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Cullumpton 2013

mikeh — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:46:24 +0000

After the most miserable winter I can remember we were blessed to have some decent weather for the first event of the year. A chance to blow away the cobwebs, try to remember which end of the fly rod to hold and catch up with friends old and new while lamenting the passing of Tom Hill who was instrumental in helping us set up Cullumpton as a venue. We had a really good turnout and considering the lack of practice some of us have had over the last few months there were some very creditable casts laid down. The wind did get up a bit but couldn’t decide which way it wanted to blow and the turbulence that was created by the big tree in the corner made for some bizarre back casts on occasion, but that’s fly casting. One of the few who have braved the elements this winter to practice was James Evans who is going to threaten some of the outright records this year, if we get the conditions right on the day. After a fantastic 136′ during #7 competition he decided to have a crack at the record and pipped Paul Ardens senior record with a cast of 139′ but just failed to hit the outright record. Better luck next time James. I, on the other hand was informed I had the dubious honour of extending the S60 (I know, I don’t look it…do I?) #7 record to 129′ 9”. Later Tracy Thomas extended her #9 record to 114’9” and was also the first (I think) woman to win the B100 class. Rob Doyle proved to be a natural with the Monster (T120) and after a brief master class from Mike Marshall promptly stuck it out 190′, which is mighty impressive for a first attempt. Toby Merigan could be a serious contender as he was there or thereabouts in all the events he took part in before he had to leave. Get serious Toby and actually practice! It was great to see Alan Bath well on the way to recovery after his recent illness and Wendy back in the old routine of making sure everyone handed over their cash. Many thanks to Alan, Wendy and Tracy for helping the competition run so smoothly and everyone else for helping out on the lanes. I think it was the most enjoyable comp I have had for quite a while. Mike Marshall did his usual sterling job of taking care of all those that came just for tuition and our host and hostess, Bryan and Sue Reeve, in the pavilion did an outstanding job of keeping us all refreshed and fed. Thank you all so much. See you all next April. Mike Heritage

RESULTS – CULLOMPTON, DEVON 7th APRIL 2013

James Evans — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:31:01 +0000

The day started cold with a fairly light wind. The wind strengthened during the morning although it stubbornly refused to align itself with the casting tapes despite moving them after the #5 and #7 events.

Distances are in feet and inches.

#5F – Mike Heritage 124.01; James Evans 116.09; Toby Merigan 115.05; Bryan Martin 113.00;
David Fisher 103.11; Tony King 92.06; Tracy Thomas 85.01; Rob Doyle 82.07; John Dawson 75.05;
Ian Hockley 75.00; Wendy Bath 73.10; John McKinlay 72.05; Alex Rutherford 60.01

#7F - James Evans 136.08; Mike Heritage 129.09; Toby Merigan 125.09; David Fisher 113.03;
Bryan Martin 111.10; Tracy Thomas 96.01; Rob Doyle 94.11; Ian Hockley 94.11; Tony King 88.05;
Wendy Bath 86.05; John McKinlay 86.03; John Dawson 82.11; Alex Rutherford 68.00

B100 (#5 + #7) – Tracy Thomas 181.02; Ian Hockley 169.11; Wendy Bath 160.03; John McKinlay 158.08;
John Dawson 158.04; Alex Rutherford 128.01

#9F - James Evans 137.10; Toby Merigan 134.05; Mike Heritage 132.00; David Fisher 120.02;
Rob Doyle 119.11; John Dawson 119.02; Tracy Thomas 114.09; Bryan Martin 110.11; Tony King 108.06;
John McKinlay 103.04; Ian Hockley 90.05; Wendy Bath 87.08

T38 - Mike Heritage 160.09; James Evans 158.04; John Dawson 148.11; Rob Doyle 145.01;
Bryan Martin 144.06; Ian Hockley 128.11; Tony King 127.01; John McKinlay 127.00; David Fisher 123.00;
Tracy Thomas 117.00

T120 – Rob Doyle 190.02; James Evans 179.10; Tony King 176.05; Bryan Martin 173.08;
Mike Heritage 147.10; David Fisher 139.02; John Dawson 136.09; Tracy Thomas 130.07

Many congratulations to David Fisher who gained his 40 yard badge.

Also a big well done to Mike Heritage for extending his #7F S60 record and to Tracy Thomas for adding three feet to her #9 record.

Shenfield 2012

mikeh — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:08:38 +0000

I haven’t looked back at the write-ups for our previous meetings this year but I seem to recall writing a lot about wind and rain. Well, not this time. We had the first heavy frost of the year, light breezes and blue sky. The frost melted away quite quickly but it left the grass very wet and it didn’t really dry out until quite late in the day. Even so it was a pleasure to cast in decent conditions and not have to move the tapes around to follow the wind.

The club is starting to invest in some new rods and the first one was the new MSX Black Diamond 9′ 5 weight. Mike has had one made up with lined rings and I used it to good effect to win the five event. It got a very positive response from everyone who used it. 117′ isn’t a huge distance but concidering the wet grass and non existant breeze, plus it was the first time I had cast the rod, it wasn’t to be sniffed at.
James Evans won the #7 with a very nice cast of 126′ 4”. He insisted I went first to give him a target distance and he pipped me by just under a foot so that’s the last time I pathfind for him!
I had my revenge in the #9 and John Reynolds thrashed the rest of us in the T38 with a very nice 176′ 1”. MM only had a couple of casts with the T120 and ‘dink, dink’ it sailed effortlessy out to 185+, much to Mikes chagrine, he usually goes well over 200!

The B100 was a hotly contested with David Fishers’ aggrigate of 199’7” just winning from Tracy Thomas and Mick Copeman. Tracy has hit a rich vein of form and topped 100′ in three events one of which extended her #9 record to 111’10”.

It was a contrast of styles in the accuracy with my hover and drop thoroughly thrashed by John ‘Machine Gun’ Reynolds style of rapid fire and never mind the arm ache. The accuracy is a nice way to end the day as it involves nearly everyone and is quite light hearted.

The club welcomes Yvonne Webb and John Frank who achieved their 25yrd and 30yrd badges respectively.

So, that’s another year gone. There have been some

RESULTS – SHENFIELD 7th OCTOBER 2012

James Evans — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:46:05 +0000

Initial conditions were cold and windless. As casting got underway the temperature increased and a very light breeze picked up.

Distances are in feet and inches:

#5F – Mike Heritage 117.06; James Evans 107.06; Kei Okamoto 95.08; David Fisher 94.05;
John Reynolds 89.07; Alan Bath 88.02; Tracy Thomas 83.07; Mick Copeman 79.09; John Dunmall 69.08;
Joe Lamb 69.06; Wendy Bath 68.01

#7F - James Evans 126.04; Mike Heritage 125.08; John Reynolds 116.06 ; Kei Okamoto 112.07;
Mick Copeman 105.07; David Fisher 105.02; Tracy Thomas 103.09; Alan Bath 94.05; Wendy Bath 85.10;
Joe Lamb 77.00; John Dunmall 71.03

B100 (#5 + #7) – David Fisher 199.07; Tracy Thomas 187.04; Mick Copeman 185.04; Wendy Bath 153.11;
Joe Lamb 146.06; John Dunmall 140.11

#9F – Mike Heritage 129.07; James Evans 124.05; Kei Okamoto 118.06; John Reynolds 116.00;
David Fisher 111.10; Tracy Thomas 111.10; Mick Copeman 109.08; Alan Bath 98.06; Wendy Bath 88.04

T38 - John Reynolds 176.01; James Evans 154.08; Mike Heritage 146.05; David Fisher 123.10;
Tracy Thomas 116.09

T120 – Mike Marshall 185.08; John Reynolds 169.02; Mike Heritage 162.04; James Evans 161.04 ;
Tracy Thomas 140.00; Joe Lamb 125.04; David Fisher 124.02

Accuracy – John Reynolds 140; Mike Heritage 105; John Frank 80; John Dunmall 60; James Evans 55;
Mick Copeman 35; Tracy Thomas 35; Yvonne Webb 35; Joe Lamb 30; David Fisher 25;
Kei Okamoto 20; Nicholas Surtees 15

Victor Ludorum (points) – Mike Heritage 12; John Reynolds 16; James Evans 16; Kei Okamoto 35;
Tracy Thomas 35; David Fisher 36; Mick Copeman 40; John Dunmall 48; Alan Bath 49; Joe Lamb 51;
Wendy Bath 56

Tracy Thomas extends her #9F record.
Mike Heritage claims the #7F S60 record.

Distance badges were awarded to Yvonne Webb (25yds) and John Frank (30yds). Congratulations to both.

Glasgow 2012

mikeh — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:29:24 +0000

Sorry about the lateness of this report but I have just not had the time having been away two weekends on the trot.

This has been a frustrating year weather wise. If it wasn’t raining it had just stopped and we were casting on a marsh, or, it was windy. Glasgow proved just as frustrating because the wind was very fickle, none early on but as it picked up later it couldn’t make up it’s mind which way it wanted to go and we had to alter the casting lanes several times.
Because of the lack of wind at the start we decided to cast some of the heavier events first in the hope that we might get some decent distances in the full line events but, as you see from the results, it didn’t quite work out. Some of us got lucky with the breeze, others weren’t so lucky. But that’s competition casting.
The turnout was very good. Thanks to everyone who made it.

There were some exceptional casts such as Peter Thains 241′ 6” and young James Hek who created a new J17 T120 record with 186′ to add to his new T38 record of 153’2”. The ladies were not to be left out and Sue Macniven created a new womens record of 140′ 11” in the T120 as well. Ally Bremner wasn’t far behind with 137’7”

Peter McCallum won the B100 and won the #7 event outright. No more B100 for you then Peter!

As you can see from the results Peter Thain has brought some serious expertise to the show and many of us will have to get in some practice if we want to give him a run for his money in the future.

Some of you may see an event on the list that is new to you, the 27gram shooting head. We trialed it and it seems to have been very popular. This is a world championship event and has the potential for huge cockups and massive distances, in other words, great fun. It also gives some lattitude to those that like to tinker with their tackle. There are rules though and we are looking into it.

One side note. We mislaid an Orvis Access 9′ #7. If anyone finds an odd rod in their kit and wonders where it came from please let Mike Marshall know.

Sorry I can’t mention all of you but we sincerely thank everyone for making it such a good day.

See you in Shenfield.

Mike H

RESULTS – GLASGOW 9th SEPTEMBER 2012

mike — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:01:45 +0000

Casting conditions in the morning were extremely difficult with the lightest of winds varying from north to northwest. Then, in the afternoon, the wind changed to a quite strong southwesterly. Therefore, the contrasting results must be read with these weather changes in mind.

#5F – Peter Thain 111′; Ben Dixon 107′ 8″; Hamish Young 105′ 4″; Mike Heritage 98′; Mick Bell 97′ 1″; James Heck 95′; Kevin Muir 94′ 9″; Peter McCallum 88′ 9″; Chris Owen 87′ 10″; Tamas Bacsai 87′ 4″; Mike Barrio 83′ 10″; Sue MacNiven 81′ 10″; Angus McCleod 76′ 7″; John Vautier 66′ 4″; Adam Wilson 60′.

#7F – Peter McCallum 118′ 1″; Hamish Young 117′ 7″; Ben Dixon 115′ 11″; Tamas Bacsai 115′ 9″; Peter Thain 114′ 10″; James Hek 113′ 5″; Kevin Muir 109′ 8″; Mike Heritage 107′ 9″; Mick Bell 101′ 9″; Ally Bremner 98′ 2″; Sue MacNiven 95′ 10″; Mike Barrio 91′ 9″; Chris Owen 91′ 2″; Adam Wilson 77′ 2″; John Vautier 68′ 3″.

B100 – Peter McCallum 206′ 7″; Kevin Muir 204′ 5″; Chris Owen 179′; Mike Barrio 175′ 7″; Adam Wilson 137′ 2″.

#9F – Hamish Young 120′; Mike Heritage 119′ 6″; James Hek 118′ 11″; Mick Bell 115′; Peter McCallum114′ 1″; Ben Dixon 113′ 3″; Peter Thain 113′; Kevin Muir 111′ 4″; Mike Barrio 107′; Sue MacNiven 106′ 11″; Chris Owen 99′ 6″; Ally Bremner 77′ 7″.

T38 – Peter Thain 166′ 4″; Hugh Newton 148′; Hamish Young 143′ 7″; Mick Ball 140′ 7″; James Hek 135′ 4″; Ben Dixon 133′; Mike Heritage 128′; Peter McCallum 123′ 1″; Kevin Muir121′ 3″ Mike Barrio 104′ 6″.

T120 – Peter Thain 241′ 6″; Hugh Newton 187′ 3″; James Hek 186′; Hamish Young 185′; Ben Dixon 182′ 4″, Kevin Muir 175′ 10″, Mick Bell 172′ 6; Peter McCallum 170′ 4″; Mike Heritage 169′ 5″; Sue MacNiven 140′ 11″; Ally Bremner 137′ 7″.

27gm Shooting Head: Peter Thain 148′ 5″; Ben Dixon 142′ 10″; Mike Heritage 140′ 3″; James Hek 133′ 6″; Mick Bell 131′ 5″; Peter McCallum 128′ 4″; Hamish Young 128′; Kevin Muir 121′ 4″; Mike Barrio 120′ 3″.

Congratulations are due to Sue Macniven who cast a ladies T120 record of 140′ 11″ and James Hek who cast a successful junior 17, T38 record attempt of 153′ 2″ and a T120 record of 186′ in the competition.

RESULTS – SPORTFISH READING, 14th JULY 2012

James Evans — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 07:12:35 +0000

Conditions for distance casting were poor, typical for the summer we’re having! Heavy, damp air meant turn-over at distance was hard to achieve, with additional problems posed by an inconsistent wind and intermittent heavy rain.

Distances are in feet and inches:

#5F – James Evans 103.05; Jonathon Tomlinson 100.10; Mike Heritage 99.03; Kei Okamoto 92.01;
Chris Haig 85.06; David Fisher 85.02; Alan Bath 84.06; Mick Copeman 81.03; Tracy Thomas 73.08;
Tim Edwards 70.05; John Graham 68.10; Wendy Bath 63.00; Selby Bower 57.00

#7F – Jonathon Tomlinson 110.04; Mike Heritage 107.07; Kei Okamoto 106.01; James Evans 104.02;
David Fisher 91.07; Chris Haig 90.04; Alan Bath 86.04; John Graham 83.00; Mick Copeman 82.08;
Tracy Thomas 79.03; Tim Edwards 79.00; Wendy Bath 73.02; Selby Bower 71.03; Brian Wickens 59.00

B100 (#5 + #7) – Kei Okamoto 198.02; David Fisher 176.09; Chris Haig 175.10; Mick Copeman 163.11;
Tracy Thomas 152.11; John Graham 151.10; Tim Edwards 149.05; Wendy Bath 136.02;
Selby Bower 128.03; Brian Wickens 59.00

#9F – Jonathon Tomlinson 118.04; James Evans 116.06; Kei Okamoto 112.06 ; Mike Heritage 103.04;
Chris Haig 101.00; David Fisher 99.07; Alan Bath 92.10; John Graham 90.00; Tom Baker 87.05;
Tracy Thomas 83.05; Tim Edwards 80.09; Wendy Bath 73.09; Brian Wickens 69.09

Accuracy (Points) – Jonathon Tomlinson 125.00; James Evans 80.00; Mike Heritage 75.00;
Mark Surtees 60.00; Tracy Thomas 55.00; Mick Copeman 45.00; John Graham 35.00;
Tim Edwards 20.00; David Fisher 10.00; Wendy Bath 5.00

East of England Show

mikeh — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:32:52 +0000

Ok, I know it’s very short notice but I have been invited to demo and instruct at the show. I will take the opportunity to see if the BFCC can make it a regular venue for our instructing. We were quite successful at a similar show we did in Kent earlier in the year. I will be on my own for most of the the three days so if you are there pop over to the country sports arena and say hello.

Mike

Oswestry 2012

mikeh — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:42:39 +0000

We seem to be having a run weather at our events that leaves something to be desired and Oswestry was no exception, even the fishing I was looking forward to on Saturday afternoon was literally washed out as the river was in spate. OK, it did stop raining before we actually started casting, which was nice of it, but the wind couldn’t make it’s mind which direction it wanted to come from, which made casting problematical for most and downright awkward if you happened to be left-handed.

The casting competition was a bit disjointed and highlighted the fact that with the success the BFCC is experiencing comes logistical problems we had not thought about. Fear not, we have thought about it and, hopefully, have come up with solutions that will help make the day more enjoyable for everyone, and lets face it, that is what our event days are all about.

Once again the weather affected distances but there were a couple of notable exceptions, namely, John Reynolds 177’10” in the T38 and an astonishing, if slightly unorthodox 179’5” by Bud Budryk, who has never cast the monster before.

Many thanks to our hosts at the rugby club for providing such great facilities, very good coffee and grub.

Once again we had a great turnout with several coming from some distance. One or two of the locals thanked us for coming because ‘nothing like this ever happens up here’. Well, it does now!

See you all next year.

Read all about it? No Thanks

mikeh — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:31:30 +0000

Have you ever read an exciting fishing story, the big one that got away or that special cast to a wily old brownie that had eluded all previous attempts to tempt him to take a fly? Yes, of course you have. Now, have you ever read an exciting story about fly casting? No, nor have I. And there’s the rub. Watching fly casting can be exciting, reading about it is not. If you think reading about it is painful you should try writing about it and you will discover the real meaning of pain, especially if you want to make it entertaining as well as informative. While I will admit to reading articles and contributing to forums, even writing about it in my own blog, I have to hold my hand up and admit I have never read a book on fly casting so, arguably, I have missed a riveting read or two. I doubt it though.

Where is this blasphemy leading I can hear you ask.

To the BFCC, and what it is coming to represent. The BFCC is about doing. It’s about coming, seeing and realising just what can be achieved with a rod and line. It’s about enthusing people to try and improve their casting and thereby get more enjoyment from their fishing. It can be real eye opening stuff for some. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard the comment that they would never have believed anyone could cast that far. It’s also about people enjoying the day so much they drive half way across the country to come to another event. It might be interesting to know how many book lessons with local instructors after coming to one of our events.

It has taken three or four years but the BFCC is just what it says on the tin, we are now a truly national club, with the exception of N Ireland we have events in all the home countries and the way things are going we may find a way to add them to the list as well. There seems to be a genuine appreciation of the effort we put in to make the events enjoyable,we know this because of the feedback and comments we receive after each event (which we love to get BTW).

Fly casting can be beautiful, amazing, enthralling and educational to watch. It can be exciting, exasperating and enjoyable to compete. It can be bewildering, difficult (not really) and rewarding to learn. All three of these take place in one day at a BFCC event (near you soon).

Much better than reading about it.

Mike Heritage