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

Here is a nice on the spot report, from Tomo, of the recent CLA Game fair. It will soon be followed by a report on the very recent World Championships in Norway. I missed both so, ‘nuf said.

 Mike H

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.

 How do you gauge success? If from a numbers point of view then yesterdays event at Sportfish might seem a bit disappointing, if from a casting and instructing day then I believe it was one of our best. I believe the forecast of the hottest day of the year probably put a lot off people coming. Yes it was a hot one but luckily there was a nice SW breeze coming straight down the lake to keep us from frying. It also meant that our back casts were into smooth air rather than into the turbulent air we can get when the wind has to go over trees and bushes. Turbulence can play havoc with back casts.

 Those of us instructing had the time to give some real help to aspiring distance casters, and the club now has a few who have great potential.

There were some amazing casts in the competition as well. MM will confirm this when he posts the results, each event was hotly contested right up to the last cast. We even had an appreciative audience that whooped and hollered and clapped when a really good one went out. I have to say I particularly enjoyed that aspect. I will have to make sure we whip the audience up to a frenzy at future meetings. The encouragement was brilliant, thanks guys and gals.

And there were some outstanding casts to applaud. New member Tom Festing threw over 128′ and James Evans wasn’t far behind with just over 125′ in the seven weight contest. Tom would probably have done better but he just loves casting so much he can’t be bothered to allow many to actually land and record a score!

Tomo and I had a good tussle in the five and I managed to pip him with my final cast.

 As many members know, my real passion is full line casting. The club records for these events are world class. We can now add a nine weight event, a reintroduction to cater for the salties among us. Yesterday was the first time we cast it. We are limited at Sportfish to just the full line events, there are insurmountable insurance problems because of space, so the nine was re-introduced here to help fill the void.

The BFCC used to cast eight and nine weights in the old days. I don’t know what the records are, it doesn’t matter because at least three of us smashed them into oblivion. I believe we all held the record for a moment or two until, the next guy cast. The over all club record was not created until, literally, the very last cast of the day when 15 year old Joe Avery-Harris did a truly amazing 143′ to win the event by about four feet. Gutting and astonishing at the same time. Well done Joe.

 The full line event records are now held by a 15 year old, a forty year old and seventy something year old. Hence the title.

All Badge winners deserve congratulation but Don Andrews deserves special mention because he is a left hander and the wind wasn’t kind for lefties but perseverance and a slight alteration to the course was enough for him to nail his 30yd. badge.

 The BFCC, where there is hope for everyone.

 Mike H

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