in with the great news that Rachel was not too badly hurt

I am off to fish in the Hardy competition at Bewl this weekend and my advance information is that the water is so warm that the fish are off the feed “big time”! In the final eliminator for the National at Bewl last week, the hopeful competitors caught only eight fish. I thought that Chew was tough going. I am not exactly looking forward to my practice day, and then a match the next, with those sorts of figures looming! Chew has become so difficult that even the last hour, which at this time of year is usually magical, is proving testing for those anglers with enough staying power after the tough slog of the day. This week I fished in the teams-of-four competition sponsored by Fishtec. On the day that I competed, 36 anglers took part and they caught exactly 40 fish. With the rise in temperature the water has become dirty again: probably due to another algal bloom. There must also be a shortfall in the oxygen content, which in itself causes the fish to be lethargic. All in all it meant that you had to work very hard to get a few offers. Nick Long is a man in form at the moment, and he continued this spell with the top bag of five trout. Although he gave Wick Green a few drifts at the start of the match, he soon opted to spend his time at the mouth of Villice and along the Woodford bank. Nick amassed five fish which weighed 10lbs 2oz. His teammate, Dave Reynolds, weighed in just two trout for 6lbs 2oz. That meant that the single fish caught by each of the Haskins brothers, who made up the team, gave the Bath contingent a clear five pound margin of victory. Second place went to the Kingsbridge Heavyweights team. They totalled eight trout for 17lbs 9oz. The Navy and Marines team were a pound further adrift with their seven trout. My team included fishery manager Bob Handford, John „Biker‰ Humphry, and Simon Gurney. Simon caught the best fish of the day: a cracking rainbow of 5lbs 1oz caugh off Woodford bank on a dry fly. John managed a single trout, but Bob unfortunately was called off the water due to the fact that his daughter had been involved in a bad road crash. He made it back in time for the weigh-in with the great news that Rachel was not too badly hurt: a few bruises and stitches, and his son Tom having thoroughly enjoyed the experience! I stuck with the dry flies and found a small patch of moving fish just off Moreton. It was only on the brief occasions when the wind dropped that you could expect to see the faintest of movements on the surface. The trout that were feeding were merely sipping empty buzzer shucks. I persuaded three to take my small dries and weighed in 7lbs 12oz. I think that if Bob had managed to stay on the water for the duration of the competition he would have bagged at least the one trout of 2lbs 9oz that we needed to be in the qualifying position. Good luck to the two top teams in the final. I should have the result of the second day at Chew in next week’s copy. Bath Boys do their Homework Last weekend Chew Valley hosted the Southern Federation’s Eliminator for the National. My friends in the Bath team opt to fish this event as it gives a much easier path to the National due to the fact that the general standard of anglers competing is not up to that of those who take part in the South West regional heats. Be that as it may, the lads still have to do their homework and catch their fish. The four Bath anglers did this with style and finished in first, third, fourth and sixth places. Below is the list of qualifiers; the top ten from the field of fifty-five qualify for the Rutland National. 1. Simon Hodges 7 trout 14lbs 11oz 2. Mark Glass 7 trout 13lbs 10oz 3. Dave Reynolds 6 trout 13lbs 6oz 4. Royston Jennings 5 trout 12lbs 15oz 5. Peter Fraser 5 trout 11lbs 11oz 6. Jeremy Clarke 5 trout 10lbs 9oz 7. Mike Hill 4 trout 10lbs 7oz 8. Bryan Angelinatta 4 trout 9lbs 10oz 9. Robert Barden 4 trout 8lbs 15 1/2oz 10. Rob Gardiner 4 trout 7lbs 12oz Tight lines,

Martin Cottis