Let me explain

Let me explain: Tony thrives on competition, whilst I am there by accident, if the truth be known, as I am the antithesis of the ardent competitor! Tony loves to fish in amongst lots of boats – in fact he seems to be one of the modern breed of angler who positively seeks the security of boats around him. I am really the loaner who would rather find a few fish away from the pack as opposed to the heap of fish in one area. Tony also has the utmost confidence in nymph fishing, even when there are fish visible on the surface, whilst regular readers will know that my first line of approach is for the surface feeder, and only after being unsuccessful with them will I revert to nymphs or some other approach. Finally, Tony will be on the water for several days of practice leading up to a competition, whilst I rarely get such a chance.So you can see that when we fish together there are problems from the “off”. Our first trip out was prearranged, as Tony and I drew to fish each other in the BRFFA knockout competition. We opted to fish that day in the “Orvis” sponsored competition on Chew. When I returned from Eyebrook with John Horsey’s European Open competition, I found that those who had practised at Chew had found fish all along Woodford Bank and into Villice; whilst Tony had had a couple of trips out in the week and caught well out in the middle – surprisingly on dry flies.Tony suggested that if we were out to win the competition individually we should fish right in front of the lodge, but I wasn’t interested in that for two reasons. Firstly, that was where half of the boats started their drifts and, secondly, I have won the “Orvis” competition on a number of occasions and I feel that, as club secretary, I might just get a bit of verbal abuse should I step up again! Tony actually agreed with my sentiments as he too has won the competition in the past. So we tried all over the lake. We tried the middle and sure enough saw a few fish move, but then the sun came out and they went down. We tried Heron’s Green and again saw a couple, but then the wind blew! Three hours in and we hadn’t had a pull between us! Revision of plans was required and Tony opted for Villice Bay which, although crowded, was not as busy as the front of the lodge. Reluctantly I agreed to go in there and so changed to a team of nymphs. On our first drift through I hooked a trout which I landed; it had taken a black buzzer. Whilst I was playing the fish Tony also hooked and landed a trout.Next drift Tony hooked a fish in the same area, and this time I followed him with a trout – only mine slipped the hook, whilst Tony’s was netted. A little while later we decided to pull up the drogue and I duly started the motor. As I clicked the gear lever I pulled my flies off the water only to hook a fine trout, which of course I had to return. Annoying really on such a tough day, but rules are rules. Tony didn’t help matters when he caught his third fish as soon as we started the next drift!Time moved on and I resigned myself to missing out on the boat knockout for yet another year. This is the one competition that I have never won and I enter it every year as it is such a lovely friendly affair. With just over an hour to go we decided (mostly on Tony’s suggestion I must add) to finish up the match in front of the lodge. Here there were a couple of anglers sitting in their boats and not fishing: they had “bagged-up”, so Tony’s prophecy that the winner would come from this area was correct.Amazingly we saw one angler who appeared to be covering fish! This was the boat partner of the eventual winner, Nick Long. We were still not seeing any fish though, so we moved slightly further out and immediately saw a couple rise. Within seconds I had a team of dries on and the next fish that moved Tony covered with his nymphs, which the trout followed, until it spotted my dries alight on the water! It took no time in deciding that dries were on its afternoon tea menu; the only snag was that as I lifted into the fish his brother took a liking for my point fly! So that left me playing two three-pound plus trout on a leader that I had used all day. No contest! After I had tied a new leader (difficult with hands shaking and the sound of sipping trout all around) I quickly caught four trout. Tony managed two more leaving the scores at five fish each. Weight wise it was no contest as I had about three pounds more than Tony. The strange thing was that the moment we got to the lodge area Tony virtually conceded that he was handing the competition to me but, fair play to the man, he stuck in the area and did manage one more fish on the dries.Last week saw us draw each other in a far more important competition: the final eliminator for the National. I hadn’t managed to get to the lake for a practice, whist Tony had been out three times in the week. It was either nymphs or nymphs! I started with nymphs and fished them all day. At the start of the competition, with the grim weather and the lack of trout caught in the practice sessions, it was estimated that about six fish would be enough to win and that probably two would get you through to the final. We were competing for eleven places out of the thirty fishing.As things transpired the fishing got better and better throughout the day and we had to keep moving our goalposts! Even I caught four on nymphs, whilst Tony, in his element and keen on exacting revenge, managed TEN. Yes ten trout on a tough day, some fishing! Lee Sennington just pipped him for top spot. My four should have been enough to get me through; the trouble was that they were small and I ended up really regretting the two large trout that I lost in the last forty minutes, though even a fish of a pound and a few ounces would have been enough!I learnt a great deal from both of my trips with Tony Baldwin. Firstly, I must say what good company the man is. Surely this is the essence of competition fishing! Secondly, he was so helpful in the eliminator: willing me to catch that all important fifth fish, even to the point of giving me flies and changing positions in the boat. But, above all, he is more than happy to be proved wrong in the case of the dry fly fishing, and he is happy to work as a team to keep both partners happy in the boat.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis