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At
last it happened, after a seven year wait an invitation came to fish
the European Championships. The venue; Kluizen, Belgium; 12th to
16th September. Fishing was to be from the bank of Kluizen II; three
sessions, each of five beats over two days. Kluizen II is a 52Ha
lake and measures approx.. 3.5km at it’s circumference. Each beat
is 25 meters only, with no buffer zones. The lake was divided into 5
equal zones and a beat in each zone is fished in each session. Each
session takes you one circuit of the lake, but with collecting your
controller, making your way to your start point and then making your
way back again, you actually take two tours on of the lake each
session! No one beat is visited twice, so each competitor fishes 15
different pegs for the tournament. Each beat can only be fished for
35 minutes, and you are given 15 minutes to walk to your next beat.
The lake is surrounded by a roadway, but the banks are constructed
of rocks, which made the going tough. Vehicles are allowed on site
only at the beginning and end of each day; you are dropped off at
your team pen” and collected again from there at the end. Each
team had a “pen” (a taped area of grass), where you tackled up
prior to the start of each session and where you stripped your
tackle down at the end. When you left you “pen”, you had to
carry with you everything that you needed for that session. Part of
the “challenge” was that you had to carry all your kit the whole
way, no one was allowed to carry anything for you, that’s against
the rules! Sixteen teams took part; including France, Italy,
Germany, Poland and Czech Republic; the cream of European fly
fishing. We were to rub shoulders with some quality fly fishermen,
men being the operative word; this was very much a man thing in as
much as all the teams were men bar two!, French Ladies and us! Both
France and England also entered men's teams and some other countries
entered two men's teams e.g.; Poland 1 and Poland 2.
Our team was selected according to the criteria discussed at the AGM
of ELFA and took shape as follows:- Linda Dearing, Margi Godwin,
Mary Hopper, Wendy Miller and Sue Shaw. We also took with us one
official; our team Coach and non fishing Captain Paul Miller. We
each bring to the team different qualities and have proven track
records; Linda has 7 caps and is the current home International
Captain, Margi has 10 caps, is a former National Champion and holds
a Benson & Hedges bronze medal, Mary has 6 caps, is a former
National Champion and is the current International Champion, I have
10 caps, I’m a forma International Champion and hold a Benson
& Hedges gold medal and Sue has 6 caps and is a former National
Champion and UK Trout Distance Champion. Our Coach is no slouch
either with 7 senior caps, a World Championship gold medal and 2
Benson & Hedges gold medals! Take us on at your peril!!
................ make no mistake, we were not kidding ourselves
here, we knew it would be tough just to complete the course let
alone achieve a result. Our objectives though were simple:-
a)
not to be last, and disgraced
b) to beat the French Ladies!
c) to then take as many other “scalps” as we can along the
way!!!
d) to waive the England flag proudly, and to promote ladies in fly
fishing
e) respect
f) to do a great job for our sponsors
Sponsorship
played a significant role in our “adventure”. Firstly, we were
given the use of a minibus for the duration of the event! Huge
thanks to Graham Knell of Perry’s of Canterbury, who kindly let us
loose with a very valuable piece of kit. “R bus though proved to
be invaluable, enabling a terrific team spirit to grow, long before
arriving in Belgium. Secondly, we were given tackle and some superb
clothing for this very special occasion on this European stage.
Massive thanks to Chris Leibbrandt of Masterline International for
his support; once again having the confidence in us to achieve and
the foresight of knowing a great marketing opportunity when he sees
one!!
There is an opening ceremony; where each team march behind their
flag. Also, medals are awarded in an Olympic style way with flags
being hoisted and the national anthem playing .............. all
very moving stuff!!
So now I think you get the flavour of the occasion and the enormity
of the event. How did we do? Well, despite team ailments (toothache,
insect bites, upset tummies and blisters the size of golf balls!)
and our accommodation (city centre; noisy, the train station,
difficult access and well....... just not suited to fishermen ...) I
think we did pretty damn good!; we weren’t last, we triumphed over
the French Ladies, we beat the host Nation - Belgium 1 and another
six teams ....... we finished a very creditable 8th! and also, some
very good individual placings too, the best of which was Sue Shaw
from a field of 80 competitors being in 16th place! |
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Our
fish were taken on:- orange blob, pearly cormorant and cats whisker
fished on the Cortland Camo intermediate and an odd fish taken on a
claret hopper fished on the Cortland 555 floater. The event was
fished on a catch and release basis, which meant that hooks had to
be barbless. The results were calculated on a points basis (for fish
caught and also the length of each fish), in order to ascertain
placings in each section. Each competitor was then awarded placing
points according to their position in their section for each
session.
How was it for me? well, what a fantastic thing to be apart of, I
was so proud to be there under the banner of my country, and to
catch and put points on the score board for England. I couldn’t
walk properly for 10 days afterwards, but I don’t regret a moment
of it! The Belgians took us too their hearts and made us so welcome.
The other teams were at first bemused by us, but as the event went
on, more and more nods of approval came our way. It was a wonderful
opportunity to meet fellow anglers; from further a field than our
own shores and there was much camaraderie with the England guys
which was also just as unique. On coming home, friends have asked me
“Did you win?” and although the gold medals were not placed
around our necks, in a special way, yes we did win; ....... success
is not just measured by being on top of the podium, but by achieving
our own goals and gaining admiration by fellow fishermen. We did all
of that and some! So, would I do it again? you bet I would!!!!!!!
Wendy Miller |
