International

Hi

Last week was the Youth fly fishing international. As we arrived on the Saturday to start our practice it was clear that the weather we were going to experience was not the usual scotish weather.

After the first day of practice we had identified 3 main areas: Gate side bay, reedy bay, and international bay. All of these had produced fish mainly to the washing line method.

As the week progressed we gain more and more information on the areas and what methods was best. And by Tuesday we had established out game plan. This was to fish in gateside bay or reedy bay with straight lined nymphs on a floater or washing line on a midge tip, with a few of us deciding to fish Billys method in the flat conditions  with our best flies being green Nemos, pearly Nemos and red Diwal Backs with a few lures including Wooftas and biscuit flies.

On match day it was clear that each team had different approaches and it was going to be interesting to see who came out on top.

After a hard days fishing it was clear that the fish had dropped even further in the water and that the fish had to be caught early to stand a chance of the win.

At the weigh in it was clear that we had not done well with 2-3 fish being average and that the Scots had won with them averaging 4-5 fish.

They fished nymphs on Di5 lines to get there fish and got nearly all there fish before 11 o'clock.

The final scores were:
Scotland 68 fish
Wales 48 fish
England 41 fish
Ireland 26 fish

Despite a disappointing result it was a privilege to spend a week with some awesome people, and a massive well done has to go to the Scots for the gold medal.

I would also like to say thanks to all the people that helped us to compete in this great competition. And A special thanks goes to Phil Longstaff our manager and Carl Nixon our coach for staying up all night tying flies and doing all they could to help us do well. I would also ;like to Thanks Carl Malpass for coming up and helping as well. Thanks Boys 

Airflo Northern final

Yesterday was the Northern final of the Anglian water Airflo international at Rutland water. We travelled down on Sunday the 10th for a practice to see where the fish were holding and what methods were  working best. This proved to be invaluable as the fishing was extremely tough. Unfortunately we didn't find any particular areas that were holding fish but we did find fish and I also found that Woofta's and sunburst blobs were the top flies.

On match day it was very similar to practice with fish hard to come by, this was probably due to no cloud and near flat calm conditions. So i decided to fish a DI7 40+ line with Tequila blob and Wootfa booby. Unfortunately I didn't get my first fish till 2.30 out of Manton bay. So we decided to move to old hall. This proved to be the best move of the day as within 2 drifts I had caught my limit with 8 fish by 4.30. This turned out to be 1 of only 2 limits caught all day and claimed 3rd overall for me because I was narrowly beaten by Peter Appelby with 5 big fish to my 8 smaller fish. But it did mean that the team qualified for the international Final in October. So it was an extremely good day.

Airflo International Stocks Reservoir

Yesterday was the first heat of the Airflo international at Stocks reservoir. I was part of the England youth north team, and after a solid performance last year we were under pressure to be the first youth team to qualify 2 years in a row.

We arrived on the day to bright sky's and light winds, so I set up with a washing line set up on a midge tip. I had a 4 fly leader which consisted of a hopper on the top dropper, 2 cormorants and a cat booby on the point. This tactic proved to be the right one with me catching fish on my second cast! This was quickly followed by 3 more.

Unfortunately the wind then Picked up which switched the fishing off completely. In the big waves it was impossible to control the flies to I changed to a DI3 sweep line with a cat booby, tequila blob, and 2 cormorants. I took 3 more fish on this set up. This gave me 6 fish which was top in my team and 4th overall. This means I have being invited to the Individual final next year for the second time in a row.

All of our team caught fish so we qualified for the northan final at Rutland water. So overall it was a great day and there were some huge fish caught including a 11lb blue trout!

Airflo international final

Hi Guys

Sorry I havent updated recently I have just been so busy. But anyway here is a report of my experiences.

We set of on Friday the 20th in high hopes for the day ahead even though it was 4 in the morning. We arrived at Grafham water to find a gentle ripple and plenty of cloud cover. I was down to fish with Rob Edmund s on practice so we got of to a good start in Valley Creek where I caught a fish on a small buzzer booby before Rob had even set up. It wasn't long before it was 3-0 to me but then Rob started to get fish pulling. we fished all the way round the lake and established the fish holding areas so we left to prepare for the next day.

The conditions on match day were good so I decided to pull early on and them fish buzzers in savages. I was partnered with Graham Watson former England coach and we agreed that Valley Creek was to be our first call. I got two pulling early but it went quite so we moved to sailing club, there was lots of fish being caught here but they were small so we went to savages. We fished buzzers in here all day to have a great day.

The final result was not as I hoped but I was into the top 20 so for a junior in a senior match that was quite good. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day. I would like to say thank you to the Anglian Water staff and to Rob for a great day of practice and Graham for a good competition day.

Casting Day

On Sunday the 15th of May I attended the Stephen J Fawcett casting day where you can go and try all of the latest rods for free. I had a great time casting loads of new rods, and meeting some top casters including Jim Fearn.

after trying several rods it was clear which I thought were the best rods. The first was the new Hardy zenith, this rod was outstanding with quick recovery and stunning looks this would be rod of choice. Second was the Vison GT four, this again cast beautifully and had awesome recovery. I tried a 9ft 5wt and could cast 40 yards no problem. Finally the new Streamflex plus rods. this was a really delicate rod and made for river situations where presentation is paramount, and it certainly did what it was supposed to by casting suburb loops with accuracy and deliciously.

Last weekend

Hi All

Over last weekend I did something very new to fishing. Fly fishing from a kayak. It was a thrilling experience and I would erg all of you out there who would like to try, to go and do it!. We fished on Esthwaite water which is very accessible and has great fishing.

Many people think that they would be unstable. But after a day in one you would never think that again. We fishing in Ocean kayaks and they were so stable you can stand up in them.

Esthwaite pairs

Today me and John Macintosh fished in the Esthwaite pairs qualifier. We knew from practice that 3-5 fish would be enough. We also knew that we were against some of the best anglers in the country including Trout Master ace Richard Landsbury and past winners Ali Tait and Sandy Roberts.

At 2 o'clock we only had one fish and were starting to worry whether we could snatch a win. We then found pods of fish in Strickland bay were we stayed the rest of the day and managed to get to 5 fish. these came to a variety of methods including drys and pulling.

After reaching the dock it was clear that we had done enough with most pairs getting 1 or 2 fish. It was finally announced that we were the winners with 5 fish and Richard Landsbury and Blythe Palmer in second. It was a god day all round and I cant wait till the final.