29th Fips-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships: Drymen Scotland 2009
Result
1st - Hardy Greys Team England;
2nd - France;
3rd - Scotland.
Ian Greenwood’s (Manager) Report
Preparation for the 29th World Fly Fishing Championships began almost a year before the event. With 27 Countries taking part, this would be the biggest ever World Fly Fishing Championships.
FIPS Mouche, the governing body, implements a “no fishing on any match venue” rule which kicks in 60 days immediately prior to any World Championship. At the discretion of the host nation, this can be altered, but we had a pretty good idea Scotland would not make any such changes.
The Confederation of English Fly Fishers International Committee agreed to my request to select the team early in 2008. We knew that the venues would be the River Tay, Loch Awe, Loch Leven, Carron Valley and the Lake of Menteith. What an advantage it gave us, as it meant we could practice on all the competition venues, get to know the river and loch’s and work out a pattern of flies and methods to use in each sector.
We definitely made good use of this advantage, with someone from the team up in Scotland fishing nearly every week. My mother thought I was moving back home to Scotland after 47 years living down South!
We arrived at Merlin Cottage, Crieff on 30th May. The following day we fished North Third Fishery. I wanted to get the teams’ adrenalin flowing and we certainly did that with over 100 fish caught.
The next day we moved to a very hard fished practice stretch of the River Tay. The lads fished hard for little return, although most had trout or grayling to their nets. Judging by last years practice sessions, we expected more action. Little did we know this was actually quite a good result, as the River Tay turned out to be one of the most difficult venues in the Championships.
Day 3 saw us fishing for wild browns and a few stocked rainbows on Loch Earn. This is a typical Scottish loch. If you find where the rivers and burns run into the loch, the fish won’t be far away. I cut my teeth on this type of fishing and passed this knowledge on to the team.
Our final day of fishing practice took us back to the River Tay. Once again, most of the team had fish, but it was even harder than the first session! We now knew that unless the Competition sectors were stuffed with fish, this was going to be a case of “save the blank”!
We now moved to the Official Hotels in Drymen for the Championship week and the Opening Ceremony. On our final 4 days before the match, we hired boats on all the Loch venues. We could do this, provided there was absolutely no fishing gear in the boat. On Loch Awe we needed to test motoring times to certain areas that we knew held the odd wild brownie. At 22 miles long and with only 30 minutes motoring time allowed, this was crucial to our tactics.
Saturday we hired boats for Leven to find the drop off’s and estimate travel times between drifts. You can’t afford to make mistakes, with only a limited travelling time. The three hours fishing time is short enough, without eating into it with excessive motoring around the Loch. If you get back to the jetty late, then you would face instant disqualification.
Sunday we visited Carron Valley and Lake of Menteith. We hired boats again and some of the team walked the banks looking for rising fish and possible drifts.
I had done my bit – the rest was down to the team. It was essential that the first 2 sessions kept us in touch with the medal positions – in effect, this was the first practice day, as well as the first match day. That night the team debriefing sessions would be critical to our success in the Championships.
Simon Robinson’s Report.
Session 1:
Loch Awe – Tried my best boss – blank.
Session 2:
Menteith – Started outside lodge. No action so moved to International Bay and up to Loch End; still nothing, so started to get concerned. Saw an Italian get 2 fish very quickly, so I motored over and started drifting behind him – managed to land 5 fish in last two drifts – Cormorant and Cat Booby on Cortland Ghost Tip – 7th place.
Session 3:
Leven – fished North Deeps to Green Isle and pulled for two and half hours – no action with flies Dave and Iain had used earlier. Wind dropped and spotted sea gulls feeding over a calm slick – moved over and changed to nymphs on Ghost Tip – 5 mins later I landed a fish on a size 10 black buzzer – 1st place.
Session 4:
Carron Valley – as per instructed started in front of jetty – no action – changed to dries missed one and then lost a brown trout – after 40 mins moved to opposite side – worked bank down to point where I had caught fish in June 2008 – picked up 2 rainbows and a hefty brown on Di3 – on small black and silver lure on point. Missed 2 more and lost another fish – 10th place.
5th and final Session:
River Tay – competitor here had blanked in morning – fished the tail of the pool in shallow water – with double nymph I fished around 2 large stones - lost a grayling then 5 mins later landed a 26 cm brown which took a copper head quill nymph – 10th place.
Dave Parker’s Report:
Session 1:
River Tay: started with Nymph – nothing – fished Duo – nothing – tried streamer on slime line, took a nice brown and lost another – tried dries for the last half hour landed 5 salmon par none counted – 15th place.
Session 2:
Leven: started at the north deeps with Di5 with small black and silver lure and two wet flies, after half hour counting down to 20 everything went tight, the next thing I knew, 80 yards of backing went flying off my reel! Got it under control as I thought, only for it to take off again and another 80 yards of backing. After a magnificent tussle I managed to land a 6 pound brownie, after a quick change of underpants, I fish the same method for no more takes – 1st place.
Session 3:
Carron: Started with a wet cell 2 using a black / red lure on the point, cat booby on the top and a small black fritz in the middle, went to gull island – nothing, crossed over to carron bay, landed one rainbow on a yellow wine dancer, returned to the dam, landed a brownie on the same wine dancer and lost a rainbow (not a happy chappy) 11th place.
Session 4:
Menteith: England started in Silver position – pressure’s on!!! Went out with a midge tip, cat booby on the point, cormorant in the middle and a small black taddy on the top, moving the flies slower when sunny and faster when cloudy, for different depths, this worked with great effect, first three fish dropped - oh no! Then the fish started to stick, the confidence kicked in and I managed to land 6 fish – 1st place.
Session 5:
Awe: started with wet cell 2 with black Zulu, claret bumble and black / silver on the point - fished all the hot spots including the islands - never even frightened a fish, fished where Simon caught – nothing – no fish (not happy)
Howard Croston’s Report:
Session 1:
Menteith: Started at loch end with Cortland blue using boobies / cormorants in flat calm, my boat partner noticed a couple of fish move down the bank and saw a boat lose a fish. We moved right behind the boat and first cast I landed a fish on a sunburst booby, top dropper (on the hang) a medium fast figure eight retrieve was the key, when a fish showed interest I slowed down rather than speed-up which is the norm, over the three hours sunburst / black & green cat booby and a pearly Iain Barr cormorant in the middle all produced my 6 fish – 1st place.
Session 2:
Tay: I had a grim draw on the Tay, the river was close to 80 yards wide, and the whole 100 yd beat was a huge back eddy, I fished every method I knew, it was impossible to fish properly, to have a beat of unfishable water in a competition of this magnitude was very disappointing, Not Happy. No fish.
Session 3
Awe: probably the toughest loch in the competition, it didn’t help with a flat calm, again I fished every method and all the drifts that produced fish last year. Typically, with just 4 minutes to go the wind picked up, using a Di3 I thought this could be my last cast, the line tightened I played the fish hard to prevent the fish throwing the hook, close to the boat I lifted it to the surface and netted a 1.5lb perch devastated was not the word – No Fish.
Session 4:
Leven: I headed to the Green Isle; the most productive area for the team. Simons method didn’t work for me, so I changed to a Di 7 and pulled. At the half way stage I asked my partner If we could change ends, he had a few offers, it paid off, with 11 minutes to go, I hooked into and landed a nice fish. I had a few more offers, unfortunately none of them sticking, my 39cm fish was enough for 5th place.
Session 5:
Carron: I followed my Irish boat partner’s directions as Ireland had won the last session; he took me to the top dam, my choice of a Di 3 was the right decision, I had two good fish straight away on a black taddy, it meant I could relax a bit, so we moved to a point down wind, change to a Di 5 thinking the fish would be deeper with the bright sun, again it paid off with a nice brown. Its typical; a few minuets to go we found the fish - I had another one and a few offers, my boat partner and I both finished with four fish each, enough to land me in 6th place.
Iain Barr’s Report:
Session 1:
Loch Leven: I was lucky enough to draw a Scot for the first session. 10 mins in my line hit a brick wall and there was nothing on the end, I continued to get solid hook ups but nothing landed! How frustrating. I switched from Di 7 to Di 5 as I felt the fish were higher in the water and with two pain knocking minutes left I hooked up with a silver and black lure and told the fish not to drop off and it obeyed. The whole of Scotland must have heard me yell when I landed that fish, England I Scotland 0, that trout got me 6th place.
Session 2:
Carron: with fewer fish caught than I thought in session one, I decided to pick my spot and concentrate on that, away from the pack, my first two fish dropped off on the cats whisker and Di 3, I thought this was Leven all over again! A short move up the bank to Gull Island yielded 4 rainbows, three to the Yellow Wine Dancer and one to the Carron Cat; it wasn’t just the fly dancing as I took 2nd position with my four fish.
Session 3:
Tay: supposedly the weak spot, yeah right, I took to the banks with confidence having shared conversation with my team mates, I blitzed what looked like the best bit of water, with the double nymph technique, after 8 minutes there was more England dancing as I landed my first fish on the nymphs, a grateful 25.7cm! Within 20 minutes I had 3 more on the tray that won the session outright there and then! A tough last few hours yielded a magnificent 38.7cm brown that was netted after snagging and a fish came blind whilst ‘prospecting’ with a single dry, good tanning too! 5 fish – 1st place.
Session 4:
Awe: This was the session I dreaded the most, I slogged the water for 2.5 hours for nothing and was one nil down to my Aussie boat partner, I moved to BBQ bay where I caught last year in practice and instinct kicked in, a whopping 21cm brownie - my pants were changed before I got on the bus after much ‘high 5ing’ and plenty of dancing in the boat - 7th place.
Session 5:
Menteith: the one I looked forward to the most until I and the team were in contention for gold! A fish lost first cast - got even the calmest of nerves a little edgy but nothing was going to stop me now, spurred on by a Croation boat partner taking the lead, it was head down and slow retrieves of the Cats Whisker saw two fish so gratefully come to the boat, the longest ever return to the lodge journey entailed!!! Had we done enough??? – 2 fish 7th place.
John Horsey’s Report:
Session 1:
Carron Valley – Drew Christian Jadouille from Belgium – we headed for Carron Bay where I hoped there would be lots of browns and a few rainbows. DI3 with Black and Silver Lure on point and wets on droppers produced plenty of action on the first drift – dropped 3 fish – Christian had 2. Landed first fish after an hour and 40 minutes – big relief. Had another soon afterwards. 2 minutes to go and I said to Christian – “deux minutes pour deux poisons”! We each landed a fish! Begium 5, England 3 – 9th Place.
Session 2:
Loch Awe – Took big gamble and motored for 50 minutes to Teatle Bay where I knew there was a fish or two. Flat calm however made it really difficult. Wild browns love a good ripple! Saw the odd fish rise – tried dries, lures, nymphs – everything but the kitchen sink! Boat partner hooked and lost a cracking fish, but nothing for me! Distraught. No Fish!
Session 3:
Lake of Menteith – Drew a Frenchman and let him have control of boat as France had won previous session with 11 fish! Had 2 fish early doors at Malling Shore using Cortland Blue and Black/Green Booby and Cormorant. Water clarity awful, so fished very slow fig-of-eight. 1 hour to go and I decided to move to Loch End. Frenchman had not one, but two double-ups! Good angling!! I managed 1 more fish to finish with 3 trout. 8th Place.
Session 4:
River Tay – Dreaded this session – I was only Team Member who had not caught a measurable fish in practice. Nice bit of HUGE river which had only produced 1 fish. Saw a fish rise in middle of river – NOT a salmon. Fished Trio with dry fly and 2 small Copper Head Henry’s up and down for 25 minutes after that single fish – finally got it on the middle dropper Henry – 29.5cm brown! Shaking like a leaf. Went back and caught a 39.5cm Grayling on point fly Henry – then lost another and caught 3 small Salmon Parr.
2 fish for ecstatic Englishman – beat the Frenchman, but Czech beat me with 3 fish – 2nd Place.
5th and final Session:
Loch Leven – Started with DI7 and Humungous Lure and Black Lure – went to North Buoy to Green Isle and pulled for 15 minutes like everyone else. Wind dropped and changed direction – changed to Midge Tip and Nymphs – got a 44cm brown first cast! Celebrated big time with Jim, my boatman and my Italian boat partner. Wanted him to get a fish too. Had another missed take on the nymphs, changed back to pulling when wind got up again and missed 2 takes and had a follow last cast from a monster! Still, with only 5 anglers catching a fish (and the Frenchman not one of them) I was absolutely ecstatic. 3rd Place.
Team Session Results
Monday: 8th June. First Session.
England 7th with 54 points, with France 1st with 27 points.
After 2nd Session, England were 6th – 53 points behind France and 12 points behind 3rd placed Czech Republic.
Tuesday: 9th June. Third Session.
Second day is one session only with a rest period in the afternoon. England had moved up to 2nd Place – but still 49 points behind France – 6 points in front of Czech Republic in third.
Wednesday: 10th June. Fourth / Fifth Sessions.
After Session 4, England were lying second to France and had pulled back 44 points – now just 5 points behind France - Finland move into third place - 42 points behind England.
Fifth and final session – after a nail biting wait and a thousand text and phone calls I had worked out the result – the team wouldn’t accept my judgment until it was in black and white – I had already found my cloud.
Final Team Result
England 1st with 230 points
France 2nd with 241 points.
Scotland 3rd with 292 points, (what a come-back by the host nation).
Individual Results
1st - Iain Barr - total 23 points Individual World Champion.
2nd - Donald Thom – Canada 25 points.
3rd - Christian Jadouille – Belgium
Other England Positions:
John Horsey, 46 Points – 10th Place
Simon Robinson, 52 Points – 17th Place
Dave Parker, 54 Points – 20th Place
Howard Croston, 60 Points – 31st Place
What a fantastic Hardy Greys Team England performance.
Also, Wales finished in 5th place, with Ireland in 10th position, placing all the home Nations in the Top 10 of the biggest World Championships in history.