#5F – 114′ 4″ James Evans, 111′ Mike Heritage, 108’10” John Reynolds, 106′ 7″ Alex Titov, 104′ Jonathan Davies, 101′ 9″ Lee Watts, 96′ Andrew Bagshaw, 93′ Mike Roden, 91′ 3″ Louis Noble, 90′ 11″ John Forbes, 82′ 2″ Tracy Thomas, 80′ Tony Bennett, 76′ 9″ Ken Jones.

#7F – 133′ John Reynolds, 123′ 10″ James Evans, 118′ Roger Miles, 113′ 2″ Mike Heritage, 112′ Lee Watts, 109′ 9″ Tony Bennett, 106′ 7″ Andrew Bagshaw, 99′ 8″ Mike Helliwell, 97′ 6″ Jonathan Davies, 87′ 6″ John Forbes, 84′ 8″ Ken Jones, 83′ 8″ Tracy Thomas,

T38 – 166′ 4″ Andrew Bagshaw, 156′ 4″ John Reynolds, 150′ 5″ Roger Miles, 143′ 7″ James Evans, 143′ 2″ Paul Brown, 140′ 3″ Mike Heritage, 112′ 10″ Tony Bennett, 107′ Mike Helliwell.

Badges – 25yds John Lomas, Edward Pugh. 30yds Dudley Savva, Andrew Parker, Peter Taylor, John Forbes, Clint Lloyd, Mike Roden, Mike Helliwell.

From our on the spot roving reporter Roger ‘the dodger’ Miles

Wrexham

 It all started several months ago when JR (our own John Reynolds) said “What about Wales”.

Now I know what Mike Marshall is like, in a previous life he must have been a sniffer dog, because when he is on the trail, nothing distracts him.So it was with hundreds of telephone calls, scores of meetings and a lot of arm twisting that the Wrexham meeting was nailed down, by the boss.Off we went, myself,  Mike Heritage and Alex Titov, trekked on Saturday 12th June to Wrexham.We eventually got there five hours later, via looking at rivers, motorway cafes and goodness only knows how many smoke breaks.

 I should have known it was going to be a special meeting as we stayed at the “Beeches” Premier Inn at Wrexham on Saturday and also dined there.Alex and Mike found a bit of grass (Lawn) outside the restaurant so we went out there at eight o clock at night and started swishing around. There was a small crowd gathering as they probably have never  seen anything like this before. I am sure I heard someone mention me, in as much by saying “that short chunky one holding the rod has had one too many puddings”.Mike ended up trying to teach someone the roll cast only to be told by me “he cannot hear what you are saying Mike” “why not” Mike says “He’s deaf” I said. It ended up a real hoot.

 Mike Marshall has documented the sequence of events on Sunday at Wrexham and I can say that it was truly an extraordinary sight to see so many people with their fly rods “having a go”.

 Now on to a slightly different view on that day. A lot of the fly fishers out there, see and have always seen Qualified Instructors as sometimes unapproachable, that is probably, due to the fact that they cast so much better.

In the BFCC we have GAIA, AAPGAI, FFF, and other qualified instructors, so we encompass the whole spectrum of instructing and instructing bodies.At the Wrexham meeting there was a very good representation of the GAIA instructors, indeed some of the top guys.From the word go they got stuck in with helping out, laughing and joking and having a go at the competitions and badge schemes, and all the time encouraging the others to join in, in other words very very approachable.Although they are experts in their own right they were all humble enough to take a few pointers to improve their out and out distance casting.They still showed everyone that they could cast more than a 30 yard line on a five weight not an easy thing to do especially  given the conditions.On the subject of Instruction I think this was probably our biggest turnout as far as the amount people that was being taught at any one time.It is very hard to convey the sense of fun everyone had, but more than a few people asked if we could another one this year, so that alone speaks for itself.Mike Marshall has already given thanks to those that made it possible so I can only echo that with a few additions.

 A BIG congratulations to our very own James Evans for winning the five weight event. I know how long he has strived for this, so we all feel really happy for him.Thank you from myself, personally, to Louis Noble and Mike Roden for spending their time with me on Instructing matters.Thanks to Vera and  Bob for being so charming and witty, and of course helpful.To all you girls and guys that turned up to “your meeting” the BFCC says Thank You.

Mike Heritage tells me that he is thinking of learning sign language so whomever that guy was at the restaurant, watch out as “We Will Be Back”.

  Roger Miles 

The BFCC had tried to arrange a meeting in NW England without success, so it was with a certain amount of anxiety that NE Wales was planned, however, I need not have worried and Wrexham turned out to be a great success. As you will see from Alex’s photographs, to be published soon by Mike, even at 10am we had a good group present, which was later to expand as more as people arrived, having driven long distances. In fact, looking at the bookings they came from Lancashire, Norfolk, London, Hampshire, the Midlands, South Wales as well as more locally, which demonstrated much dedication to the cause of good casting.

It was also a great pleasure to welcome, in person, eleven new Members to the Club, who were as keen as mustard to learn new skills. They were not disappointed and took full advantage of their right to free tuition provided by the BFCC coaches, which took the form of short sessions throughout the day.

The day started with a brief demonstration by yours truly, particularly emphasising casting style, backcasting and minimal effort, while achieving a good distance. We then broke up into small groups with each of four coaches, where tuition aimed at individual requirements took place, and it was interesting to see the mixing of near beginners with comparative experts. Suffice to say that it worked brilliantly and everyone improved dramatically – the Welsh air perhaps? Following this there were further short sessions throughout the day.

We then went into ‘have a go for gold’ badge mode and several casters had improved sufficiently to achieve the following: 25 yards – John Lomas, Edward Pugh. 30 yards – Dudley Savva, Andrew Parker, Peter Taylor, Mike Helliwell, Clint Lloyd and Mike Roden. Well done one and all – it is not easy, but the most impressive thing was the number of casters vowing to practise for their next badge.

Then followed the somewhat abbreviated casting competitions due to the amount of tuition achieved and the results were:

#5F – James Evans 114′ 4″, Mike Heritage 111′, John Reynolds 108′ 10″, Alex Titov 106′ 7″, Jonathan Davies 104′, Lee Watts 101′ 9″, Andrew Bagshaw 96′, Mike Roden 93′, Louis Noble 91′ 3″, John Forbes 90′ 11″, Tracy Thomas 82′ 2″, Tony Bennett 80′, Ken Jones 76′ 9″.

#7F – John Reynolds 133′, James Evans 123′ 10″, Roger Miles 118′, Mike Heritage 113′ 2″, Lee Watts 112′, Tony Bennett 109′ 9″, Andrew Bagshaw 106′ 7″, Mike Helliwell 99′ 8″, Jonathan Davies 97′ 6″, John Forbes 87′ 6″, Ken Jones 84′ 8″,Tracy Thomas 83′ 8″.

T38 – Andrew Bagshaw 166′ 4″, John Reynolds 156′ 4″, Roger Miles 150′ 5″, James Evans 143′ 7″, Paul Brown 143′ 2″, Mike Heritage 140′ 3″, Tony Bennett 112′ 10″, Mike Helliwell 107′.

Well done everyone, having struggled with a very light and variable, generally southerly breeze. Special mention must be made of James Evans for winning the #5F, Roger Miles for a medal position in #7F and Andrew Bagshaw for his first in T38.

To close it must be said that our hosts Marlene and Roger Holloman, of Wrexham Rugby Club added greatly to the enjoyment of the day with first class facilities, drinks and sandwiches. Also, Mike Griffiths helped greatly with timing and recording. Thank you so much!