Well, what can I say about the BFCC and the Sportfish Reading Open Show?
Jan (my beautiful and long suffering girlfriend) and myself turned up on a grey Saturday morning at 8.30 a.m. with a slight drizzle in the air.

We went into the giant marquee,  to be greeted by the boss (Michael Marshall) with a big grin on his face.
That lifted my spirits straightaway, as with all our other  instructors away on other commitments, or far too ill to take part, I was a bit nervous, as to how we would cope.

Sure I can get the clients to have a lesson, but Mike who was our only instructor for the day is not a man in his early thirties, so I would have to pace things out. I was about  to be proved wrong.

It was very slow to start with but by 11 a.m. when people realised that it was going to be a dull weekend, weather-wise, they probably thought “stuff  this I am not going to let a bit of rain beat us”, the whole place started to buzz.

Mike Marshall took up his starting position, made up his trusty rod with the same care that an old battle weary warrior would do with his weapon of choice and then shouted out to me “send them out Rog”.

It was then that the British Fly Casting Club swung into action. I have done this a few times and it was with the ease of familiarity that myself and Jan started to take our eager clients out to meet Mike.

I was staggered that by 4.p.m. when things eased off,  he was not only still standing, but turned and said to me “is that all you got” with that same big grin on his face that he had from 8.30 a.m.
Mike had not had a single minute’s break

Sunday was virtually the same as Saturday, but with the arrival  of Alex Titov, another of our instructors it meant that we cranked things up a gear, which is just as well, because there were three times as many people to get through.

Truly an astonishing weekend.

I cannot leave this report without warm thanks to the following:

Firstly to my girlfriend Jan for the smiles to our clients, endless  cups of tea and also selling some of the books.

Matt Hayes for letting me drag him over for a picture session. Thanks Matty.

Gary Coxon of Sage. Thanks for the pics Gary (from your favourite West Indian)

Jerry Siem of Sage. I tried to get the girls (Jan and Tracy) to wriggle against him during the pics, but I did not get a free Sage Rod. What a nice guy.

Simon Gawesworth, who stopped his book signing session to be photographed on our stand, and also stayed for a cup of tea and a chat. Quite a unique person.

Alex Titov, has recently qualified AAPGAI, what a feat. He has only just returned from teaching in Russia. Over there you have to be extremely  good as they will still send you to Siberia, or worse, make you recite all the words from the film Taras Bulba.
Congratulations  Alex.

BFCC Members  James Evans and his lady Tracy Thomas for being there and helping out. Thanks Tracy and James.

Gilly Bate, a friend of Mike Heritage. Thanks for stopping by Gilly and making me laugh. By the way Gilly, the BFCC has its eye on you for the future.

Thanks to Richard Tallents of Masterline-Cortland for his donation of a Flyline to the BFCC.

Thank you to new members:
Mark Kirkhouse
Sally Taylor
Mick Copeman
Alan  Corker

A very  big thanks to all our new clients, you are the real stars of the show, we hope to see you at other “friendly” get togethers at the BFCC.
Sometimes the guys say to me “what is your secret to getting people to stop and talk to you”.
The answer is there is no secret. Fly Fishers, along with most anglers are kind, friendly, patient and very approachable, that is why they are the stars of the show, it makes what I do a real pleasure.

I will close now by saying that none of this would have been possible without our man on the inside, Jonathan Tomlinson, who worked like a beaver  to make it all happen

Thank you very much Jono.

Roger Miles

I am really sorry I missed this event. It coincided with a long standing comittment.

I have not had official word from ‘the horses mouth’ but Mike has just posted a general email and I think it is well worth putting up here.

I can only say that I am staggered that Mike survived to tell the tale and I am glad Alex was was able to help out on the Sunday or we may have been looking for a new chairman.

I think this proves conclusively that the BFCC are heading in the right direction and just a bit of tweaking to get the split between instructing and competing right and we will have a winning formula.

Right, over to Mr Marshall.

 Mike Heritage

Hello BFCC Casters,
 
In spite of overcast skies and drizzle with a nagging, cold northeasterly, the event was well attended by anglers keen to see an extensive show which was very well put together by our hosts. Apart from the usual tackle stands there were casting demonstrations, tackle testing, float tubing on the lake and, even, a cooking demonstration for the trout caught.
 
From a BFCC perspective we have never been so busy with tuition and our small team, at times, only just coped, but we did! Roger did his usual welcoming performance to get people involved, assisted by Jan who added glamour to the proceedings and Alex, newly returned from teaching in Russia, taught on Sunday. As a club we owe them a lot for their efforts and the funds raised, which will be very useful in future.
 
Of personal interest was, really for the first time, there were repeat visitors who had been to previous BFCC Meetings and also brought friends this time, which shows we must be doing something right! As an example, one client from July last, had improved so much that I just wish we had the space to do ‘the have a go for gold badges’ – he would have managed 30yds for certain, whereas last year he was in the very low twenties. It just goes to show what a little encouragement and practise will do. Anyway, all is not lost as he could not be kept away from this July’s Meeting.
 
Please have a look at Roger’s pictures of well known demonstrators on our stand. Mike, also returned from a trip north of the border, will post these on the website as soon as possible.
 
Following our exploits at Reading I am sure you would like to join me in welcoming four new Members to the Club. They are: Sally Taylor; Mark Kirkhouse; Mick Copeman; Alan Corker.
Their casting sessions were very rewarding because good progress was made, and with more to be expected. To this end it is my sincere hope that they will be able to come to the July Meeting when, hopefully, things will be less frenetic so they will have time to chat and so find out yet more about casting.

 
Our next meeting is at Wrexham on Sunday June 13 at 10am, so please let me know if you can make it. I will be very grateful if you can pass the word around as The BFCC is trying
very hard to spread its geographical range and this is published in Trout Fisherman Magazine.
 
Sincerely,
 
Mike Marshall