five of which were caught in an eight

He is responsible for running the Airflo Classic 2000 competition, which is currently running at various venues throughout the country. I am indebted to Tony for sending me the reports of each of the competitions. I will work through them in the order that they have taken place.The first of the eight Regional Qualifiers took place back on June 18th at Chigboro Fisheries. Fishing was pretty tough as the sun was shining and it was really warm. Catching fish in the morning session was essential. Peter Edwards from Cheshunt was the individual winner, whilst Graham Rose from Sittingbourne and Martin Wright from Marden also qualified for the final in October. The Blackberry Boys (Paul Barnes, Geoff Mitchell and Steve Yallop) were the team winners and they go to fish at the National Final at Busheyleaze.Busheyleaze was the next venue in this competition. Again the weather proved difficult for anglers and the fish were only willing to take small flies. Many then were lost as the hookhold proved too small for the hard fighting trout. George Barbrook did manage to keep five fish on the hook and successfully land them. This gave him top spot. Qualifying with him were Ian Hudson from Mid Glamorgan and Bob Woodward from Hertford. Team winners were Packington “B”, comprised of Paul Brown, Dave Evans and Mark Sturgess.Round Three was on 1st July at Meadow Fishery in Cheshire. 15-year-old Philip Dixon was the star performer on the day. He managed to land 13 trout – five of which were caught in an eight-minute spell! Quite a performance! Philip was well supported by Martin Dixon and Nick Dunn, thus the Andico Team won through to the final. The individual qualifiers were Lindsey Capper from Crew, Mike Weaver from Derby and Philip Greer from Crewe.On the 2nd of July Tony moved on to Kiplin Hall in North Yorkshire. Fishing was brisk at the start but a dropping temperature had anglers scratching for fish before the end, especially those who drew the shallower pegs. Gordon Moore from Newcastle-upon-Tyne coaxed eight fish to the net, and Andrew Szoradi closely followed him with seven. Brian Parrot of Scunthorpe and Fred Bainbridge from Rippon were the two other individuals to go through to the final, whilst Andrew Szoradi’s team mates – Nigel Haig and Nick Halstead helped Masterline Stocks “A” through to the final. Back to Meadow Fishery on 8th July for the next round! Good returns were made today and Barry Bassnet of Warrington was individual champion with nine trout. Kyle Burns of Runcorn and Stuart Hooley of Huddersfield were the other two individuals to go through. Cheshire Fish Hawks team, comprising of John Calvert (who amassed 15 trout on the day) Mike Laycock and Mick Reade were the team to progress to the final. Amazingly there were only two blanks recorded. The last report that I have received from Tony is for the event held at Kiplin Hall on 9th July. Top team were Fish Hawks who were most ably supported by Terry Sharp who caught an amazing 15 trout. Derek and Darren Grbham had 4 and 8 fish respectively. The individual qualifiers were Tom Morton of Hucknall, Wayne Atkinson of S.Yorks and Graham Bell of Workington.There are just two rounds to go in this competition. I will report on them in due course. I’m off to Grafham this weekend for the penultimate round of the Peregrine/Nomad Competition. I will report on that next week along with the results of our B.R.F.F.A domestic competition which shows a rather intriguing format.Tight lines,

Martin Cottis