I will start with Rob’s competition results

I will start with Rob’s competition results:Round One; 18th May – Llandegfedd17 teams took part, and in blustery conditions fishing proved difficult. In the end there were two limit bags, both being caught by members of the same team – Achitah Drifters – not surprisingly they ended up as top team. In second place were ATT Hoppers – who had 16 fish between them, whilst in third place, also qualifying for the final came Celtic Castes.Round Two; 26th May – Llys Y Ffran A terrible day for fishing but the anglers proved skilful enough to master conditions. In all 20 of the field ended up with time bonuses to add to their scores! My old friends “The Grahams” came top as all four of the team had a limit. In second spot came Crows Nest and Paramount FF filled third place.Round Three; 1st June – BrenigDry fly fishing was the favoured method of the day – especially around the dam area. My former teammates from the Bristol Reservoirs FFA Clive Perkins and Russell Owen lead the way in their new team Coch-Y-Bohnddu. Llanilar Ty Nant filled second spot and Aberaeron AC finished in third.Round Four; 2nd June – BrenigA much better day for fishing resulted in many more of the boats venturing down to the Island. Again it was the dries that caught most of the fish but as usual some of the anglers used larger lures to catch their fish. Winning team was Cheshire Blue Hawks, but it was a close call as Team Yamaha caught the same number of fish. In third spot also to go to Grafham came Ty Nant Adail.Round Five; 6th June – Bewl Water23 teams fished this venue. The fish were generally near the top but as the sun popped in and out during the day, they were not always easy to locate. Top team were Sovereign – Mick Dwyer led them with top bag for the day. Bewl Bridge FF achieved second spot and third was London Fly Dresser’s Guild.Round Six; 21st June – Chew ValleyI had the pleasure of taking a day off work and fishing this event (I actually wanted to use this day as a practice for my eliminator on Sunday!) Fishing was pretty tough as the wind was gale force strength at times during the afternoon. The fish were high up in the water, and several of the anglers tried and caught on dry flies. Only two anglers managed to catch a limit – one being Mike Barfoot, captain of the winning team Kingsbridge Heavyweights. Mike fished in Villice Bay and for much of the competition had the fishing there to himself and his boat partner! Kingsbridge caught 17 trout.In second place was “No Flies On Us” – a team who provided one of the biggest shocks of the season. They caught only 8 trout, however one of those – a trout caught by Simon Wilkinson weighed 10lbs 15oz. It was easily the largest trout caught in competition at Chew Valley Lake. The rainbow was taken on a large white lure. Les Toogood fished his only competition of the season and lead Blagdon Flyfishers to third spot by catching six trout from Herons Green Bay, though he was well supported by Andrew Hedger, who caught five.I have now reported on all Peregrine/Nomad results up to date, all Tightlines/Airflo to date, and some of the Hardy. This season has shown one thing beyond all others that I can remember – and that is the fact that in almost every competition the favourite teams have filled the top spots. It isn’t too hard to work out why this has been the case. At Chew in particular the fishing has been tough. Rarely have the trout been chasing. The anglers who have fished slowly and imitatively have been the most successful. Also those who have put in the time with practice have known which areas of the lake have been best to start at. This all goes to prove that there is not a great deal of luck involved in our sport. Dick Walker always used to say that 90% of the fish are caught by 10% of the anglers. I used to agree wholeheartedly with that thought, but recently I have not been feeling so sure about it, as the knowledge that anglers have is being passed on much more freely than it used to be. But, judging by the results that I have been posting, I may have to go back to Mr Walker’s sentiments.I have been speaking to Tony O’Dowd recently about the Small Stillwaters scene – of which he is Confederation of English Fly Fishers secretary. He has started e-mailing results through to me, so when I have a few put together I will keep you informed.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis