Association of Major Fly-Fishing Clubs':
In 2009 the Society entered the Association of Major Fly-Fishing Clubs' (AMFC) boat competition league for the first time. Most of the top clubs belong to this association & have teams in one or more of the four divisions of the league. Matches are fished on a variety of major reservoirs in the south
Being newcomers to the league, we had to start in Division Four. In 2010 the Society Team were 4th Division Champions granting a promotion to the 3rd Division follwed by being 3rd Division Champions for 2011 & another promotion to Division 2 for next season
Keith Nicholson is the principal contact with the AMFC & has generously given his time to this. The Society will be represented by a selection of members for the total of six matches that will be fished throughout the season
The matches are enjoyable & friendly events enabling anglers with a range of experience to meet & fish together in an enjoyable competition setting. Much is learned from each other!
* New dates or corrections will be added as we receive them
AMFC Newsletter & Results:
The AMFC newsletter & results are supplied courtesy of Peter Firth. Here is the October 2011 Newsletter & Results (3.3 Mb)
To view & print the newsletter you may require the latest Acrobat Reader software, which is available as a free download, from the Adobe website
Round 6 - 1st October Hanningfield Resevoir:
Author: Bob Holland
The Team:
Sean Brooks
Bob Holland (Captain)
Keith Lawrence
Richard Lovett
I have never seen so much algae in one place. It looked like a sewer
There were only two areas devoid of algae/sludge & only one of these was fishing. Consequently in the afternoon there were about fifty boats crammed into a small area, known appropriately as the "Goldfish Bowl"
Result:
1st Invicta
2nd Bewl
3rd TWFFS
4th Grafham B
I appreciate this is a short report but to be honest I would rather forget about it!
Thanks to the unassailable lead which we had built up in earlier rounds, we won the division by two points. Next year Group 2!
Round 5 - Pitsford Reservoir 7th September:
Author: Peter Thomason
Done & Dusted!
This fifth round of the six match rubber was fished at Pitsford reservoir on 7th September & was the opportunity to make up for our disappointing result at Hanningfield in round four. In an effort to learn as much as possible, the team practised on the day before the match & sustained themselves with the excellent Everards beer in the local hostelry at Moulton
For this match the team comprised:
Mick Dwyer
Keith Lawrence
Jim McGonigle
Keith Nicholson
Mick Priest
Peter Thomason
On match day, we were faced with gusty winds which made fishing hard work. Careful & applied fishing with intermediate or floating lines with Cormorant & Cruncher flies produced some very good quality fish & the team bagged an excellent total 23 fish weighing 66 lb 11 oz. Keith Nicholson was one of only two competitors to catch a limit bag of eight fish & gained the distinction of having the heaviest bag of the competition weighing-in at 21lb 12oz
The quality of the fish was excellent, averaging 2lb 12oz & the rod average for the day was 3 fish. On this basis, the TWFFS team result surpassed both the average weight & the rod average & brought a well-earned first place
The result for the day was:
1st TWFFS: 23 fish for 66lb 11oz
2nd Bewl Bridge FFC 'B': 20 fish for 53lb 9oz
3rd Invicta FC 'A': 15 fish for 37lb 9oz
4th Grafham Water FA 'B': 13 fish for 31lb
This result now means that the Society has an unassailable lead & has only to gain one point in the final round at Hanningfield on 3 October. Well done, everyone who has fished for TWFFS this season. The team for Hanningfield can enjoy a relaxed & confident day!
Team placings after this fifth round are:
1st TWFFS with 17 points
2nd Equal: Bewl Bridge FC 'B' & Invicta FC 'A' with 13 points
4th Grafham Water FA 'B' with 7 points
Round 4 - Grafham Water 3rd August:
Author: Bob Holland
Team:
Vince Brooks
Mickey Dwyer
Bob Holland
Keith Lawrence
Jim McGonigle
Keith Nicholson (Captain)
This match was fished in gruelling conditions, the temperatures were in the high twenties. Grafham was sulking!
The match started in brilliant sunshine with little wind. The atmospheric pressure changed during the day with a thunderstorm skirting the reservoir & the fish were not "on it"
The rod average for the group was 1.08 fish per angler. The team had 8 fish & won the match by one pound. Keith Nicholson caught 3 fish & had the heaviest bag in the group. The best method was Nymphs, fished slowly on a floating line
Jim McGonigle fell into the water when getting out of the boat at the end of the match, but fortunately only his cigarettes were damaged! There is no truth in the rumour that Jim had gone in to look for killer shrimps. Jim declined several offers of being hosed down to remove any shrimps
Result:
1st - TWFFS
2nd - Invicta
3rd - Bewl
4th - Grafham 'A'
Round 3 - Hanningfield Reservoir 26th June:
Author: Peter Thomason
The Hanningfield Hicough!
Having started our season in Group Three with two very good results, this match brought a timely reminder that we cannot rest on our laurels! On the day, despite our best efforts, we were thoroughly outfished by the three other teams in our group
The match was fished at Hanningfield Reservoir on 26th June & conditions were trying, with blistering heat & only a light breeze coming later in the day. The six members of the team were:
Joel Beeney
Dave Crouch
Bob Holland
Richard Lovett
Mick Priest
Peter Thomason
Two main areas produced fish - The Mound (not far from the fishing lodge) & Middlemead Bay on the far side of the reservoir. The Mound produced quantities of recently stocked fish & Middlemead produced much better quality fish. Those who selected to go for the stockies achieved limit bags plus time bonuses but total weights were likely to be better than average if taken from Middlemead
Our team chose to go for the bigger fish but failed to find what they wanted & were rather late coming back to bash the stockies. A salutary lesson that placed us last on the day. The result was:
1st - Invicta 'A' with a magnificent 92lb 2oz
2nd - Bewl Bridge FC 'B' with 59lb 2oz
3rd - Grafham Water FFA 'B' with a very close 59lb 0oz
4th - TWFFS with a meagre 37lb 2oz
Although unable to count towards the team's catch, Bob Holland, never letting an opportunity pass, managed to hook a duck in flight! After a feisty struggle & several aerial passes over neighbouring boats, the duck was netted & released unharmed with Bob resisting the temptation to add a few flank feathers to his collection of fly-tying materials. Well done Bob!
Team placings after the third round are:
1st - TWFFS with 9 points
2nd - Bewl Bridge FFC 'B' with 8 points
3rd Invicta FC 'A' with 8 points
4th Grafham Water FA 'B' with 5 points
The moral of the story is that if you are going to lose badly, do it when you have a good lead from previous matches! We are still just in overall lead but will have to concentrate hard to keep there! We now look forward to round four at Grafham on 3rd August
Round 2 - Bewl Water Reservior 21st May:
Author: Peter Thomason
The second round of the Group Three matches was fished on home waters at Bewl on 21st May. The six members of the team for this match were:
Scott Benton
Vince Brooks
Bob Holland
Richard Lovett
Keith Nicholson
Mick Priest
Fishing conditions were good & the match produced a rod average of 6.2 fish per angler. Three members of the TWFFS team achieved their limit bag of eight fish & the team returned a very creditable total of 40 fish against Grafham Water FFA's 39, Invicta FC's 37, & Bewl Bridge FFC's 33
The result for the day was:
1st TWFFS with a total weight of 80lb 2oz
2nd Bewl Bridge FC 'B' with 70lb 14oz
3rd Grafham Water FFA 'B' with 69lb 3oz
4th Invicta 'A' with 68lb 10oz
Team placings after this successful second round are:
1st TWFFS with 8 points
2nd Bewl Bridge FFC 'B' with 5 points
3rd Invicta FC 'A' with 4 points
4th Grafham Water FA 'B' with 3 points
We now look forward to round three at Hanningfield on 26th June
Round 1 - Rutland Water 23rd April:
Author: Peter Thomason
Having been promoted from Division Four to Division Three at the end of last season, TWFFS was seeking to make a good start to this new round of AMFC league competitions. Our opponents in Division Three for this season will be:
Bewl Bridge Flyfishers' Club 'B'
Grafham Water FFA 'B'
Invicta FC 'B'
The first match of the season was held on Rutland Water on 23 April. The first & last match of the series involves all four divisions & teams are limited to four members instead of the usual six. TWFFS was represented by:
Keith Nicholson
Jeff Latter
Simon Newman
Peter Thomason
The team practised on Rutland two days before the match & found the water to be very coloured with visibility down to under two feet in many places. Having learned as much as possible, the next day was spent fishing on Grafham as a major competition on Rutland had taken all the boats. After Rutland, Grafham was a huge pleasure with clear water & very good fish responding to straight-line buzzer fishing. It was then back to Rutland for the weigh-in of the major competition to see if anything had changed: it hadn't!
Predictably, fishing was hard on the day of the match. All the team concentrated & managed to catch a very creditable total of 15 fish on bright flies pulled steadily on sinking lines. Peter Thomason was top rod in Division Three with seven fish weighing 16lb 4oz. He also had the biggest individual fish in the Division with a fit rainbow of 4lb 5oz
The final result for our Division was:
1st TWFFS with a total weight of 32lb 7.5oz
2nd Invicta 'B' with 30lb 5.5oz
3rd Bewl Bridge FC 'B' with 17lb 10.5oz
4th Grafham Water FFA 'B' with 17lb 9oz
A splendid start to the new round of competitions in our new Division - well done everybody! We look forward to the next round at Bewl Water on 21st May