March 31st 2024 Bernies Barrow Bash - Round One of the 3 Lakes Challenge
So Easter Sunday saw BRFFA run its first dedicated and what we like to think as a fun sociable bank catch and release competition at Barrow tanks.
Barrow often gets forgotten about in favour of its bigger brother and sister Chew & Blagdon, but it’s actually older than both of its siblings, and many top international anglers have cut their teeth on “The Tanks”. The nature of the place lends itself to having a more relaxed friendly competition, not about big prize tables but about encouraging people who perhaps have never had a go at a match to come along meet some like minded folk and have a great day out - with the chance of winning a few quid and a having a pint after wards.
The fish that come out of the tanks are arguably some of the finest condition fish in the uk - they really are stunning, ( if you don’t believe it look at the last frame of the video )which is huge credit to Luke and Alan and the BWF team. The water is gin clear and offers a real challenge not least because of the cobbled banks and changing water levels of the reservoir.
Tony Torrington and Bernie Weaver headed up a brilliant day which actually saw 16 anglers take part including some novices which is fantastic to see. Weather conditions more settled and a stunning sunrise greeted the guys at 7 am, a stiff breeze cut across tank 3 and most set up on the far shore line to try and coax a few Barrow Bullets to the net.
Of course it wasn’t easy - it seldom is, it was a grind it out kinda day - Di5 lines with a sparkle booby or small nymph pattern - even to size 14 did the trick if you persevered.
Often the trout would approach the fly at the surface, only to turn away or role over it - they are fussy sometimes.
Middle of the day saw it go quiet but ultimately everyone had a good time and headed off to The Princes Motto pub in Barrow Gurney for some food and a drink to divy up the prizes.
Sean Torrington taking the honours with 6 fish, Ron Howard second with 4 and brilliant to see Will Wellman in 3rd following up his excellent start to the season. Big credit to the new faces that came along - was great to welcome you, thanks to The Princes Motto for looking after us afterwards and well done to Tony and Bernie for getting this over the line, it’s fantastic to finally have dedicated bank matches being run, and there are more planned for this season. If you’ve never fished Barrow Tanks you are missing out it is arguably one of the best bank reservoirs trout fisheries in the UK.
Final results:
1 S Torrington
2 R Howard
3 W Wellman
4 A Shearn
5 T Torrington
6 T Irwin
7 S Page
8 R Thomas
9 G Jarvis
10 W Torrington
11 M Newman
12 J Robert’s
12 T Wellman
13 P Bessell
15 S Glover
15 G Wharton
Sunday saw the 2nd of the “BRFFA 3 Lakes Challenge” this time it was held at the mighty Blagdon.
Anglers arrived at 7am to a flat calm lake,names were drawn and they all headed to get to their places, most knowing that the North side of the lake was fishing well. Anglers chose spots from Rugmoor Ash Trees and all the way down to the North Shore.
The horn sounded at 7:45am, fish were caught quite quickly, the family Torrington, Tony Sean and Will picking up early fish. Sean and Tony took several fish in the first couple of hours, then the westerly wind picked up and it was time to start grinding it out. Martin Anstey started to pick up the pace, many others starting to catch too and the race was on. Tactics for day ranged from floating lines and nymphs but also intermediates with damsels and nymph combos.
Results:
1st Martin Ansty 10 fish
2nd Sean Torrington 10 fish
3rd Simon Page 7 fish
10 people fished with 47 fish caught.
Spring Shield Competition 2024
The BRFFA ‘Airflo’ Spring Shield 2024 report.
Saturday morning saw a good field of 32 anglers arrive at Chew Valley lake, including last years winner John Harris, to take part in the Airflo sponsored Spring Shield 2024. The weather was more settled than recently had been the case but that stiff breeze still blew SW across the lake and it still had a cold edge too it, along with bright sunshine - conditions looked tricky.
The boats headed out at just before 10am they spread from the North Shore and behind Denny Island to Valley Bank, False Island and the middle, a handful setting up in and around the cages, braving the gusty winds. The boats for the most part seem to hunker down and stick to long drifts in those areas. This is testament to the good spread of fish across the water. Bristol Water Fisheries have made a big effort this year to try and spread stocking out much more and the fishing seems to have benefited from this positive move.
Practice makes perfect they say, and it certainly seemed to help those that had as Andy Stones and Jay Curry’s boats both picked up fish early on through the cages area. This match was C&R so those early fish count .
The middle of the lake had a YO YO kind of day with fish moving up and down the water column with the changing wind and sun conditions, the water is deeper here. Tactics early on seemed to favour a Di3 or Di5 with some orange colour and cormorants, the addition of the sailing boats clattering about also seemed to keep the fish a bit deeper, whilst those over at the North shore areas appear to have gone for tip lines and stuck to that method, with natural patterns or maybe some colour and nymphs on the cast proving consistent tactics.
During the periods of lighter winds anglers that made the change to a floating line with natural patterns really did benefit. Will Wellman picking up 4 fish in one drift to add to an already impressive number he had to the net, at 15 years old he is one to watch for sure, it was fun watching him along side his Dad in different boats going head to head catching and keeping up with one another,Will taking that win once again, great competition between father and son.
Jesse Gale was another Junior who took part and also showed great skills in the changing conditions netting 7 fish, it really is great to see some youngsters getting involved against some very competent anglers.
The back end of the day, as always seems the case, saw the howling wind and mizzlle come back making life hard again for everyone, and as the boats returned it showed a really mixed bag of fortunes, plenty of ones and twos but also plenty of good numbers. The rod average was over 5, which is good in those conditions.
Nobody will be surprised to see that at the end of the day it was “The Monger” Dave Reynolds that came out on top with a full limit of 14 fish. Dave has the knack of being one of the clubs most consistent anglers, he can tailor his tactics in the changing conditions to great effect. congratulations to Dave well deserved once again. Andy Stones took second spot with 12 fish and Jay Curry just getting 3rd place from Will Wellman who came a very respectable 4th, both with 11 fish, Jay winning on the time of his 4th fish.
The biggest bonus of the day was to see our juniors doing so well, something as a club we are very proud of. Well done to Will and Jesse
All in all a very good day and we would like to thank all our members that supported this years Spring Shield. Thanks go to all the BWF staff, Luke and Alan for the amazing fishing, Bernie for sorting the food and The Crown in West Harptree and Andy Stones for bringing it all together.
Red Lion Floating Line Competition 2023
So yesterdays Red Lion Carpets sponsored Floating line event took place on Chew. The weather has finally taken its toll on the trout, who have been very active in bright hot conditions recently, that said the heat got to them eventually and made this a very challenging match.
Tony Torrington marshalled a good bank team into order at 7 am while Bristol Water staff sorted the boats out for the rolling start in the Boat Comp.
The boats headed out in all directions on a flat and humid looking water, not a breath of wind. Some went to Dam basin others behind the Island and some even put the breaks on and stayed right next to the Jetty. Fish were caught, obviously on floating line, the Jetty and Cages area proving productive first thing, the usual line up of colour and nymphs and maybe the odd booby being used. This gave way eventually though to a grind out with straight line nymphs, many rods saying they had the odd fish take coloured Fabs or Blobs but most falling to crunchers, DB nymphs or buzzers.
The Bank anglers set up stall on Walley and Woodford banks and both produced fish, Simon Page even let it slip that he had caught on size 14 buzzers in the morning session. At points a breeze did create a ripple to help but most of the boats ended up in around the cages trying to pick off the odd fish here and there. Not massive numbers for the day but yet again the Boat title went to Mr Dave Reynolds who netted 9 fish, closely followed by Mark Miles with 7 and Alan Clarke with 6. The Bank guys did incredibly well much to the distain of some boats who looked on bewildered as Simon Page and Ted Smart locked up time after time at Woodford and Walley. That said Ted Smart tucked himself away at Walley Bank and caught a highly respectable 6 fish to win it.
Notable mentions must go to Jesse Gale who at 13 years old had a go at his first competition on a very hard day with no complaints at any time, he fished hard and will be one to watch in the future. Also to Lee Williams whose company sponsored the event, we just couldn't do it without that support so thank you to Lee and his team at Red Lion Carpets, lastly to Andy Stones for the logistics of the day, Bill Pugh for sorting the money and to Luke and his team that helped keep the fishery safe and fishing well in hard conditions.
At the end of the day the awards were held at the Stoke Inn who also provided some good food for the hungry throng.
Yet another well supported match.
We look forward to the next one in September.
Meanwhile here is the obligatory BRFFA Video.
Ted Smart landing his Match winning 6th fish.
SPRING CUP 2023 - SPONSORED BY FRANKS FLIES
So yesterday saw nearly 47 or so anglers turn out to fish the BRFFA Spring Cup on Chew Valley lake, the first full catch and release match of 2023. this means its all about the times you get your fish rather than weight and its a very popular format.
It was a keenly fought competition and supported by some excellent rods. The morning started off with a thick fog over the water but at just before 10am Bernie issued the brief and all the boats bar one headed for the Picnic area to hunt down the recently stocked fish that were known to be hanging around.
No surprise that Chew again didn't give its silver up easily. Rumour was it could be all wrapped up by midday but that was far from the outcome. The Boats had to work hard to get their catches. A strong buzzer hatch and fair weather would have made you think that a floater and nymphs would be the way but from the jetty it was clear that the Di3's were out. The recent cold weather and rain has made the going hard at times.
Nobody in a boat finished ahead of time and many of the boats stuck it out at that area along the North shore and picnic zone. Some later moving to try Stratford and Heron's Green Bay.. As we know boat pressure can easily build on stock fish and that is what made the day a tough task.
In the end it turned out that tip lines with figure of eight plus roly poly seemed to do the damage with a team of nymphs or buzzer but plenty of anglers reported that they caught X number of fish only to have dropped twice as many, frustrating! That said the rod average was 6.5 per angler and that is a great result.
It was really great to welcome John Harris back on the water and he bought his ace game with him by winning top boat rod in style with 15 fish in the fastest time and getting his name first on the new club shield.
Matt Russel came second having success in Heron's Green also bagging 15 fish. Little surprise that Mark Miles yet again showed his class with third place and Will Wellman taking the Juniors top spot.
So far as the Bank competition goes well it's interesting, because to compete on a big still water from the bank is a real test of skill. Tony Torrington set about organising the anglers and the group really did show their class. Some started at Woodford bank, whilst others decided on Walley bank and then a few giving North Shore a go hoping the boats would push the fish in close.
Incredibly Pete Bessel not only caught with his first cast but went on to finish with 8 fish by 10:35 a truly masterful showing of skills. Second place went to Alan Shearn who bagged up by 11.33 and third place went to Laurence Hellier who finished just after midday. It should be noted that they also caught some clonking big brown trout which is fantastic to see.
The spirit of the day was absolutely spot on with Luke and the BW team as always being bang on point, not only helping with the boats but also the general help and advice for everyone, let alone the fishing they provide for us all.
The end of the day saw all the anglers return to The Stoke Inn for food, well nearly food! we did have to cook it ourselves but brilliantly Gordon Smith stepped up to plate and cooked a huge amount of fantastic BBQ grub for everyone whilst the prizes and raffle were drawn in the evening sunshine.
This pretty much sums up what BRFFA are all about. People coming together enjoying some fantastic competitive sport but also sharing some fun laughter and food together. A really fantastic day that doesn't happen without you, the club members.
Thanks to all the committee guys for the organising that goes on behind the scenes and of course to Jack Vallis of Franks Flies who was our lead sponsor for the event, we are very grateful to you, keep an eye out for his online auctions and excellent selections of flies, you will not be disappointed.
Garafit Cup 2023
MATCH REPORT
So the BRFFA Garafit Cup finally played out on Chew Valley lake on Sunday.
Its been a long time coming and Mark Stephens who took on the lead sponsorship of the event 4 years ago, pretty much had this organised and reorganised by himself, so it was a huge relief for him to get it underway this time.
With a break in our turbulent weather patterns the field …or lake of 72 anglers arrived early to enjoy a good breakfast served up by the Woodford Restaurant team and the Bristol Water crew headed up by Luke Cox helped with anglers getting to their boats in good time. Bernie Weaver called the shots from the lodge and the Armada set off at around 10 am to compete for this years BRFFA Garafit Cup.
The fishery has been a mixed bag for anglers of late, sometimes the fish are willing to play other times they make very tricky and this applies to different areas even on the same day.
For obvious reasons ( it’s competition season ) I will generalise about the methods used but frankly it was a really mixed bag of tactics and locations. Chew has fish all over at the moment and some boats headed to North Shore and some to Herons Green with some in between. The wind was actually pretty cold and caused a chop throughout the day, that and water run off made certain areas also very dirty.
The field was nicely divided into two groups, those with some serious credentials in Loch Style angling aka, “The Pros” and those still learning the art, aka the “The Amateurs”, a great idea meaning that the less experienced angler can end up in a boat with a world class rod. This year saw the return of the raining champion John Horsey along side numerous other international rods including a fantastic turn out from many Welsh international anglers who travelled some distances to practice and compete, we are very grateful for their ongoing support this side of the bridge.
Not to forget our juniors Lexie Vince and her dad Dan who took to the water along side Will Wellman and his dad Tim, its great to see youngsters getting involved.
So far as the fishing goes well it was tricky for many. Some went deep with Di5 or Di3 others went for fast glass moved quickly or tip lines. Patterns on the day seemed to be colour (Blobs, fabs or Boobies) with nymphs or buzzer between, whilst their were plenty of reports of straight line nymphing being deadly as well, there was also plenty of roly-poly going on.
It was two fish kill and then return the next 12, with prizes for the heaviest two fish bag being given, so those first two counted. Needless to say plenty of people caught good sized fish for their bag and then had a huge third fish to return, notably Simon Page who landed a 12 lb monster which is still swimming around today and also Andy Lewis whose third fish was easily 6 lb, also returned. When you take into account that the prize pot for the bag was nearly £300 in cash that has got to sting a little but boy it makes the sport exciting.
The day played out with some excellent bags of fish in challenging conditions, the fish would be up and rising one minute and then the wind would blow from over the Dam down the lake and they would vanish back into the deep. Those anglers that tried something different seemed to fair well and the murky rain wash water of Herons Green played out as the battle ground for victory.
With the sun eventually making an appearance as the boats returned to the jetty the 72 wind battered and weary anglers retired to the Woodford Lakeside Restaurant for the weigh in and the prize draw, not forgetting some hearty food for everyone provided by Steve and Diane Franks and their catering team, big thanks to them.
So with Marks hard work the prize table was impressive with sponsors offering up some great prizes, flies, boxes reels and rods and also a good cash prize for the top rod.
Notable mention must go to our juniors, Will and Lexie, both of whom caught fish with Lexie taking top Junior with a very impressive 6 fish, Will taking second place with his single fish, both of them are talented young rods, Will Wellman will be starting his England youth program this year so he is one to watch.
Best bag went to Sean Torrington who was delighted to pocket the prize pot of £290 he took 2 fish for 9lb 12 oz…yes you read that right 2 fish for 9lb 12!
Third place and bronze medal went to Richard Walker who managed to net 13 fish throughout the day, a very strong showing.
Top spot came down to time bonus between Paul Golding and Tony Baldwin, the only two anglers with full bags. The gold medal went to Paul Golding taking the £250 cash prize who found his fish in that grubby water and he did it just that bit faster than Tony. Congratulations to all the winners and also to all the anglers that took part.
Massive thanks to Mark for everything he has undertaken and also to the BRFFA Committee who helped out before during and after the match, the BW team and all the sponsors for their continued support.
Snowbee (Hidden Pairs) Results - Sunday 18th September 2022
The fishing was the rather hard but never the less, fish were caught. Snowbee Hidden Pairs has been a great comp, popular in the brffa calender, usually fished at Blagdon but this year switched to Chew. Anglers set off in morning after paying their respects with a one minute silence for the recent passing of her majesty Queen Elizabeth the II
For this comp anglers may fish with who they like and are seeded A and B the match pairs being picked at random during the day which mixes it up a bit.
Seems the methods that were favourable on the day were a mixture of tips coupled with foam daddies, boobies and dabblers, areas ranged from out by the cages, Woodford, Herons and Villice.
Brffa would like to thank Snowbee UK Ltd for their kind sponsorship of this comp, much appreciated
Red Lion Carpets (Hidden Teams) Competition - 26th June 2022
Results from the brffa red carpet hidden teams on Blagdon attended by all in all 30 anglers boat and Bank boat could pick partners, then during the day names were picked out of a hat to make teams of 4 Bank and boat all mixed up.
Great fun comp that's been going for a fair few yrs now, few boats headed for home bay to see if they could find Wednesday stocked fish, some headed top end, bank anglers went for green lawns, fishing proved challenging with the recent water temp certainly proving to be no stockie fest as the results below show. The prize giving was full of the usual banter and laughter.
Speacial thanks go out to brffa member Lee Williams of Red Lion Carpets for donating vouchers as prizes also thanks to Bristol Water Fisheries for putting up 2 boats as prizes, lastly not forgetting John McIntyre at The Stoke Inn for putting on a cracking after comp meal.
Brffa held their annual "floating line comp" on chew Sunday. The weather that greeted the competitors had changed from the previous days warm sunshine and no wind to grey skies and a cool easterly breeze with the possibility of rain.
The 19 boats set out with the field split between the North shore area and 13 boats motoring across to Stratford (hopefully to take advantage of the larger specimens known to lurk there). However it was soon apparent that the "resident" fish at Stratford which had fed profusely the previous day were going to be a tad tricky to deceive, odd fish were taken, Lee Williams took 2 quickly as did his boat partner Mark Miles, and young "Roachy" picked up a cracking 5lb plus fish early but sport was slow. By 11-11.30 boats started to drift away to pastures new (behind the island)
By lunchtime there was quite an armada behind the island and fish were starting to feed, but even so the fishing was tricky with few "lock ups" and lots of gentle plucks. Still, fish were being caught, some anglers had the right ideas whilst others struggled, the threatened rain now arrived with a vengeance.
A couple of hot spots were emerging, a run straight down the middle in the channel and tight into the reeeds, anglers in those areas were picking up fish regularly. The rain abated by 2pm having given the waterproofs a thorough testing. A couple of boats were catching more regularly, Mark Lynch and Andy Weeks going fish for fish as were Dave "monger" Reynolds and arwel Williams. Geoff Lambert was setting a furious pace and quite soon had reached 10 fish. But, as always with the boat pressure the sport suddenly died and looking around everyone appeared to be struggling.
With the rain gone, the wind disappeared, flat calm conditions were now the order of the day. With no real interest in the next half, Dave Reynolds and Arwel Williams decided to move to the point of denny Island might be a good idea. Turned out to be a very good idea with arwel landing a fish first cast there, quickly followed another for Dave, 10-9 10mins of no action and then 2 in 2 casts for dave, so he finished with 12 fish limit at 4.15, Arwel picked another to make it 10 but despite hooking and playing 3 more could not get to 12
When the comp had finished, the fish had come back on behind the island and at Stratford for the last hour, Andy Weeks also landed his 12 fish limit, completing just after 5pm, Mark Lynch had 11 Arwel Williams with 10, Geoff Lambert with 10, Timmy "2 fish" Wellman with 10 and Mark Miles with 9 (but big fish)
The main method had been static or very slow retrieved nymphs with some foam buoyancy fly on the point keeping the flies up. Even the bung had caught fish late on.
Bank section was attended by 12 competitors for this event encouraging to see numbers climbing nicely everyone shot of to various parts of the lake from walley North shore woodford bobs corner and oak tree to do a day's battle fish being taken steadily loads of fish being lost were quite a regular story from anglers, Pete Besel started at walley taking a few but didn't feel good so headed for the beach heron side of nunnery taking 8 fish in all including a stunner of a rainbow which tipped the scales bang on 6lb which kind sealed the deal for taking top spot, Dave Blair in second and Tony Torrington 3rd both angler taking 6 fish
1 Pete Bessel 8 fish 24lb
2 Dave Blair 6 fish 17.08oz
3 Tony Torrington 6 fish 15.14oz
Junior section
1. Max Mockeridge 2 fish 7lb 4oz
2 Will Wellman 2 fish 6lb 1oz
Great thanks to Bristol Water for supplying cracking fish, big shout also going out to the Stoke inn John McIntyre for putting on lovely after comp meal.
Pics included from Seb Pecchia and Christopher Fuller
Orvis Classic Floating Line Competition Results -Sunday - 15th May
Spring Cup Results - Saturday 30th April 2022
Brffa Spring Cup on Chew was held yesterday, not a bad turn out being that the comp calendar of late has been rather busy, 31 anglers took to the water and 7 fished Bank section, the draw held at 7am greeted with a light frost, bank anglers headed for Bobs House, Hideaway Bay, Oak Tree and some went Woodford. As for the boat section they left just before 10 heading for various places on the lake including behind the Island, North Shore, a few went Herons and some even went open water False Island, tips nymphs and washing line proving to be the favourable methods.
This years Spring Cup was kindly sponsored by brffa member Lee Williams who put up some very generously priced vouchers for the comp and for making sure that the juniors didn't go away empty handed great work Lee and many thanks
Great to see we had two juniors out fishing also promising to see the future of the sport, they fished with their fathers and one junior Max Mockeridge actually beat his father, really nice also to see some fresh members taking part in the club comp
Bank section
1st place Alan Shearn
2nd place Tony Coxhead
3rd place Tony Torrington
Boat section
1st place Tim Kamie
2nd place John Piper
3rd place Tim Edwards
Juniors
Max Mockeridge
Will Wellman
Greats thanks to everyone who helped setting up and running of the day in the absence of Martin Cottis who's away in Spain fishing, big apologies for lack of bar at the sailing club the organisers were unaware that during the changes at the sailing club of the bar and food need to be booked separately all in all a great day was had by all
Bernies Barrows Bash - Sunday 10th April 2022
Well what a lovely turn out for the brffa barrow bash today up at barrow tanks
Great group of anglers took to the water this morning to have a crack at those barrow bullets all knowing that the sudden temp drop in the last few days was gonna make things tricky for all.
1st Gary Wharton 3 fish 6lb 15oz
2nd Martin Burgess 1 fish 4lb 10oz
3rd Tony coxhead 1 fish 4lb 1oz
Great specials thanks go out to Mark Miles of Flyfishing Bulldog and Jack Vallis of Franks flies who together put up some cracking prizes to battle it out for, lovely gesture and hope folk will support both of these business's in the future.
16 anglers took 13 fish this was a gruelling match but a nice day out hope everyone enjoyed themselves, thanks all for coming watch this space for more comps on the concrete
End of Season Bank Comp - Sunday 31st October 2021
Not too bad a turn out, 8 attended, after the recent downpour some areas were a tad muddy, few eager anglers set off to Green Lawn first thing then numbers spread out to Rainbow Point, Cheddar Water and Butcombe Bay. Methods were a mixture of nymphs and lures served on floating lines, some lovely fish about Pete Bessel returning a near on 5lb Brownie, stunning fish,
Great thanks to snowbee UK for supplying vouchers for the winners and to Bristol Water for dropping the day ticket price to £20 for the day, lovely gesture, also fair play to everyone who turned up, hopefully the club will see more 'fishing the bank' comps next year, results are as follows, special thanks to committee member Tony Torrington for organising the comp, seen below presenting prizes to the winners
1st Pete Bessel 5 fish
2nd Tony Coxhead 2 fish 6.4
3rd Alan Shearn 2 fish 5.6
Full individual list of results from Sundays Garifit comp on chew, what a cracking day it was with a bumper crowd of 52 anglers coming from all corners of England and Wales turning up to this event, which was kindly sponsored by brffa club member Mark Stevens owner of Garafit a company who supply and service garage equipment to the South West
Everyone set off 10am sharp to set up their drift in the popular open water infront the lodge only being able to drift just short of denny spit as out of bounds area was put in place which meant walley and the dam to the picnic area were no go meaning the boils couldn't be fished, as fish had recently held up there, as the day went on anglers spread out to open water of Moreton along to open water off nunnery.
Tactics for the day were anything from floaters tips to di3 fabs boobys blobs and red holo dawls seeming to be the order of day as fish tended to move up and down in water thoughout the day.
Congratulations to the winners who managed to obtain their 12 fish ahead of time accumulating added weight to their total bag, following 2 fish catch and kill then rule.
1st John Horsey
2nd Chris Rawle
3rd Dale Burgess
Biggest fish Andy Stone 4lb 12oz
Total fish 386
Rod Ave 3.7
Specials thanks go out to mark Stevens for sponsoring and gathering so many people together for the event for putting up £500 prize money and also giving £500 to the brffa what a cracking gesture, also he managed to get some people in the business to put up some prizes so thanks are as follows.
Kieron Jenkins of airflo
Jack Vallis of Frank's flies
Iian Barr of Iian barr fly fishing
Malcolm Hunt of Manningford trout fishery
Also thanks go out to Bristol Water fisheries for putting up a single and double boat as prizes, last but not least thanks go to woodford lakeside food for sorting out the after comp meal and drinks.
Thanks also to Martin Cottis and the team for making sure things run smoothly as always
Garafit Results - Sunday 26th September 2021
Report from the match winner John Horsey
What a great day fishing the sell-out Garafit Competition on Chew Valley Lake with 60 competitors. Brilliantly organised by Mark Stevens, it was a pleasure to fish a BRFFA Competition rather than organise one!
Fish were spread far and wide across Chew’s 1200 acres and lots of methods, flies and lines were used to prise out lots of the hardest fighting trout I have ever experienced! Big shout out to Bristol Water Fisheries for making this happen year after year!
It was a 2 kill, then 10 release
Match, with time bonus and I managed to catch my limit by just before 3:00pm.
I fished an Airflo DI3 all day, with a Black Booby on the point, two size 10 Nymphs in the middle (Black DB with Jc Cheeks and a shop-bought that morning Organzer JC DB) with a size 12 pink/peach FNF Jelly Fab on the top dropper.
I had 2 to the Fab, 5 to Nymphs and 5 to the Booby. But the countdown was critical - long cast, then either 10 seconds or 20 seconds before starting the retrieve. The chew fish are on daphnia right now, so they move up and down in the water columns and are often feeding deeper than you might think - especially when a 100 strong yacht race takes place exactly where you are drifting!!!
Mark Steven’s secured some great sponsorship with £500 cash prizes and superb tackle prizes down to 14th place courtesy of Airflo, Frank’s Flies, Malcolm Hunt and Bristol Water Fisheries (sorry if Ive missed anyone).
Thanks also to my boat partner Ron Howard who managed 9 fish and lost as many. Great day mate. Roll on next weekend on Chew and Blagdon!
Big thanks to my great friend and superb client Barry Hawyes for working out the DI3 on our guided day last Wednesday!!!
We all have things to learn in this game - no matter how Often you fish - which is probably why I love Competition fly fishing so much.
Snowbee Hidden Pairs Results - Sunday 19th September
Congrats to the top 6 winning pairs who were rewarded with Snowbee vouchers, what a lovely day steady breeze, slightly overcast. 34 anglers took to the water keen to get a slot in the recent popular spot Butcombe side of the dam where fish were taken quickly by some, method of tips of various lengths, boobies, fabs, muskins, db's proving fruitful for some
Special thanks to Snowbee UK for their generous support once again this year, they've sponsored this Comp for a number of years now, always a great comp in the diary.
Bill's pughs ever popular pools were won this time as follows
1st Mark Stevens
2nd Paul Bond
3rd Chris Fuller
2021 Red Lion Carpets Hidden Teams Results
Results from the brffa red carpet hidden teams on Blagdon attended by all in all 30 anglers boat and Bank boat could pick partners, then during the day names were picked out of a hat to make teams of 4 Bank and boat all mixed up.
Great fun comp that's been going for a fair few yrs now, few boats headed for home bay to see if they could find Wednesday stocked fish, some headed top end, bank anglers went for green lawns, fishing proved challenging with the recent water temp certainly proving to be no stockie fest as the results below show. The prize giving was full of the usual banter and laughter.
Speacial thanks go out to brffa member Lee Williams of Red Lion Carpets for donating vouchers as prizes also thanks to Bristol Water Fisheries for putting up 2 boats as prizes, lastly not forgetting John McIntyre at The Stoke Inn for putting on a cracking after comp meal.
2021 Bristol Water Evening Boat League Results
Great way to end the Evening league on Saturday at Blagdon- a Misty bright start saw the boats head out towards Butcombe and the far side of the Dam all day for the final Evening league match of 2021. Fish were taken early and surprisingly high in the water on floating lines. Mixture of flys working - however for most it proved hard work the fish seeming to become picky after a while - ignoring blobs and fabs and looking for natural patterns like crunchers and small black nymphs moved slowly sub surface. The boat of Dave Gregory and Allan Williams proving the point as they both caught regularly all day. Dave taking an impressive 13 fish by 3pm.
A super season thanks to Andy Stones really hard work getting this sorted out for each evening session and John and his team at Bristol water fisheries for accommodating us on the water and providing some fantastic fishing.
Closely fought - it ended up with Jay Curry taking top honours Paul Roach a very close second and Allan Williams in 3rd. 3 superb anglers who showed their class and consistency all season.
Many thanks to Seb Peechia for the cracking photos of the day
Final results:
2021 Orvis Classic Floating Line Competition Results
Results for the orvis floating line on chew on Sunday and what a cracker of a day it turnt out to be fish a plenty as they say, some great results, 10am anglers set off in various areas some having practiced few days previous bulk headed Stratford where many jossled for places, few snuck behind the island which proved fruitful for the top three winners, 3rd place Graham currie 2nd place Tim Wellman and John Gumbleton in 1st only one solitary oz between John and Tim favourable method was floating line with muskins cruncher and either fab or blob on the point big fish was won by Dale burgess 6lb 12oz beating foz's earlier claimed fish of 7lb that had shunk down to 5lb 9oz from its journey from walley to the scales nice to see bill pughs pools being a popular idea at the events once again optional £5 put in then shared out bernie did the same for the bank section.
Bank section 9 set out bright n early at 7am to head various places names picked at 30 second intervals and off they went eagerly to get on the fish, gerry Rowe took 1st place with a huge weight for 7 fish knocking Ted Smarts 8 fish bag into 2nd place and Pete bessel taking 3rd most fish were taken at walley and nunnery stones hothead damsel and nymphs doing the damage for most
Great thank you to Alex and nigel at Orivs who came along and sponsored this event which has been sponsored by orvis for an estimated time of just over 40yrs a competition that proves just as popular as ever and nice to see a few new faces this Yr, great thank to everyone involved special thanks to Martin cottis who sets the comps up and bristol water for supplying such crazy fighting fish
Bill Pugh's Mid-Week FriendlyResults 2021
Wednesday 14th July.
Great turn out for the ever popular Billy Pughs midweeker on Wednesday, anglers were greeted with blazing sunshine light breeze, heading for herons and villice taking fish from the off, wasn't long before herons turned into a boat park so anglers then split for Moreton with some heading for Walley, where some good fish were taken. Usual methods, floaters, tips, nymphs, boobies, fabs, washing line. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who turned out.
Wednesday 16th June
Results for the Bill pugh midweeker and what a scorcher that was highs of around 28 degrees 12 anglers took part seems the hot spot was top of villice some anglers using the knowledge they had learnt from Sundays blagdon fly fishers comp
1st Andy Stone
2nd Jay curry
3rd craig Thorburn
4th bill pugh
Floaters tips fabs and nypmhs being once again the effective method of the day
Wednesday 12th May
Results just in from yesterday's bill pugh mid week comp on chew
1st place John horsey
2nd place Ron Howard
Congratulations to John and Ron for a sterling performance on what looks like a Great start to what is sure to be a popular comp, which is done on a pool system where competitors stick in £5 each then top 2 took the cash in this case 1st was £40 2nd took £20, Please make sure to get your names down for the next one on wed 16th June, was informed by Martin cottis this was a sell out so get in quick
BRFFA Spring Competition 2021 Results
BOAT SECTION.
Well well what day it was, sell out attendance, 40 anglers took to the water in a rather blowy ENE wind coupled with bright sunshine, not the best conditions for a day afloat!!
Most anglers headed for the middle to start their work, seemed to be Di lines blobs n cormies and pulling were the order of the day, many an arm was swinging with gusto, although some went on tips and buzzers later in the day and produced.
Anglers managed to produce a total of 224 with a rod average 5.6 which was amazing in such conditions, tim kamei taking biggest fish at 4lb 12oz , prizes were something of a new set up for this comp done as a pool system run by committee member bill pugh, an optional £5 per angler stuck in a pot and shared later, all in a great day was had by all and nice to see everyone.
BANK SECTION.
6 anglers took part starting at 7am finishing at 5pm heading to various locations around the lake, seems nunnery stones was the place to be, various methods taking fish from floater to fast glass, nomads to hot head damsels, Tony and Gerry stuck it out on the stones Alan Shearn chose North Shore to take his fish including one at 4lb 8oz
1st tony torrington 8 fish 27.5lb
2nd gerry rowe 5 fish 13lb
3rd Alan shearn. 3 fish 8lb 10oz
Great side of the club comp. scene which is sometimes over shadowed by the boat section thanks to committee member Tony Torrington who makes sure everyone sets off on the day in the same way that Martin Cottis does for the boat section, if you know anybody who wishes to fish the bank section get in touch with Tony, next comp is the Orvis on the 16th May.
BRFFA/Red Lion Carpets Competition 2020
Sunday 25th October Chew Valley saw 37 Bristol Reservoirs Fly Fishers Association members take to the water in the Red Lion Carpets 2020 Competition.
A testing day with fish being found in shallow water across the middle of the lake and Wick green/Spring bay. Fish are now feeding hardon bloodworm and daphnia.
A real mix of methods worked although many found blobs and boobies fished on midge tips or intermediates to work well. Congratulations must go to Mr D Reynolds who stormed the field catching 12 fish, followed in second by Mr A Torrington with 7 fish.
A big thank you you to Red Lion Carpets for their kind sponsorship, if you need a carpet laid check out their website or facebook page. Alternatively drop them a call on 0117 977 0990.
Match Report by Dean Mockridge
A south strong wind greeted us on Sunday but no rain. Social distancing was observed very well. The competition started at 9.30 am with everybody on the boats raring to go. Every one went to the middle of the lake except Max and I. Max is my 12-year-old son. We headed towards False island and drifted towards Denny Spit as we were on are own. Did they know something we didn’t?
Three casts in and boom Max was in and so was I at the same time. (Our set up) We both had fast Intermediate line. Max had a Tequila blob on the point with one dropper which was a Diawl Bach .As it was so windy I thought this would be a good idea for Max to have less tangles. I went for a Tequila fab on the point first dropper uv cruncher and on a top dropper. I had a Diawl Bach.
We both used Airflo Sightfree G5 8.4 lb fluorocarbon.
The two fish took the Point Tequila we thought we were onto something, but how wrong we were. We went back around, and nothing so we decided to go over to Walley Bank and drift towards the Dam. Again nothing, so we decided to go to the middle. Most of the boats had gone from that area. Had we missed all of the action?
So we drifted toward False Island and I was into another fish on the fab, then it all went quiet. The retrieve method we had been practising was quite fast. I changed my first dropper to a uv straggler cormorant.
I was just passing Max a uv cormorant and my rod was in my left hand and then the rod locked up.This one was on the middle dropper the cormorant and static. I then changed my top dropper to a red body cormorant. Max was just getting himself a flask of tea and he was into a fish, it nearly caught him out.
A change of tactics a slow figure eight, this was the way to go. Many more fish came to the cormorants just keeping in touch with the flies. I lost one fish by crashing into the drogue. By 4.45pm we headed back as it was getting dark.
Seven fish for me and three fish for Max. I was so pleased for Max as he had blanked the last time he came.
The conditions were tricky and the fishing was hard. A good friendly atmosphere and the fish fought hard.
Thank you Chew.
BRFFA/SNOWBEE COMPETITION 20th September 2020
Some pretty awesome fishing in the BRFFA Snowbee Hidden Pairs competition with a rod average of over 8 fish per person!
A real variety of flies working although boobies, FAB's, foam bodied daddy longlegs, daiwl bach's and cormorants all worked well. Floating lines or midge tips accounting for the best numbers of fish.
The dam area proved popular with this warmer spell although the area in front of the lodge, false island and cages also produced fish.
Garafit Hidden Teams – Chew Lake August 2020
Reynolds and Bessell triumph in BRFFA Snowbee hidden pairs…
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with long standing sponsors Snowbee hosted their annual Hidden Pairs competition at Bristol Waters idyllic Blagdon Lake – 12th October.
The sell-out field of 46 anglers set off from the boat dock at 10am in near perfect conditions with high expectations. Broken cloud cover and a gentle breeze ensured Blagdon’s hard fighting Brown and Rainbow trout were actively feeding at intervals throughout the day and rarely ventured from the very top of the water.
Blagdon was on notable formwith anglers finding good numbers of fish holding in the front of the infamous Blagdon lodge, Butcombe Bay and the Dam Basin. Competitors managed to catch steadily during the match with successful tactics ranging from teams of imitative Nymphs fished on long leaders, or a combination of blobs, boobies and cormorants pulled through the surface layers on intermediate lines.
The unique format of the BRFFA Hidden Pairs means the field of competitors only find out who their fishing partner for the day has been as the final results are revealed. As the competitor placing’s were announced and pairings were disclosed, the air of anticipation built at Blagdon’s lodge as it quickly became clear that Dave Reynolds and Pete Bessell with their combined weight and tally of released fish had vanquished the field, soundly beating Mark Miles and Sean Glover into 2nd place.
Left to Right – Dave Reynolds, Martin Cottis (BRFFA) and Pete Bessell – 2019 BRFFA Hidden Pairs Champions
Bristol Water Evening Boat League 2019
Jay Curry was crowned Evening Boat League Champion 2019 in a presentation at the Stoke Inn after the 10th and final round of this year’s event. We were joined by John Harris of Bristol Water Fisheries to hand out the prizes.
It was a dominant and consistent performance from Jay, winning 3 rounds.
2018 champion Andrew Wiles was second overall and Ron Howard third.
Bristol Water Fisheries generously contributed a free single man boat ticket to the winner of each round (or the next best placed). So, in the order in which they were won, there was a boat ticket for
Jay Curry
Ron Howard
John Piper
Paul Golding
Rik Anderson
Mark Stewart
Matthew Allen
Adam Drescher
Andrew Wiles
John Gumbleton
The entry fees that are paid at the beginning of the league are put in to a prize fund and there are cash prizes for the top 5 anglers
And so the final league positions ……….
5th place and £30 to Mark Stewart (97 points)
4th place and £30 to John Piper (100 points)
3rd place and £40 to Ron Howard (105 points)
2nd place and £50 to Andrew Wiles (107 points)
1st place and £70 plus the Evening League trophy to Jay Curry (117 points)
Looking back over the year a total of 22 different anglers have taken part and it has been good to see some new faces, not only come along but continue to be involved and join some of the BRFFA comps as well. Thank you.
Of those 22 anglers, there have been 156 appearances – with numbers per match ranging from 20 to 11, at an average of 15.6 per round. That is a definite improvement on recent years.
That also represents over £3000 of revenue for BWF.
Over the 10 rounds there have been 607 trout caught and released and that works out at a League rod average of 3.89.
We have generally had some cracking sport throughout, albeit with a couple of gruellers in Round 7 (9 fish) and Round 8 (3 fish).
The Boat League does not happen without the support and efforts of others so here a few Thank You’s.
Firstly, Thank You to everyone who made the time and effort to come along to Chew or Blagdon on alternate Wednesday evenings since April 10th. Without all of your support, both the more seasoned league competitors and the new friends who have joined us this year, the League simply wouldn’t exist.
Thank you to Bristol Water Fisheries for their continued support and some great fishing throughout. The league nearly packed up 3 years ago but we appreciate their support, not only financially for the ticket prices and boat prizes, but also to all the staff who have been on hand to help us at the beginning and end of the evening.
And thank you to our friends at the Stoke Inn for their hospitality and food at the end of every evening.
Funky Fly Tying Hidden Teams – Chew Lake 2019
Funky Fly Tying Hidden Teams competition 16th June 2019
Bristol Reservoirs Fly Fishers' Association had a decent entry level for this competition, which traditionally has been rather poorly supported. It helped that we have brought the match forward to June at a prime time for the fishing on the lake, as opposed to a time when, especially in the past three to four years, the lake has been suffering from really hot conditions. 48 anglers took to the boats and surprisingly, in view of how well the bank if fishing, only three entered this section.
Boats were still loading when a couple of the anglers headed out before “the off” seemingly signalling almost everyone else milling around to roar up their motors and start out eight minutes early. Of the boats that had false starts, eleven or twelve went to Herons, six to Villice and one went towards the dam. The two boats that were late getting out (actually they were on time) also went towards Villice. Once the teams were sorted out, and the chef at the sailing club was told how many meals were required I headed out with Geoff Lambert, and decided to look right in front of the sailing club. We didn't have our first cast until after eleven thirty but we were also hoping that we were not required in the competition. This was in fact not the case as it would have meant that one angler out fishing would have to be left out.
Paul Bond won the competition this year. He caught and returned his twelfth fish just before two o'clock, thus gaining four hours of time bonus, which added to his ten fish returned weight of 25 pounds and his actual weigh of the two fish killed (5-08) gave him a total weight of 38-08. I spoke with Bondy this afternoon about his tactics for the day. He had practiced on Friday and caught fish in both Villice and Herons, but decided that Herons was likely to be the more productive area for the competition. He fished with Matthew Allen, who is relatively new to our club matches but is turning into a regular. Bondy fished a floating line and straight nymphs. He didn't fish either a blob or a booby to hold the flies up, instead opting to retrieve faster than is usual. The tactic obviously worked as he was almost three pounds clear of second place angler – Dave “Monger” Reynolds.
Dave fished with his pal Mark Stevens and they opted to head to Villice. Dave caught well at first, using his usual set up of three nymphs and either a FAB or a booby. But, the pressure of boats in shallow water put the fish off and so the pair opted to go into Herons. Dave caught his next few fish here, until needing just one more, he returned to Villice. This was successful and he soon finished his limit (just before three) and Mark, who ended up in third place, completed his limit too, just before four o'clock.
Fourth and fifth placed anglers - Graham Currie and Tony George fished together and both had limits – Graham finished at ten past four, whilst Georgio finished just before five. The other limit caught was by Bill Pugh, who fished with Lee Williams (who had eight). Dave Gregory was just short of catching twelve – he had eleven and weighed in 28-02.
There was a steady decrease in numbers caught through the field and only young Max, fishing his first competition failed to bring a trout to the scales. Better luck next time – it is so encouraging to see some youngsters joining us (Max's brother James fished with Dominic de Souza and caught three trout).
There was a total of 260 fish caught meaning that the boat average was almost five and a half per person. The three bank anglers did fantastically well, with Alan Shearn taking best weight with seven trout for 19-09, Tony Torrington next with eight for 16-05 and Pete Bessell third with seven for 16-00. Good fishing by the three!
A fine meal was held at the Sailing Club and Toby presented the prizes to top three teams and individual winner. Full team results attached. Apologies to Rik Anderson's team – I mistakenly gave them an extra ten pounds. Originally I placed them sixth instead of their correct position of ninth.
Thanks to all of you who supported the club – especially new competition entrants – Frank Fitheridge, Martyn Elliott and Chris Fuller.
2019 Orvis Classic Floating Line Results
Sunday 26th May 2019 - Chew Valley Lake
With a week to go, there were only nineteen entries to this event which in years past has sold all of the boats out on Chew. But, with anglers hearing about the excellent fishing leading up to the event, entries came in thick and fast and the club ended up with 44 entrants.
Weather-wise it was a promising start and as Martin Cottis gave the briefing on the jetties, fish were seen on top. The anglers set off and split four ways. The largest number of boats headed to Herons, whilst Woodford, North Shore and False Island areas also had their share.
The weather hardly improved all day, in fact, the wind increased as it seems to have done a great deal lately, and it became quite cool for a late May day. After about an hour of fishing it seemed clear that the fishing was not all that good as boats started swapping areas....a sure sign that tough fishing was being had all round.
The bank event was also proving a little difficult and when Martin phoned Tony Torrington for numbers to give to chef Robert, Tony reported few fish having been caught. As is often the case on Chew the fish started responding much better after one o'clock, and many of the trout caught were taken later in the day.
Bank winner was Andy Cotterell, who repeated his success of last year with a fine “bag” of eight trout for 20lbs 12oz, whilst Alan Shearn took second with six fish for 15-12 and Andy Turton six for 12-12.
The boat competition was pretty close in the end. Four anglers managed to catch their twelve fish limit and Paul Roach had eleven, but that bag contained the best fish caught at 5lbs 9oz. Eventual winner was Mark Stevens who caught and returned his twelfth fish at just before 3.30, thus gaining a time bonus of five pound, which was to prove crucial. Mark started at Walley bank, where he had met with some success in practice. He failed to catch here, although his boat partner Colin Pike caught one, and so moved on to picnic area 2, and caught three trout there tight in to the reeds. Mark still felt that he could do better elsewhere and so drove to Woodford. Here he saw Nik Long and Paul Roach seemingly catching so he stopped somewhere near the old seat on the bank. Mark caught fish and lost many more over the afternoon until he completed his limit. His total weight was 34lbs 10oz.
Second place went to the next man to catch a limit – Mark Miles. Mark finished at four thirty so only had three pounds to add to his total which ended up as 32-12. He told me that he had tried a few places round the lake before settling on Woodford at around one thirty with no fish in the boat! But, three hours later he had twelve....
Third place went to veteran John Braithwaite (32-01) who winkled out his twelve fish in Herons by five twenty, whilst Paul Roach (31-09) sneaked into fourth place courtesy of the largest fish weighed in. Mark Thomas took the other limit on the day to earn fourth place – just eight ounces behind Paul.
Paul Golding with nine fish, Tony Coxhead with eight and Mark Stewart with nine made up the remaining prize-winning places.
In total, 191 trout were caught giving an average of 4.5 per man catch rate. 74 fish were killed and 117 returned. I have yet to work out the average size of the fish.
All agreed at the fantastic post-match meal, that the day had been a tough one but Chew had provided a fair and enjoyable competition. John Harris was thanked along with Rob in the kitchen and Jim who ran the bar for us. Martin finally thanked new members – Colin Pike, Kailin Coombes, Daniel Coombs, Matthew Allen, Garry Wharton, and father and son, Dean and James Mockridge.
As ever the biggest thanks and applause went to Richard Banbury of Orvis for another year of fantastic support for BRFFA.
Martin Cottis (29th May 2019)
2019 Veals Spring Cup Results
2019 AMFC Group 2 Round 1 Results
Snowbee Hidden Pairs Results 2018
Blagdon, Sunday September 23rd
Well supported by our good friends at Snowbee UK, this is always a friendly match with a format that sees the anglers go out for a morning session, returning to the lodge for lunch and then out for an afternoon session.
Popular local rod Paul Bond with partner Tim Kamei ran out eventual winners with a combined weight of 43lb 15oz (including time bonus). This was about 4lbs ahead of second placed pairing of Lee Williams and Graham Potter, with Simon Page and Tony Torrington taking third with 34lb 5oz.
Paul Bond also topped the individual scores with one of only two 12 fish limits - a great bag that weighed in at 31b 4oz with time bonus. Simon Page was the other angler who managed his limit to weigh in 29lb 13oz.
Bright and breezy conditions greeted the field in the morning with most of the field heading for the recent hotspots of Wood Bay and Holt Bay. But sport was slower than expected and it was Simon Page who lead comfortably at the lunch break. He had headed to Cheddar Water and came in with 10 fish taken on an intermediate line with cormorants and blobs.
At the halfway mark a splendid buffet lunch was provided in the lodge by our treasurers wife, Jane Wiles.
In the afternoon there was a more even split of the boats turning left or right out of Home Bay. Cheddar Water did produce fish throughout the afternoon but became harder due to increased boat pressure. Those who headed back to Wood bay found the fish more obliging. That included eventual winner Paul Bond who took the bulk of his fish on a slow tip line with a small booby and diawl bachs fished slow in the shallow water and then more quickly over the deeper water .
A total of 182 fish were caught by the field for a rod average of 4.79. Best fish was 3-08 caught by Lee Williams, but he already had a prize (second placed pair) so we went to Paul Sweatman who had one of 3-07.
Thanks again to our very generous sponsors, Snowbee. There were prizes for all the pairs down to 6th place – a magnificent total of £600 worth of Snowbee vouchers.
Thanks also to the staff of Bristol Water Fisheries who were extremely helpful in getting all the boats in and out of the pontoons.
The BRFFA/BW Evening Boat League 2018
The 2018 Evening Boat League again provided an exciting climax in the final round, with 3 or 4 anglers potentially in the hunt for the title.
In the event Blagdon was on great form with fish showing consistently across the lake. Andrew Wiles won the match with 12 fish with John Gumbleton second with 6 fish.
This was just enough for Andrew to win the title for the second year in a row, finishing just 2 points ahead of John Gumbleton.
Things were even tighter for third and fourth with Andy Stones just hanging on to the third slot only one point ahead of Tony Coxhead.
The full results are below.
We are again very grateful to Bristol Water for their support of the League, with a free midweek boat awarded to the winner of each round (only one boat per angler, so the second placed angler gets it if the winner has already got one.). There were also cash prizes for the first 3 places.
The Evening Boat League is a very popular and friendly competition that has been running for a number of years now. It is held over 9 rounds at fortnightly intervals, the venue alternating between Chew and Blagdon. And after the fishing everyone heads back to the Stoke Inn at Chew Stoke for a bite to eat and to swap stories from the evening.
We were pleased to welcome one or two new faces to the league this year. Over the years it has been a great introduction to competition fishing for many club members with the relaxed and friendly atmosphere over 4 hours with some experienced local rods proving to be a popular learning ground.
The fishing throughout the League this year has been mostly excellent with some great evenings in recent weeks.
It is expected that the competition will return in 2019 and we hope that we can encourage a few more new people to join us.
Funky Fly TyingHidden Teams – Chew Lake 2018
2018 Orvis Results
COMPETITION RESULTS
Paul Bond Triumphs in BRFFA Veals Spring Cup
Paul Bond (Left) collects the 2018 Veal’s Spring Cup from Dave England (Veals)
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with Veal’s Fishing Tackle hosted their
2018 Spring Cup match on Bristol Water’s Chew Valley Lake 6th May.
Competitors arriving at Chew were greeted with wall to wall sunshine, not a breath of wind or a cloud in the sky. Conditions rarely welcomed by competition fly fishermen and women
As the boats left the jetties at 10am, the majority of the field headed straight for the known hot spots behind Denny Island where recently stocked fish have been gorging on corixa and buzzers. Competitors seeking slightly older fish with the chance of an overwintered specimen scouted throughout Herons, Moreton and Stratford. Despite the conditions the fish were still holding relatively high in the water column. Typically a floating line or midge tip with imitative patterns fished slowly were the tactics required to encourage Chew’s fish to cooperate.
Paul Bond set a steady pace early on quickly securing his 4th fish with short drifts off Woodford bank before joining the bulk of the field drifting in to the reeds between North Shore and Hollow Brook. In the latter stages of the match when the fishing slowed, Paul successfully deployed the use of a bung to maintain his impressive catch rate.
The closing stages of the match became fairly tense as 2017 Club Champion and veteran Dave Reynolds hunted down the youthful Bond. The two anglers closed out the match with 11 fish a piece so it was down to the scales to separate the two. With Dave’s total bag weight totalling 25lb 12oz and Paul’s weighing in 27lb 10oz, it quickly became apparent that Paul had clinched the coveted BRFFA Spring Shield for 2018.
Match Results – Top 5 Places.
The biggest fish of the match was a fin perfect specimen Rainbow of 8lb caught by Ron Howard. Match rod average was 4.45 with an average weight 2lb 7oz
The BRFFA’s next competition is The Orvis Floating Line Classic which will be held at Chew Valley Lake - 10th June 2018. For an entry form, and further details please visit www.brffa.com For further
information about Veals or Fly Fishing at Bristol Water fisheries, please visit. http://www.vealsfishingtackle.com/ and http://www.bristolwater.co.uk/fishing/respectively.
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Reynolds and Edwards victorious in BRFFA Snowbee Hidden Pairs - Blagdon Lake 2018
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with long standing sponsors Snowbee hosted their annual Hidden Pairs competition at Bristol Waters idyllic Blagdon Lake - 17th September.
The sell-out field of 44 anglers set off from the boat dock at 10am in near perfect conditions with high expectations. Broken cloud cover and a gentle breeze ensured Blagdon’s hard fighting Brown and Rainbow trout were actively feeding at intervals throughout the day and rarely ventured from the very top of the water.
Blagdon was on notable form with anglers finding good numbers of fish holding in Wood Bay, Green Lawn and the Dam Basin. Competitors managed to catch steadily during the match with successful tactics ranged from teams of imitative Nymphs fished on long leaders, dries, or a combination of blobs, boobies and hoppers pulled through the surface layers on floating or slow intermediate lines.
The unique format of the BRFFA Hidden Pairs means the field of competitors only find out who their fishing partner for the day has been as the final results are revealed. As the competitor placing’s were announced and pairings were disclosed, the air of anticipation built at Blagdon’s lodge as it quickly became clear that Dave Reynolds and Tim Edwards had triumphed. Their combined weight of 39lb 4oz had dominated the rest of the field, soundly beating Ali Munn and Keith Brown into 2nd place.
Left to Right – Tim Edwards, Simon Kidd (Snowbee UK) and Dave Reynolds – 2017 BRFFA Hidden Pairs Champions
The BRFFA is a long established and friendly Fly Fishing club with an ethos centred on developing angling skills. We have many members that have represented England at National and International level who are keen to share their knowledge, skills and experience to improve others angling success. For more information about joining the BRFFA and forthcoming events, please visit our website www.brffa.com
Funky Fly Tying Hidden Teams – Chew Lake 2018
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Left to Right – Andy Stones, Tony Torrington, Ted Smart, Alan Williams (Capt.) Toby Merrigan - Funky Fly Tying
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with match sponsors Funky Fly Tying hosted their annual Hidden Teams competition at Bristol Water Fisheries Chew Valley Lake 23rd July.
With intermittent showers and variable winds forecast for the duration of the match, conditions for the time of year were reasonable. However, with Bristol Water Fisheries reporting a ‘challenging week’ in their recent catch report and a rod average of just 1.15, expectations of a fish filled day throughout the field were tempered.
As the competition commenced, the field split with a number of boats heading for the deeper water in front of the dam. With the recent hot spell and water temperatures up around 20 degrees, some of the experienced field expected to catch on fast sinking lines in the cooler aerated water around the dam basin. However, this considered approach that had proven so successful in previous years did not produce fish!
The balance of the field opting to hold station between Woodford Bank and the stocking pens for the duration of the match quickly validated their decision. Having established the recent stock fish were holding in the top few feet and were willing to accept lures and imitative patterns fished on full floaters or slow intermediate lines, rods started to bend at regular intervals. Cooler conditions combined with a recent stocking enabled the field to catch 117 fish and return a respectable rod average for the match of 2.92 more than doubling the prior week’s fishery report.
As in previous years, the Hidden Team element allows anglers with a range of experience to fish in equally balanced teams of four. With teams only revealed as the final results are announced, this popular format supported by more than 40 club members generated a great sense of anticipation during the post-match meal and awards presentation held at Chew Valley Sailing Club.
As the results were announced, it was the team captained by experienced international Alan Williams that came out as the eventual winners of this year’s Funky Fly Tying Hidden Teams event. The impressive winning weight of 55lb included superlative individual performances by Capt. Alan and ‘Super Ted’ Smart who managed 7 fish each contributing more than 35lb towards their team’s total weight.
Funky Fly Tying Hidden Team Results
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1st Alan Williams 7 19-00
Ted Smart 7 16-05
Tony Torrington 2 5-03
Andy Stone 6 14-08
22 55-00
2nd Mark Miles 4 10-07
Steve Preston 8 21-00
Mark Lynch 2 3-14
Jim Purvis 2 5-03
16 40-08
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3rd Tony George 5 15-12
Sean Glover 4 10-05
John Wingrove 2 4-08
Paul Crook 2 7-07
13 38-00
The next match in the BRFFA competition calendar will be The Bristol Water Hidden Pairs held on Blagdon Lake
17th September. To enter our next event please contact Martin Cottis on 07747 843548 or visit www.brffa.com and complete and return the competition entry form.
BRFFA Drifters Win Sportfish Team Heat at Chew 18/6/2017
The BRFFA Drifters six man team Captained by Tony Baldwin claimed the coveted first place in a tightly contested Sportfish Team Heat on Chew this weekend – 18th June. Despite one less fish the Drifters managed to come in ahead of a very strong Team Airflo by almost 5lb validating the decision to target older fish.
Following a successful days practice the team identified four areas holding reasonably receptive fish and narrowed down the method, lines and patterns to tempt them. Conditions in practice were barely reasonable with wind, bright sunshine and short spells of intermittent cloud often the kiss of death on Chew. Despite the far from ideal conditions, the team caught steadily throughout the day and built confidence for match day.
Match day saw a notable change in conditions for the worse with just 0-2mph winds, higher temperatures and minimal cloud. The expectation was that the fishing would be more challenging than the prior days practice and Chew did not disappoint!
As the match commenced 4 of the 6 team boats headed to Herriots with Tony Baldwin heading off to Villace and Mark Withyman making the trip across the lake to East Shore. The Herriots boats quickly found feeding fish tight into Cormorant Island and each team member managed to open their account early and settle into the match. Tim Wellman set a steady pace in his Rookie outing with the team picking up 4 fish by midday before being taken off the fish by confident Welsh Youth rod Callum Russell. The remaining team boats in Herriots continued to catch throughout the day building quality bags of resident fish.
Meanwhile in Villace, nymph supremo and inform Tony Baldwin had amassed 4 fish by 2pm before joining the fleet stationed at Herriots. Tony closed out the match with 3 further fish in Herriots to claim 3rd place overall and top rod for the team with a notable total weight of 16lb 15oz. Lloyd Pallet put in a solid performance picking up 5 fish from midday in Villace to imitative nymphs. The ever reliable Mark Miles put 5 fish on the scales including a specimen Rainbow of 4lb 9oz which took the biggest fish of the match. Mark picked up a £50 Sportfish Tackle Voucher and a large range pack of FNF Fritz for his troubles. Gary Haskins took three good fish in Herriots averaging 3lb 5oz and Mark Withyman added to team total picking up his fish over on East Shore.
Team Results for BRFFA at the Sportsfish 18/6/2017
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BRFFA Drifters 26 Fish caught for 76lb 10oz
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Team Airflo 27 Fish caught for 71lb 11oz
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Bewl Chompers 18 Fish caught for 54lb
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Weald of Kent 17 Fish caught for 47lb 10oz
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Team Snowbee 14 Fish caught 42lb 13oz
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Blagdon Fly Fishers 12 Fish caught 38lb 5oz
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BRFFA Emergers 13 Fish caught for 33lb 15oz
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Cwm Fly Fishers 11 Fish caught for 28lb 15oz
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Welsh Wizards 8 Fish caught for 19lb 6oz
Individual Results for BRFFA at the Sportsfish 18/6/2017
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3rd Tony Baldwin 7 caught for 16lb 15oz
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6th Tim Wellman 5 caught for 16lb 12oz
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8th Mark Miles 5 caught for 16lb 6oz
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11th Lloyd Pallet 5 caught for 13lb 12oz
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19th Gary Haskins 3 caught for 10lb 1 oz
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36th Mark Withyman 1 caught for 2lb 8oz
BRFFA Drifters will now go on to represent the club at the 2017 Sportfish Team Championship Grand Final held over two days at Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes on 19th and 20th August 2017. On behalf of our members, we would like to wish the team every success.
2017 Orvis Classic – Reynolds Resplendent.
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with long-standing sponsors Orvis UK, hosted their annual floating line classic match at Bristol Waters Chew Valley Lake, 11th June.
As boat competitors departed from the jetties it was clear conditions preferred for the finesse of a floating line only match were absent. Changeable wind directions gusting to 20mph, scant cloud cover and periods of bright sunshine would keep the expectant field on their toes if they were to tame the fickle waters of Chew.
With local anglers reporting fish holding tight to the bank in and around East Shore, the entire field of 17 boats headed straight across the lake. Within the first ten minutes, rods started to bend as Chew’s recently stocked fish succumbed to the array of blobs, FAB’s and imitative patterns on offer. However, the combination of sustained boat pressure in relatively shallow water meant regular action quickly abated. With takes drying up, the field started to disburse to all corners of the lake seeking fresh drifts and takes from unpressured older fish.
Welsh International Mark Thomas (2nd) broke from the East Shore pack early venturing upwind to the softer water around Herriots Bridge. The softer conditions enabled Mark to present his flies and control his line properly and he quickly went on to complete the first 12 fish limit of the match. Nymph specialist, Andrew Wiles (3rd) proved he is equally proficient armed with a just floating line as his favoured Airflo 6ft Tip amassing his 12 fish limit by 5:30pm.
Effervescent local angler Paul Golding deployed his 30 years’ experience to great effect claiming 4th while Welsh International Marco Orsi making his BRFFA club debut secured a solid 5th place. Both Marco and Paul found a large head of fish in the shallows around North Shore securing their limits in the closing moments of the match.
However, it was Trowbridge Tornedo Dave Reynolds who managed an unassailable weight of 35lb 4oz beating Mark Thomas by a mere 2oz to claim the 2017 Orvis Classic title. Inform Reynolds with unprecedented back to back wins following his success in the Veals Spring Cup is making all the right moves to secure the coveted title of BRFFA Club Champion for 2017.
• 1st Dave Reynolds 12 35-04
• 2nd Mark Thomas (Wales)12 35-02
• 3rd Andrew Wiles 12 32-07
• 4th Paul Golding 12 31-11
• 5th Marco Orsi 12 29-10
The next BRFFA’s club competition will be the universally popular Hidden Teams held at Chew Valley Lake on 23rd July 2017.
For an entry form and further details please visit www.brffa.com or visit our Facebook page
For further information regarding Orvis UK and Fishing at Bristol Water, please visit www.orvis.co.uk and www.bristolwater.co.uk/fishing/ respectively.
Dave Reynold Triumphs in BRFFA Veals Spring Cup
Dave Reynolds (Left) collects the 2017 Veal’s Spring Cup from Dave England (Veals)
Bristol Reservoir Fly Fishers Association (BRFFA) in conjunction with Veal’s Fishing Tackle hosted their 2017 Spring Cup match on Bristol Water’s Chew Valley Lake 7th May.
As the match commenced, conditions at Chew looked to be picture perfect with a light breeze and generous cloud cover. The prominent Buzzer hatches synonymous with Chew and sister water Blagdon were in abundance from the off and continued periodically throughout the day. Fish could be seen taking the adult pupae as they ascended in the water column and signs of the classic head and tail rises as the emerging adults became the trout’s quarry were apparent in the softer water across the lake.
As the boats set off at 10am, it was a welcome sight to see competitors heading to all corners of the lake. The new stocking policy introduced by Bristol Water for 2017, and warmly welcomed by anglers has really paid dividends with fish now holding in a multitude of different areas.
With the fish feeding high in the water a floating line and imitative nymphs and buzzers were all that was really needed. Dave Reynolds set off at a blistering pace early on with repeated drifts close in to the reeds off of Stratford bank. Dave amassed an very impressive 9 fish by midday and was rarely seen without a bent rod and a broad grin as he comfortably decimated his fellow anglers.
As the clouds parted and the wind increased sport slowed down notably. A number of boats started to congregate in Herons Green Bay seeking softer water and feeding fish. This is where the imperious Reynolds closed out his day completing his 12 fish limit by 2.55pm for a very credible match winning weight of 36lb 5oz. 2016 defending Champion Graham Currie battled all the way to the finish line picking up three very hard won fish on Wick Green in last 15 minutes. Graham’s resolve and steely determination secured a very solid 2nd place beating the effervescent Anderson by 1-10oz into 3rd place.
Match Results
1st Dave Reynolds
2nd Graham Currie 3rd Rik Anderson 4th Alan Williams 5th Matt Russell
36lb 05oz
24lbs 10oz 23lbs 0oz 18lbs 8oz 16lbs 14oz
The biggest fish of the match was a fin perfect specimen Rainbow of 3lbs 15oz caught by John Wingrove. Match Rod Average was 3.4 with an average weight 2lb 7oz
The BRFFA’s next competition is The Orvis Floating Line Classic which will be held at Chew Valley Lake - 11th June 2016. For an entry form, and further details please visit www.brffa.com For further information about Veals or Fly Fishing at Bristol Water fisheries, please visit. http:// www.vealsfishingtackle.com/ and http://www.bristolwater.co.uk/fishing/respectively.
