APRIL

The Spring Association Match

*******
First warm day of spring greets the
Spring Match on Bewl Water

Editorial
otes from thE A.G.M. in a six match programme was
one step too far.
Welcome to the 2008 season.
After some ‘will they-won’t Clearly it does not encourage
 they’ it is pleasing to report
that there are the same number
wide participation It also
takes the Association one step
of teams as in 2007. East too close to becoming a TEAM
E Midlands T.F.A. finally
decided that they would wait
competition, rather that a
CLUB competition. A

W another year before rejoining

and hopefully we shall
welcome them back in 2009.
situation about which the
original signees of
Constitution and Rules were
the

S The Association is a simple

universally opposed.

organisation. It has only three Stop press

L aims: To organise a
competition – to promote best
A late entry by Invicta ‘B’
Team means that Group 3 is
principle and practice in back to five teams.
E competition fishing and to
encourage wide participation
Oh! for the long warm days of

T The best principles are dealt

with in just over 400 words in
summer to see these again

T the rules about equipment and

method of fishing. We either
organise a competition or there
E is no Association.

Initially it was decided that

R wide participation should be
accommodated by allowing Quote
anglers to fish half the of the
matches. With a five match MOTH
programme this was twice.
When numbers made it
2 necessary to organise the
Association Matches we
From: River Trout Fishing
by Peter Lapsley

0 increases the number of

matches to six and we
eventually agreed 2/3rds and a
Personally, I do not subscribe to
the view that a blank day should be
just as enjoyable as one on which
0 maximum of four times for any
individual.
we start our homeward treck with a
heavy creel. either do I believe
that enjoyment of a days sport at
8 Most members believed that
the proposal at the A.G.M to
the waterside can be measured
solely by the weight of one’s catch
allow anglers to fish five times
 Champions start where they left off
with win in Group One.
Home advantage as both Bewl Bridge
F.C. Teams win their respective
Group Matches
The Spring Association Match
Mmatchestowards Chingley Point.
on the early part of the first
on Bewl was fished on one of drift. Using a fast glass line and a
the few pleasantly warm, dry couple of boobies he was the
days with only a light wind. As last year Soldier Palmers first to finish by 12.15pm. His
had problems raising a team partner also finished by mid
for the Spring afternoon.
Match. They
failed to enter a Eventually those boats that had
‘B’ Team and not already finished realise
only two anglers what was happening and by
were available for mid afternoon a large number
their ‘A’ Team. of boats were drifting off
Chingley Point and along the
However Andy wood towards the Dam.
Croucher of the
‘A’ Team and his It was very close in Group One
boat partner with time bonus playing a
A gentle Bewl just before the start
ignored the main major part on Bewl’s win.
areas and headed They had two fewer fish than

However these conditions gave

a wide variation in anglers
experiences. Seventeen
anglers bagged up, whilst four
failed to catch. The rod
averages matched the
groupings with Group One
achieving 5.9 – Group Two 4.2
and Group Three 3.9.
Bewl ‘A’ Group One and Overall
If there was any small criticism Winners.
it was that the average weight Bewl ‘B’ Group Two winners
of the fish was just less that 1lb weighing In
12oz, with Peter Ford’s
(Bristol Reservoirs F.A) one
fish weighing only 1lb 3.5oz

With a light breeze blowing

down Hook Straight towards
the Dam the boats set off in
two directions. About half
upwind into Hook Straight and
the other half down wind into
Canoe Club Corner.

Canoe Club Corner fished

immediately with rods bending
Fish Hawks, but their time
bonus of 9lbs 8oz and Keith
Nicholson’s largest fish of
the day gave them a win by
just over 1 lb.
The Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘B’
Team in Group 2 and the
Royal Navy/Marines in
Group 3 had significantly
easier wins. The Bewl ‘B’
Team weighed in over 20lbs
more than Queen Mother
F.F. in second place and the
Navy/Marines over 10lbs
over their nearest rivals
Invicta F.C. ‘B’
It is traditional that the best
fish is also recognised at fly
fishing events. This year
the best fish was Keith
Nicholson’s (Bewl ‘A’)
rainbow of 4lbs8.5oz and he
was presented with a small
plaque.
The Association now
divides into individual
groups for the four match
Group Programme before
meeting at Rutland on
October for the Autumn
Association Match.

Two ew Trophies for the

ASSOCIATIO MATCHES
The Association Matches have always had pride of place in the Challenge Table. All
groups fish together and the boat draw puts anglers from different groups together.
The Autumn Match is the last match of the year, when all the results are known. It is
followed by the reception and prize giving.

It has been decided that the winners and best

bag of both the Spring and Autumn Matches
will be recognised with two new trophies.
The Gray’s Cup for the best bag and a new
trophy provided by Micky Bewick of Queen
Mother F.F FOR THE Winning Team.
These trophies will be held from Association
Match to Association Match.

The winners of the best team trophy were

Bewl Bridge F.C.’A’, pictured opposite
receiving their commemorative plaque.

In future the winner of the Gray’s Cup will

be invited to present it to the new winner at
the next Association Match.
 Spring Association Match 2008 - All the Results
Winning Teams Highlighted

GROUP O
E GROUP TWO
GROUP THREE

ame
o Weight

ame
o Weight
ame
o Weight
Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘B’
Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘A’ Bob Shaw 8 17lbs 7oz Crawley F.C.
Keith Nicholson 8 19lbs 3.5oz Mick Phipps 6 10lbs 11.5oz Bob Birchall 3 4lbs 11.5oz
Jeff Latter 8 17lbs 13oz Ryan Eldon 8 13lbs 1.5oz Charles Beal 1 1lb 13.5oz
Vince Broosks 8 14lbs 0.5oz Alan Purnell 2 3lbs 15oz
Mike le Lacher 6 9lbs 13oz
High Frew 4 8lbs 2.5oz Tont Kaatze 2 3lbs 1oz
TOTAL 51lbs 1oz TOTAL 13lbs 9oz
TOTAL 59lbs 3.5oz
Fish Hawks ‘B’ Invicta F.C. ‘A’
Bristol Reservoirs F.A. Mark O’Neill 3 5lbs 4oz
Andrew Gysler 6 9lbs 15oz Graham Williams 2 4lbs 8.5oz
Andy McKay 5 8lbs 1.5oz
Paul Crook Mark Searle 2 2lbs 11.5oz
Anthony Butterworth 2 3lbs 5.5oz John Mees 3 4lbs 8oz
Pete Ford 1 1lb 3.5oz Dan Taylor 2 4lbs 6oz
***. Lawson Wight 8 15lbs 9oz
TOTAL 21lbs 1oz TOTAL 27lbs 5oz
TOTAL 11lbs 2.5oz
Grafham Water F.A. Invicta F.C ‘B’
Fish Hawks ‘A’ Peter Hartley 4 7lbs 5oz
Phil Thomas 8 16lbs 4oz Andy Newman 4 6lbs 14oz
Richard Kesek 5 8lbs 9.5oz
Paddy Mounter 6 9lbs 14.5oz Alan Prevost 5 8lbs 14.5oz
John Weaver
Si Gaines 8 16lbs 5oz Mick Facey 6 10lbs 9oz
Norman Rushton 4 6lbs 13.5oz
Al Gamble 8 15lbs 5oz Peter Oldham 2 3lbs 15.5oz
TOTAL 22lbs 12oz TOTAL 30lbs 5oz
TOTAL 57lbs 12.5oz
Iver F.C. Royal
Hanningfield F.A. Jeff Hickson 2 3lbs 4oz Royal
avy/Marines

avy/Marines
Vince Howley 2 5lbs 10oz Mark
MarkGlass
Glass 77 13lbs
13lbs7.5oz
7.5oz
Ray Simpson 3 4lbs 12oz
Leigh Pond 8 15lbs 2oz Dave
DaveMorton
Morton 77 10lbs
10lbs15oz
15oz
Ken Williams
Lloyd Pallett 8 16lbs 2oz Dave
DaveMinnal
Minnal 88 16lbs
16lbs15oz
15oz
Eddie Gray 8 18lbs 10.5oz Grant Maxwell-Tomas
Clive Morgan 8 20lbs 13.5oz G. Maxweel Thomas
TOTAL 26lbs 10.5oz TOTAL
TOTAL 57lbs 11.5oz TOTAL 41lbs
41lbs5.5oz
5.5oz
Queen Mother F,F,
Rutland Water F.F. Dave Kidby 2 3lbs 15oz
Mike Gunnell 2 3lbs 2oz Martin Conroy 2 3lbs 4oz Soldier Palmers ‘B’
Sean Cutting 8 16lbs 9.5oz Mick Hill 7 11lbs 13oz ***
David Lang 8 17lbs 12oz Phillip Hall 7 10lbs 14.5oz ***
Graham Watson 6 11lbs 8.5oz ***
TOTAL 29lbs 14.5oz ***
TOTAL 49lbs
TOTAL
il
BEST BAG
Soldier Palmers ‘A’
Andy Croucher 8 19lbs 8.5oz BEST BAG
Kevin Wood 2 3lbs 5.5oz Eddie Gray 18lbs 10.5oz
*** Iver F.C. Dave Minnal 16lbs 15oz
***.
Royal
avy/Marines
TOTAL 22lbs 14oz BEST FISH
BEST FISH
BEST BAG Richard Kesek 2lbs 8oz
Grafham Water F.A. Mark Glass 3lbs
Hanningfield F.A.
Royal
avy/Marines
Clive Morgan 20lbs 13.5oz

BEST FISH
Bewl Bridge F.C. ‘A’
Keith
icholson 4lbs 6.5oz