The results for all of the groups round 2 matches have been posted and can be seen on the results page,
For a report of Group 3’s round 2 match go to : http://iflyfish.info/blog/17-18-may-2019-farmoor-amfc-grp-3. Many thanks to Lyndsay Simpson for this write up.
The highlight for my day at Farmoor was the catering, the restaurant was open for a full fisherman’s breakfast and after the match we had a really excellent Lasagne – which we needed after a very tough day!
Now that R4 is complete the current league placing sand points become more interesting, please see below:
Group 1
1) Invicta ‘A’ : 22 points
2) Soldier Palmers ‘A’ : 14 points
3) Fish Hawks : 13 points
4) Tunbridge Wells : 12 points (by weight)
5) H.F.A. : 12 points (by weight)
6) RWFFA : 11 points
Group 2
1) BBFC ‘A’ : 18 points
2) England Police : 13 points
3) GWFFA ‘A’ : 12 points
4) Graylags : 9 points
5) BBFC ‘B’ : 8 points
Group 3
1) Invicta ‘B’ : 15 points
2) Bristol Reservoirs : 13 points
3) RNRMAA : 12 points (by weight)
4) Soldier Palmers ‘B’ : 12 points (by weight)
5) GWFFA ‘B’ : 7 points
Fishing was extremely tough at Graham on 7 July at Grafham for the fourth round of the Group 2 series of matches. Rod average was 0.47 and only 11 anglers caught any fish at all. The hot weather has finally turned the fish off at Grafham – a big change from the matches midweek. Hats off to the top rod on the day who was Frank Sumnall of Bewl who managed to take 3 fish on nymphs fished along the north shore. Mike Heritage caught the biggest fish on the day, a rainbow of 3lb 3oz
13th June – Grafham Water
The Weather.
The wind on the day was a light to moderate South South Westerly, increasing through the day to reach about 12mph in the afternoon and veering to West South Westerly. Although fishing started with a bright spell. for most of the day we had 80+% cloud cover, with another bright spell in the middle of the day. In short a excellent fishing conditions, however the wind had moved almost 180° overnight so fish that had been found on the North shore during practice on Tuesday might well have moved or been unsettled.
The Fishing
My Boat Partner David Moore Doing Some Serious Fishing
Fish were caught from Pig Bay to the Willows on the North shore and in Gaines cove with a good number of larger fish taken to achieve the 2lb 2oz average weight. The largest fish weighed in at 3lbs 10oz to give Jeff Hickson (Invicta) the second heaviest bag of the day, beaten Tony Wilkinson (RN) with a bag weighing 23lb 4oz.
The new catch and release format worked well and 105 fish were killed and a further 50 released giving a rod average of over 5 fish. Grafham really out did itself providing excellent competition fishing, rewarding those who found the fish and the technique on the day.
My boat partner and I were using a washing line on a floater with a tequila FAB on the point and two diawl bachs or hares ears on the droppers. These consistently took fish through out the day on the North shore between Church bay and deep water point. Others used dries to great effect, notably Peter De Kremer who managed to take eight fish on dries by five o’clock in Gaines.
As a competitor on the day obviously I had a limited view of what others were doing – so if you where there please add your comments on the day.
Peter Waterhouse
The match was fished in largely bright conditions with occasional thin cloud. The wind was light – predominantly north-easterly. Best areas were the Narrows and the Pines. Fish were found in the top three feet of the water, which was crystal clear. Crunchers or Diawl Bachs fished on floaters or sink tips with a bit of colour on the cast (blob, FAB or booby depending on cloud cover) was the most productive tactic. Another win for those consistent Invicta anglers.
Chew Valley 12 May 2018
Boats heading out to Herons Green
The day started overcast, warm with very little wind at all. Any anglers headed towards Woodford Bank or Heron’s Green with a couple going over to Spring Bay. Early reports were of a good head of fish showing in Heron’s Green but were being tricky to catch. Spring Bay fished excellently 24 hours earlier but was now proving to be harder probably due to the lack of wind. The day before saw winds gusting to 20mph but fish were much more obliging to take the fly.
As the morning progressed the fishing in Heron’s Green picked up with pockets of fish feeding more regularly, but Spring Bay/Wick Green area was only producing the odd fish even though there were signs of fish in the area. By mid-afternoon the fishing was tough, still overcast and mild but with no wind to give a ripple on the water. Woodford Bank was still producing a few fish on a regular basis and with a large hatch going on down the end of Villice Bay the fish seemed to start feeding in that area.
A few anglers had located some fish on North Shore and were catching for a period of the day. Also a head of fish were located tight against Walley Bank. This saved a couple of anglers from a dreaded blank late into the afternoon.
It was time to see how each team had fared. It was a mixed bag in every team; some anglers had caught a maximum while others only had the odd one or two fish. The final result saw BRFFA come out on top with 67lb 12oz. The standout angler of the day was Neil Loughrey of RNRMAA who had his eight fish by 12:00hrs with a total bag weight of 21lb 10oz. Bristol Water kindly donated a free boat for two people on Chew for the best bag weight – well done to Neil for winning the prize with an outstanding performance. The best fish of the day went to BRFFA’s Graham Currie at 4lb 8oz – well done Graham. The rod average for the day, which reflects the tough fishing coditions, was 3.27 with only four limits caught.
Bewl Water 16 May 2018
It was well known on the day that the majority of the fish in were within 400 yards of the dam wall.
All fifteen boats headed in that direction and stayed in that area all day! It was a cool and cloudy day, with a moderate North Easterly wind before midday that soon developed into a very rough force six or more. Another reason to stay close to the shelter of the dam.
There were three bagups and four blanks amongst the thirty anglers. The water was 100% full, and gin clear. The fish were a lot closer to the surface than a lot of people thought, which may have caught some of them out.
The top rod on the day was Trevor Bourne from Bewl’s ‘B’ team who finished at 1.15pm. He was on a fast glass, pulling as soon as it hit the water, with two smallish orange blobs. It should be noted that although he started near the dam like everyone else, he drifted a lot further out than any other boat, by as much as another 400 yards, getting interest all the way out past the end of Chingley Wood. Then only turned back because it became too rough.
Rod average was 3.3, and average weight of the fish was 2lbs 7ozs, with the largest being 4lbs 4ozs, also landed by a Bewl ‘B’ team member, Ralph Painter.
I have just posted the dates agreed at the AGM they are available here (See Fixtures)
If you are a match organiser for your club please make sure the details are correct, if there is an error or there has been a change since the AGM pleas contact the secretary John Caldwell
The 2018 AGM will be held at the Tower Arms Hotel, Iver, on Sunday 28th January 2018.
The meeting will start at 2pm.
Agenda attached here Agenda 2018
Minutes from the 2017 AGM Minutes 2017
Secretary’s report 2017 Secretary’s report 2017
The results for the Group 1 round 2 match held at Draycote on the 10th of May are available. Anglers achieved a rod average of 5.5 and Richard Denny of Tunbridge Wells managed a bag of 22lbs, including a clonking 5lb 9oz fish .