These championships took place at Fagernes, near Oslo, Norway on the 13 and 14th of August. The UK was superbly well represented by the following BFCC Members and, as Jonathan put it, “we had good days at the office”.

The events using standard fishing equipment and our best places were:

Trout Accuracy: 7th Paul Arden 44 points.

Trout Distance: 4th Paul Arden 28.5m and 30m.

Sea Trout Distance: Silver Medal – Jonathan Tomlinson 44m and 46.5m.

15′ Spey Distance: 7th Andrew Toft 45m and 46.5m.  9th James Chalmers 42m and 46.5m.

18′ Spey Distance: Gold Medal –  Andrew Toft 55m and 59m. 10th James Chalmers 51m and 52.5m.

Special mention must be made about our team’s friend from Ireland, Rauri Costello, who won the over-all  World Title.

Casting conditions were tough and our casters were up against the best in the world, so these results were absolutely outstanding.

I am sure you will all wish to join me in sending congratulations to our competitors and wish them more success at future championships – there is no doubt our casting is on the up.

It is fair to say, Jonathan Tomlinson reports, that BFCC members had a very good Game Fair! They won half of all the casting events and received substantial prizes in the process.

Starting with the juniors, 15 year old member, Joseph Avery Harris excelled and won both events. The results were – Salmon Distance: Joseph 26.00m, Shane Egan 20.50m, James Fairlie 20.20m. Trout Distance: Joseph 25.50m, Jack Yates 23.90m, James Fairlie 23.10m.

The Saltwater Distance event produced further success with member Jonathan Tomlinson coming first, with Joseph coming a more than commendable third. The results were: Jonathan 46.00m, Mattias Lilleheim (Norway) 45.64m, Joseph 44.47m.

Appropriately enough, Scottish Members Andrew Toft and James Chalmers, featured prominently in the Spey Casting and the results were: Andrew 64.95m, Gerard Downey (Ireland) 62.50m, James 58.62m.

These results are a clear indication of the high level of performance amongst BFCC Members, congratulations to one and all, and good luck in the future.

Breeze – Moderate SW. Sun strong and atmosphere very humid.

#5F – Mike Heritage 125′ 1″; Jonathan Tomlinson 122′; James Evans 112′; Tom Festing 108′ 9″; Joseph Harris 89′; David Fisher 84′ 4″; Tracy Thomas 89′

#7F – Tom Festing 128’7″; James Evans 125′ 2″; Joseph Harris 124′ 5″ (junior 17 record); Jonathan Tomlinson 123′; Mike Heritage 120′ 7″: Tracy Thomas 90′ 3″; David Fisher 98′ 5″.

#9F New Saltwater Event – Joseph Harris 143′ (outright & junior 17 records); Mike Heritage 139′ 9″ (S60 record); Jonathan Tomlinson 135′ (SNR record); James Evans 133′ 6″; Tom Festing 127′ 3″; David Fisher 98′ 5″.

BADGES – Congratulations are due to – 25yds Richard Ellis. 30yds Don Andrews; Jamie Cushman.

#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.

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!

The BFCC successfully completed its second public exhibition and, in spite of the recession, did nearly as well as in 2009. However, it is now clear that the expanded team operates in a very friendly and efficient way, a factor not lost on the angling public. New members Mark Surtees – tuition and Vernon Wood – stand duty, contributed very significantly to the efforts of the existing Members to produce such a good outcome.

It was good to see that our tuition is increasingly popular with the public and our visiting Members, with some from 2009 returning for a ‘refresher’. However, I suspect the Badge attempts are growing in popularity, with people returning to try for a longer distance and, even, some local fun-rivalries being settled!

The weather was generally good, if overcast to start with and very cool throughout. There was a gusty easterly wind which did not help when teaching or when the competition took place.

Competiton Results:

#5F  –  Jonathan Tomlinson 119′ 2″,  Mike Heritage 118′ 5″,  James Evans 101′ 10″,   Andrew Bagshaw 101′ 6″,  Alex Titov 98′ 5″, Mick Bell 97′ 7″, Carl Malpas (jnr) 96′ 7″,  Steven Lindley 89′ 1″,  David Fisher 82′ 5″.

#7F – Jonathan Tomlinson 128′ 5″,  Mike Heritage 125′,  Carl Malpas (jnr) 111′ 9″,  Alex Titov 109’7″,  Mick Bell 108′,  James Evans 106′ 10″,  Andrew Bagshaw 101′, David Fisher 86′ 9″,  Steven Lindley 82′ 4″.

There were some very close results at the top, which added spice to the competition, but special mention must go to Carl Malpas who, as a junior, came third in #7 – in his first casting competition!

Badge Successes:

25 yards – Paul Speed, Christopher Walker (14yrs), Richard Walker (12yrs), Peter Boyle, Simon Kearns, Alan Bath.

30 yards – Vernon  Wood, Chris Tong, David Walker.

35 yards – Terry Mann, Toby Merigan, Karl Humphries.

From a personal point of view it was great to see so many smiling faces following successful tuiton and badge attempts, which is good for the future of the Club. So, please make an entry in your diary for our next scheduled meeting at Reading on Sat. 10th July.

Reporter Mike Marshall

Early morning frost disolved as a beautifully sunny autumn day developed, with a very  light, inconsistent, north west breeze. These conditions usually produce quite difficult casting conditions, with the leader not turning over, and so it proved to be. However, there was some lively and very close competition in the distance events and, also, some very good progress made in the tuition area with a number of distance Badges achieved. In fact it is hard to imagine a more enjoyable and rewarding day’s casting!

The results were as follows:

#5F Distance – Mike Heritage 106′ 9″   Jonathan Tomlinson  106′ 7″   Paul Arden 99′ 11″   James Evans 99′ 8″   Andrew Bagshaw 95′ 9″   Terry Jenner 77′ 6″    Tracy Thomas 71′ 2″   David Fisher 66′ 8″   Nicolas Surtees (7yrs) 42′ 2″

#7F Distance – Mike Heritage 124′ 4″   Andrew Bagshaw 122′ 9″PB   Paul Arden 116′ 7″   Jonathan Tomlinson 110′ 9″   James Evans 110′ 3″   Terry Jenner 91′ 1″   David Fisher 84′ 9″   Tracy Thomas 76′ 11″

T38 Distance – Paul Arden 166′ 7″   Jonathan Tomlinson 161′ 2″   Mike Heritage 154′ 10″   Andrew Bagshaw 149′ 6″   James Evans 138′ 10″   Terry Jenner 137′ 4″   David Fisher 101′ 11″   Tracy Thomas 95′ 8″

T120 Distance – Mike Marshall 211′ 7″   Terry Jenner 194′ 5″   Jonathan Tomlinson 191′ 2″   Paul Arden 186′ 7″   Andrew Bagshaw 177′ 9″   Mike Heritage 174′ 2″   David Fisher 156′ 5″ 

Distance Badges achieved: 

25Yards – Don Andrews,  Dave East,  Andy Stanbridge.

30Yards – Tracy Thomas,  Alan Tyson,  David Fisher.

45Yards – Terry Jenner.

Regarding casting competion performances, it was good to see Mike Heritage back to form in #5 and #7 – keep up the good work Mike. However, special mention must be made about Terry Jenner’s second place in T120, using a rod new to him and a borrowed line. Andrew Bagshaw’s PB in #7 was great to watch. It was also amazing to see seven year old Nicolas Surtees casting his #5 outfit in fine style after some tuition.

Distance Badges once again proved to be an area of much interest for several casters, but pride of place must go to Tracy Thomas casting 30 yards with immaculate line loops. David Fisher’s 30 yards was the result of diligently following advice received at BFCC events and putting it into practice in a very competent manner – good work David.

This joint BFCC – Sportfish Meeting was a great success and the BFCC owes Jonathan Tomlinson and his Sportfish colleagues a considerable debt of gratitude. Not only was their hospitality second to none, but they provided many anglers needing tuition, Badge Scheme casters and a few competition entrants.

The weather was not particularly helpful with occcasional drizzle and a moderate westerly breeze which was, unavoidably, slightly across the casting line. However, such was the general enthusiasm, it did not cause a problem and some very good distances were achieved, particularly for Badges, where there were some very proud recipients.

RESULTS:

#5F Distance – Alex Titov 115′; Jonathan Tomlinson 112′ 1″; Mike Heritage 111′; Tony Bennett 99′ 6″; Ronald Girnus 94′ 6″; Steve Kemp 93′; Terry Jenner 84′ 8″.

#7F Distance – John Renolds 136′ 2″ (congratulations PB); Jonathan Tomlinson 128′ 3″; Mike Heritage 124′ 1″; James Evans 117′ 3″; Roger Miles 106′ 6″ (congratulations PB); Tony Bennett 102′ 7″; Alex Titov 100′ 8″; Ronald Girnus 98′ 10″; Steve Kemp 96′ 5″; Steve Fox 85′ 3″ ; John Kelly 74′.

25 yd Badges – P R Coker, D J Edwards, Steve Fox.                                                 

30 yd Badges – M J Williams, Steven Davies, Matthew Gregory, Vince Granata.                                                                                                                                            

35 yd Badges – Ronald Girnus, James Evans.                                                             

40 yd Badge – Peter Mcleod.

For an example of triumph over adversity, nothing beats our newest member Stevie Davies, who struggled up from South Wales with a broken hip. Over three periods of tuition, casting from a chair, he ended up casting in fine style with double haul. What, I wonder, would he be capable of when fully fit – keep up the good work Stevie?

The next BFCC Meeting is at The Brentwood Centre on the 18 Oct. 2009.

Reporter – Mike Marshall

Sunday was an almost perfect day – for holiday makers, but not for casting! We experienced almost continuous sunshine, it was humid in the morning and less so later-on, but the worst part was an occasional puff of breeze from the north east or east, followed by completely ‘dead air’. The net result was that it was almost impossible to turn the line and leader over. Tough is hardly an adequate description and distances suffered, however, those present all seemed to enjoy their day. Results were as follows:

#5F – Mike Marshall  114′ ; Andrew Bagshaw  106′ ; Alex Titov  103′ ; Mick Bell  101′ 7″ ; John Reynolds  100′ ; Carl Malpass  97′ 10″ ; Kevin Knight   93′ 11″ ; Roger Miles  87′ 8″ ; Stephen Lindley  75′ .

#7F – Alex Titov  121′ 2″ ; Carl Malpass  117′ 9″ ; Mick Bell  115′ 10″ ; John Reynolds  107′ 7″ ; Andrew Bagshaw  99′ 10″ ; Roger Miles  98′ 3″ ; Kevin Knight  96′ 11″ ; Stephen Lindley  84′ 9″ .

T38 – John Reynolds  167′ 9″ ; Andrew Bagshaw157′ 7″ ; Kevin Knight  150′ 10″ ; Mick Bell  149′ 8″ ; Stephen Lindley 143′ 9″ ; Roger Miles  140′ ; Carl Malpass  116′ 7″ .

T120 – Alex Titov  178′ ; Mick Bell  169′ 1″ ; Andrew Bagshaw  148′ 3″ ; John Reynolds  144′ ; Kevin Knight  125′ 5″ .

Performance of the day has to go to Carl Malpass (15 yrs.), down from Durham, with his all round casting, but, in particular his 117’+ in #7F. What, in the future, is this young man capable of? It was good to see Alex Titov (Russian spoken here) cast so well to win the #7F and T120, the benefits of hard work if ever I saw them. Andrew Bagshaw’s PB of 106′ in #5F pleased him no end, particularly considering the conditions. New member Stephen Lindley, from the Sheffield area, came down for some help with his casting , ended up ‘having a go and cast 143’ 9″ in T38, incredible. Finally it was great to see old friends Kevin Knight and Mick Bell doing what their right arms were made for, after absenses due to pressure of work.

Reporter – Mike Marshall

Following Mike Heritage’s initial contact, Bruce Richards of Scientific Anglers has very kindly gifted two of each, #5 and #7 Mastery Distance Lines, to The BFCC. These will replace the inferior lines used with the Club outfits, thus giving all casters on an equal chance. This generous act is greatly appreciated and will serve us well for the future.

Reporter – Mike Marshall