tents, so the organisers are trying find us another suitable area. As the plans become clearer I will ‘keep you posted’. In the meantime we will need to have a flexible view of the situation, which is a sign of the the times in which we live.

Following the recent Brentwood Meeting, David Fisher made the point that for casters just starting competition casting, there was no realistic chance of winning anything, and he was right! Yes, tuition and The Badge scheme were helpful, but something more to keep up casting morale and enthusiasm was needed.

Following some discussion at BFCC Committee level and with David, the B100 casting competition was devised and will be introduced at Newark in 2011, with the specific objective of encouraging casters up the competition ladder. This will be open to casters who have not cast 100ft or more in any BFCC #5F or #7F event. Competitors in this category will enter the #5F and #7F events in the usual way and their longest cast in each will be added together. The winner’s trophy will be presented to the caster with the highest combined total.

It is hoped that the idea of casting in both competitions will provide the opportunity to recover, should one result be a disappointment and, also, reflect a river or stillwater fishing background of those concerned.

If eligible, please have a try - it will be fun and add to your casting experience. It certainly helped me when I started and cast with the greats of the day, as a British Casting Association ‘C’ class caster, in 1966.

Here is alternative viewpoint of last weekends meeting by Roger Miles. I think it’s a bit rich of Roger to talk about Tomo grabbing the gold in his grubby little hands when he spends half his time at meetings pursuading us to part with our money…… Ah, CHUBBY, sorry Rog, I misread that bit. 

Mike H

 When Mike Heritage told me of his intention to change the format of the competition of the BFCC to bring it more in line with international standards, I got quite excited.

 Then I thought hang on a minute our own Jonathan Tomlinson will be up there to grab gold in his chubby little hands,

 Anyway it all got off to a flying start and as Mike’s own report says it went extremely well. The way it was organised by Mike Heritage & John Reynolds was flawless.

 Now last year Jonathan Tomlinson was hitting very big numbers in all distances, but on the day he was so hung over (I suspect he was nobbled the night before)  he could not even see the casting lane let alone throw a line down it, so he was very disappointed in the BFCC 2009 meeting.

 Therefore it was no surprise when every few minutes Jono came up to me and kept saying “I am sober today Rog”.  I thought, here we go, he is going to win it all.

 But big Trev saw him off in the Salmon. John Reynolds, showed him what to do with a bit of fluff in the accuracy, Lisa Isles gave him a fright in the T38. James Evans beat him by feet not inches in the T38, so well done to all you guys and girls that took part.

 Anyone that looks at the results on our website will realise that in England we have some of the best in the world.

 Now here’s the rub, Jono was the overall winner, it just goes to show that world class is world class. You are the man Jonathan.

 Next year we will start drinking two days before, so enjoy your spoils Jono, because we are coming for you.

 To sum up our event for the BFCC October meeting 2010 I have to use the words of the boss Michael Marshall, who has hosted scores of meetings over the years. He said “this is the best meeting ever”.

 Again, well  done everyone, see you at the Spring Show in March next year.

I know all my event reports start off by saying what a fantastic/successful/enjoyable day it was but most of you were not members three or more years ago when it was only me, John Reynolds Mike Marshall plus the odd stray dog that turned up for meetings. Yes, I know I am exaggerating, slightly, but there is a buzz and vibrancy about the club now that is just so pleasing to those of us that lived through the doldrums. Especially pleasing for Mike Marshall without whom the club would probably have folded ages ago.

 With everybody’s help the new system of casting different events in different lanes at the same time worked really well and the accuracy comp seemed to be very popular, I even managed to hit one or two myself. In fact things ran so smoothly that we managed to cast all six of our events.

 I suppose I should feel sorry for Tomo because if this had been the club championship event instead of a dress rehearsal he would have been crowned champion by a country mile. It isn’t natural for one person to be so good at every discipline, he won three events and was well placed in the others, as you will see if MM can make head or tail of the results sheets.

 James Evens regrets having a warm up cast with the nine weight, it went 151′ which, unfortunately, he couldn’t repeat once the clock started. It also allowed Tomo to cast what I think is a new club record.

 We probably have at least one new ladies record when new member Lisa Isles cast 166′ with the T38, note the T38 is the mens event, women can cast a slightly lighter outfit, but we didn’t have one handy.

 Jaw dropping moment of the day was new member Trevor Bourne who picked up the T120 for the first time in his life and threw five consecutive casts over 200′ with a best of 225′ to win the event. I have never topped 200′ in all the years I have been a member!

There were quite a few who turned up just for some instruction and they were all given the Mike Marshall treatment assisted by Roger, Alex, Mark and Steve. The club is very fortunate to have some outstanding coaching talent which has been the backbone of our recent success. While talking about instructing, the club would like to thank Steve for the donation of a five weight rod. It is prove very useful for all the instructing we do these days

 From a personal point of view it was nice to have John Reynolds back and firing on all cylinders and I was especially pleased that all the members willingly joined in to help run casting lanes when asked. Thank you all very much.

 I will probably need to come back and edit some of this when MM has put the results up, I am terrible at remembering names. It’s an age thing.

 Mike Heritage

 Ps. since I wrote the above I have recieved several complimentery messages about the event and I gather so has MM. Thank you, we appreciate it.

This years Brentwood meeting will be used as a dress rehearsal. I would like all competitive members to be involved with the running of the event so that the work load is spread a bit more evenly and everyone has the chance to have a few practice casts before their turn on the mat. The idea is that this meeting will become a championship event, someone will be crowned club champion based on overall performance in all events at the meeting. We hope to add an accuracy component so that those of you who are not necessarily big hitters are in with a chance. I also hope it will give those of us who are not particularly good at some of the events the reason to go out and practice them so that we are at least competant, if not fantastic. I, for instance, might accumulate a good score in the five, seven and accuracy elements only to see my chances fall away because my T38 and T120 are abysmal.

 Instead of all casting one event at a time there will be three lanes, 5,7 and accuracy. The person who draws No1 will start on the five and move straight onto the seven and then the accuracy. Three minutes for each event.  The person drawn No2 casts the five as No 1 casts the seven and so on. After the draw those that are first off can go away for a ten minute warm up. Those drawn last will be asked to be time and lane judges. Your places will be taken by those finishing their events so that you will have your chance to warm up before you cast.

There will be a short break after the first three events while we organise the lanes for the heavier events and then we start the whole thing again with the T38 and T120. The nine weight will only be included if we seem to have the time .

 This is really a taster to see how it works so please bear with us.

 See you Sunday

 Mike H

 PS. I have Tomo’s report on the recent world championships in Norway and will put it up after Sunday