www.iverflyfishers.co.uk

NEWS LETTER- SUMMER 2007

Dear Member

Note that although the club opens at the HorseMoor Centre the 2^nd & 4^th Tuesday every month, it may be necessary to change to a new venue in the near future.

For further information please contact:

Ken Williams - 01753 819447

PS: The website is now being updated regularly.

Subs.

For future reference, these will be due on Oct 1^st for the 2007/8 season.

They are :-

Full membership £20

Concession (over 65 & disabled) £15

Juniors have a special rate, see secretary.

IVER FlyFishers DVD

A DVD has been made of Iver FF personnel photos together with a few fishing movies – includes the AMFC award to Iver who came first in Group 2 in 2005.

The DVD (over 45 minutes long) is available from the secretary or treasurer.

Note that photos that appear on the WEB, eg in Newsletters, are of lower quality (not everybody has Broadband). If anyone requires a photo of higher quality please contact the Newsletter Editor.

Club Match at Bushy 25^th March 2007

Weather & Conditions

On arrival there was a gentle breeze from the north. It was quite chilly but well above freezing. As the day progressed, around 11.00am the temperature picked up with the occasional glimpse of the sun as it tried to break through the mist. The wind picked up and the direction started to shift eastwards. By our close (4.00pm) the wind was from due east, stronger, and the temperature had dropped, it was now a little cold. As often happens the fishing got harder as the day progressed. This was especially so for those on the far bank (peg ‘A’ in the diagram) as the wind shifted eastwards making casting very difficult. As Stan said, only about 1 in 7 casts achieved any distance. Never the less he persevered as a windward bank at this time of the year can be a good bet – the food blows there and the established fish can follow. It paid off and he got his six fish, albeit hard work for the last two. The jetty started well but as the wind changed direction there was very little or no ripple in this sheltered spot and the fish dried up. Although there were fish all around the lake, most of the action appeared to be at pegs ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ in the diagram. There was plenty of ripple at ‘B’ and ‘D’ but limited ripple at the more sheltered spot ‘C’. Normally Iver would head for the far bank but I guess that today the wind direction put them off. Lines consisted mainly of floaters or slow sinkers as it was said that most of the fish were within the first few feet of water. A small nymph or buzzer could do the trick, perhaps a gold head for a fast retrieval. Stan did try a Hi-Di for a while on the far bank into the wind and caught one with it.

The match

There were ten competitors, including guest Billy Nash (nice to see that he is showing interest again). It was also nice to see Malcolm again at Bushy, it is now becoming a habit!! Ken started at the southern end of the lake but, typical of Iver, he soon headed northwards. He joined Allen on the jetty where he soon caught one fish to Allen’s two. But then the jetty went quiet. The action was a little farther along on the bend (point ‘B’) where, by 11.00am, guest Billy Nash had caught his six fish using a fast retrieval just below the surface. As he finished Ken left the jetty and slid in the hot spot. Meanwhile Ray and John had trekked farther along into the North Bay where, apparently, there were plenty of fish although then ripple was somewhat spare in this sheltered spot. By lunchtime both Ray and John had their six fish each. Around lunchtime Roy was on the point (peg ‘C’) and was struggling with just two fish. Bill came along and said ’do a fast retrieval’. He did and his luck was in and he soon caught his last four fish. Ken and Bill Johnson fished on the bend (peg ‘C’) which they occupied all afternoon. Bill got his last just before close but Ken did not quite make it, only five fish, and a soaking to go with it. Meanwhile Allen, Frank and Malcolm were stuck on two each for the rest of the day, right to the end, being unable to get into the runs of fish.

Highlights

Malcom fell in, at least once, silly man. Bill Johnson lost a big one, better luck next time.

Ken forgot that he did not have waders on (too lazy to put them on) and got his legs soaked.

Frank caught a 4lb pike on a buzzer at the south end, also saw one at 15lbs.

NAME	CAUGHT	WEIGHT
RAY SIMPSON	6	17lbs 2ozs
JOHN WEAVER	6	16lbs 12ozs
STAN KING	6	17lbs 6ozs	Best fish, 3lbs 8ozs
ROY PALMER	6	17lbs 13ozs	Best Bag
BILL JOHNSON	6	15lbs 10ozs
KEN WILLIAMS	5	13lbs 2ozs
FRANK BAYLEY	2	5lbs 10ozs
ALLEN DIXON	2	5lbs 4ozs
MALCOLM GOLDING	2	6lbs 0ozs
BILL NASH	6	16lbs 14ozs	Guest

Club Match at Draycote 7^th April 2007

Conditions :-

It was warm sunny day with the breeze (what little there was of it!) from the east. A day that one might expect to be very hard. However, it turned out to be anything but hard although this was partly because of finding a shoal by the inlet dam which turned our fortunes. As someone remarked, ‘ I can see the headlines, Iver empty out Draycote’.

Slow sink or intermediates seemed to be the lines for the day (generally few rises).

The match :-

On advice from the lodge many boats headed for the far easterly bank where, apparently, many fish were coming out. This was true except that the fish were shoaled up, localised near a tree-less part of the bank where there were bank anglers. The bank anglers were having a field day but the boats either side (where the were trees making it inaccessible to bank anglers) were finding it hard. The shoal would not move, as Roy and Bill found out, although the steady occasional fish did come out. Allen caught three there, including the biggest fish of the day (on a booby & HiDi of course!) but by lunch time it was time to move, the fish were staying put by the bank anglers .

So it was over to the far dam where most others were heading. But fishing there was still hard.

Then a quick phone call to partners Ron and Ken changed the day. They were just finishing to bag up and it was only just after lunch. They were by the inlet dam where there was a very large shoal, taking flies just below the surface (Ron caught on dry fly too). There were even lots of rises. An intermediate, or a floating line with a gold head, drawn slowly was catching fish at a rapid rate. Allen and Malcolm (who had 3 & 1 respectively) stepped in as Ron and Ken left and were soon to be joined by Roy and Bill. Roy incidentally had had a good day so far and was not desperate for fish unlike his partner Bill who had not been so lucky. Allen immediately started to catch and soon finished off his limit. Malcolm meanwhile was greedy with his two flies. He had two fish on at the same time and after much hassle (one fish in the net but the hook came out and caught in the net) he finally landed them both. Then he did it again, two fish, except that this time after quite a struggle one came off. However, it was not long before he bagged up too.

Roy had bagged up and partner Bill got stuck in and soon bagged up as well.

So six anglers had bagged up and it was time for them to do the rounds of the reservoir to see how the others were doing. Partners John and Ray had been catching slowly, Ray being on course to limit. However, Brian and Reg were really struggling with only one fish between them. A quick word and they were off to the inlet dam to try there luck. On arrival they immediately started catching and within an hour they were back to the lodge.

What had happened to partners Steve and Mick? I know not but they were the first to finish with the lodge keeper weighing them in. Mick got the heaviest bag of the day. Where did they go and what was their technique? I must find out.

So all were back to the lodge, enjoying ice cream and sitting in the sun - except for John and Ray. Just before finish at 6.00pm John and Ray appeared. Ray had bagged up but John had struggled with only 4 fish. He should have gone to the inlet dam!!!!!

So, although it was very sunny with a slight easterly breeze, everybody (just about) had a good memorable day.

Angler	Num fish	Weight
Mick Hill	8	16lbs 0ozs	Heaviest bag
Steve Radcliffe	8	12lbs 2ozs
Ron Lusardi	8	11lbs 7ozs
Ken Williams	8	10lbs 15ozs
Ray Simpson	8	14lbs 0ozs
John Weaver	4	8lbs 5ozs
Allen Dixon	8	14lbs 15ozs	Heaviest fish 4lbs 2ozs
Malcolm Golding	8	12lbs 11ozs
Reg Renn	8	11lbs 11ozs
Brian Whity	8	14lbs 2ozs
Bill Johnson	8	12lbs 0ozs
Roy Palmer	8	13lbs 4ozs

Below are some of the mebers that fished at Draycote. John & Ray are missing – John was still in the boat trying to bag up.

Club Match at Haywards Farm 6^th May 2007

Conditions :-

‘Make your catch early in the day because as the day progresses can get harder’.

And that is exactly what happened.

With the warm breeze from the westerly direction the bulk of the fish were on the south east corner – the windward bank. There were fish elsewhere but nothing like as extensive.

The breeze got stronger and stronger such that by lunchtime it was extremely difficult to cast into it. Furthermore, as Roy said, the fish eventually moved out away from the bank – too much commotion!. Because the bank was gently sloping one had to get a good cast in the difficult wind to reach the fish.

The match :-

Turn out was good with some 15 members fishing and two guest and a few grandchildren.

The match started at 9.00am and many anglers headed straight for the southeast corner near where the cars were parked. A good choice as it so happened, good fishing there. The breeze at this time was manageable. It was not long, after 30 minutes in fact, when Reg Renn was seen walking around the lake. He had finished having fished in that southeast corner!!!! In some respects it was good to finish so soon but in other respects it is hardly a day’s fishing! Others quickly followed with new arrivals filling in the gap where these fish were coming out.

Guest Bill Nash caught a marvelous brownie of 6lbs 10ozs. A shame that he missed out on the Brown Bowl. Roy also caught a brown but not so heavy. Meanwhile guest Barry King was at the other westerly end of the lake and was slowly reaching his limit having found some fish. Ken Williams, with a bit of help from his grandson Charlie, was also well away from the crowd and at the far end and between them they hauled out a superb rainbow of 5lbs 12ozs to have the largest fish of the day, well done.

Not only did Ken have TWO grandsons, young Charlie and member Jake, at the party but there were also FOUR of the King family including young grandson Ryan to swell the numbers. Let’s have more youngsters!!

By lunchtime most had finished. Ray had finished and had what turned out to be the biggest rainbow (4lbs 5ozs) for any adult member that gave him the heaviest bag of 15lbs. But then it got harder as the wind increased and the fish moved out. The back-enders all had 3 fish and were fighting for their last.

Malcolm, on the north bank, had 3 fish but it took him another 2½ hours to catch his last as the fishing got harder. Young Jake was also fighting for his last but with a bit of help from Roy he eventually got that last one by early afternoon. As Roy said, with the strengthening wind and the fish moving farther out one needed a good strong cast to reach them. Frank was struggling but managed to get his last soon after.

Ray Janes and Allen were each struggling at the tail end for that last fish. Ray had lost a few as had Allen who had also got broken just before lunch. It was getting harder. At 3.30pm Ray Janes, who had persevered into the wind finally got his reward but it took Allen, after many lost fish, until 4.00pm before he finally, at last, finished.

Overall it was a good turnout and a good day.

Angler	Num fish	Weight
Stan King	4	12lbs 7ozs	With a bit of help from grandson Ryan King
Bobby King	4	12lbs 1oz
Ken Williams	4	14lbs 6ozs	A Rainbow of 5lbs 12ozs, with Charlie’s help
Jake Williams (jn)	4	11lbs 11ozs
Ray Simpson	4	15lbs 0ozs	A Rainbow of 4lbs 5ozs
John Weaver	4	11lbs 12ozs
Allen Dixon	4	11lbs 8ozs
Malcolm Golding	4	11lbs 12ozs
Reg Renn	4	11lbs 12ozs
Brian Whity	4	11lbs 0ozs
Ray Janes	4	11lbs 6ozs
Roy Palmer	4	11lbs 14ozs	A Brown of 2lbs 11ozs
Frank Bayley	4	12lbs 7ozs
Guests :-
Barry King	4	11lbs 5ozs
Bill Nash	2	9lbs 11ozs	Brown of 6lbs 10ozs (2 fish ticket)

Club Boat Match at Bewl, Sat 2^nd June 2007.

With a cloudless day and very little breeze the prospects were not good. As Ray said ‘ It is going to be hard today, perhaps a lottery. You will shoot me if you knew what I was going to use – a blob’. However, although it WAS a very hard day, those that persevered on the dam received their rewards for the day. Allen and Brian tried the cages but nothing. Then moved to the top end of Hook Straight to try there. By 10.00am Brian got broke up by a good fish and soon after that Allen caught a stocky. However, that was the last they saw all day and as the day progressed the sun beamed down harder, the rises disappeared and the slight breeze now only appeared occasionally to break up the ‘mill pond’ effect. Meanwhile Ken and Stan were trying everywhere including the dam and right at the far end of the opposite arm, ‘Rosemary’s Cottage’ down Bewl Straight. Nothing, although Ken did have a pull on his very first cast by the dam with a 30 foot leader and a gold head to get it down (‘fishing the hole’). For them, as the day progressed, they slowly got very disillusioned. Guest Bill Nash was also on the dam and did manage to pick up a small fish but again that was all. Floaters, Intermediates, Hi Dis, buzzers, lures, boobies, etc could not persuade the fish to take.

On the other hand, the other 4, Steve, Mick, John and Ray, stuck it out at the dam by continually drifting towards it and catching fish at the end of the drift, just before the dam. As you can see by the results they were the fortunate ones. Mick and Steve were using floaters with Diawle Bachs whereas Ray succeeded with a Di3 with a blob and John with a floater and buzzers. Their catches were scattered during the day. Right place, right time!

By about 15.30pm Ken, Stan, Allen and Brian had had enough and retired to terra firma before the sun destroyed them. The remainder had all had agreed to finish at 17.00pm instead of the usual 18.00pm.

At the weigh in Ray just clipped Steve to win the day with the heaviest bag.

Then an unusual event occurred. One angler had, in desperation, tried the cages. It paid off and he landed a superb 7lb 8oz fish. What a happy man he was! The interesting part was that John noticed the rod that he had been using. It was one that John had made decades earlier as proved by his logo on the rod. The rod had served the gent well for all those decades.

Name	Num Fish	Bag weight	(all Rainbows, no Browns)
Ken Williams	0
Stan King	0
Allen Dixon	1	1lb 4ozs
Brian Witty	0
Steve Radcliffe	4	8lbs 4ozs	Heaviest fish 3lbs 2ozs
Mick Hill	4	6lbs 6ozs
John Weaver	2	3lbs 2ozs
Ray Simpson	4	8lbs 8 ozs	Heaviest Bag
Guest :-
Bill Nash	1	1lb 8ozs

Southern Fed Eliminator

Sun April 15^th at Bewl

There were 5 Iver members who fished, Roy Palmer, Ray Simpson, John Weaver, Reg Renn & Ken Williams unfortunately none of them were in the first 6 places so none will be in the national at Grafham in September. Better luck next year.

Ray Simpson	5 fish
Ken Williams	2
Reg Renn	3
John Weaver	2
Roy Palmer	2

One needed 7 fish to qualify!!!!

Meanwhile Clive Collier who fished the South Eastern equivalent got through the first round. Because of the large numbers of anglers in this region he must fish a second knockout qualifier. Good luck to Clive.

Officers Match 19^th May at the Rib Valley Lake

Not a good day for the match – FA Cup Final day. Never the less 6 persons attended. The venue was in a good setting, in a valley surrounded by many trees.

There were fish jumping continually, predominantly at the far east end of the lake from where the wind was blowing. Here, with a moderate, slightly chilly, easterly breeze, the water was calmer than the nearer west end which appeared to be quieter as far as fish were concerned. Also casting into the easterly wind proved difficult from that west end. Only Stan had a go from there, and that was after the match had officially ended. Frank was on the south side casting mainly sideways into the wind and he picked up a couple of fish. Otherwise all the fish came out at the far east end which was chock-a-block with fishermen – no spare room. Early in the day there appeared to be a shoal there.

The water was quite dirty and a few Crayfish nets could be seen! The continual rises gave one hope that contact would soon be made. Not so, the number of fish coming out was low as can be seen by the results. All fish were about 2lbs each. As they say, ‘When the winds in the east the fish bite the least’. Congratulations to Stan who won the day by about 13.00hrs when we all decided to finish the match and go for eats.

Overall I think it was a disappointing day. As Stan said, ‘because it is catch and release the fish are hook shy’. Probably the best part of the day was the group meal at the restaurant at the top of the hill although even that had questionable quality. Many thanks to Ray who paid for the drinks. Let’s have more of that!

A few did return after lunch for a final sling but nothing came out.

Name	Num fish
Ray Simpson	1
John Weaver	1
Allen Dixon	1
Ken Williams	2
Frank Bayley	2
Stan King	3

Rogue’s Gallery (old members)

New Members 2006/7

None for this newsletter

Remaining AMFC Fixtures

Fri 10^th August	Eyebrook
Sun 2^nd September	Grafham
Sat 6^th October	Grafham

Remaining Match Dates for Iver Club 2007

(Some details TBA)

Eyebrook (Pairs match)	Boat Sat 21^st July	Cost TBA	Confirmed
Grafham	Boat Sat 1st Sept	Cost £30.50	Confirmed
Hanningfield (Boat Trophy)	Boat Sun 21st Oct	Cost TBA	Not Confirmed
Versus Croxley Bushy	Bank Sat 3^rd Nov	Cost TBA	TBA
Xmas Match	Bank Thurs 27^th Dec	Cost TBA	TBA

True or False?

1) It is harder to catch fish in the afternoon.

2) In the colder months fish tend to go to the bank to where the wind is blowing.

3) The deeper you fish the bigger the fish.

4) Boobies deep down catch bigger fish.

5) Grafham has lots of Zanders.

6) Zanders came from Europe.

7) Rainbows came from North America.

8) Brownies are the UK’s native trout.

9) Salmon will rise for a fly only when the water reaches 10 degrees C.

10) Rainbows need running water to breed.

11) Brownies need running water to breed.

12) There is no lawful out of season for Brownies in a ‘still’ lake/reservoir.

13) There is no lawful out of season for Rainbows in a ‘still’ lake/reservoir.

14) There is a legal minimum length to retain a Brownie.

15) There is no legal minimum length to retain a Rainbow.

16) You get big fish underneath an active cage.

17) Most High-Density lines are prone to cracking.

18) An AFTM 7 rod & line is typical of a boat rod. A bank one would be a higher.

19) You need a rod licence to fish in a private lake.

20) Course fish will take ‘flies’.

21) Brownies prefer deep water and boobies.

22) ‘Fishing the hole’ needs a floating line & VERY long leader which you let sink.

23) We need more youngsters to join our fishing club!

24) The river Colne over Stanwell Moor is free and is good for fly fishing.

25) You can always tell a wild salmon from a caged one by looking at its tail.

26) Dog Noblers have gone out of fashion, especially pink ones!

27) Trout & Salmon fishing are not what they used to be.

28) It is harder to catch fish in waters that allow catch & release.

29) The longer it is since a fish has been released from cages the better its tail.

30) Drifting finds the fish but they tend to be smaller.

31) Barbless hooks penetrate deeper for a better hold.

32) Thrash the water and the fish move out.

33) When the wind is in the east the fish bite the least.

34) When the wind is in the west the fish bite the best.

35) A Sea Trout will feed in a river.

36) A Salmon stops feeding before it gets to the river.

37) A Salmon does not feed in the river. It takes on instinct.

38) Because a Salmon does not feed in a river it gets weaker and goes red to pink.

39) Most male Salmon do not get back to the sea. Some females do.

40) After spawning Salmon become thin, weak, slowly rot, maggots. They are Kelts.

41) The AMFC has many ‘Groups’ each with 6 teams per Group. Iver are in Group 1.

Answers in the next Newsletter.

Danny Peet, Roy Palmer, Mick Hill, Eddie Gray and Ken Williams all belong to the disabled fishing club. They have matches on Wednesdays. On July 4^th Danny and Roy went to Eyebrook to fish one of their matche (Ken had tooth ache and did not go – too much talking about the ones that got away!). Roy’s luck was in and he had a beauty of just over 6lbs and another two of about 3lbs each, of a total of 6 fish, all on floating line and a small booby. Danny had a glorious total of 15 fish (on blobs) but because the competition was only for the biggest fish he put them all back. Mick struggled with 2 fish.

Last but not least. There is more in life than fly fishing (some might disagree?).

Many of our members go sea fishing - Malcolm Golding for one, Ray Simpson, Ron Lusardi and many others as well.

But, excitingly, some of our members go to the sea off Florida for the big ones!!

Ken Williams has a son who has a house in Florida and ready access to a boat. Ken and his family often take a short break there and try their luck off its coast.

Recently Ken’s grandson Oliver Williams (father Neile) caught a shark that made his day. It was not a Big White but one of the smaller varieties. Never the less it was a day to remember.

Allen Dixon, Newsletter Editor, Allen_dixon@tiscali.co.uk tel 01628-541-804.