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The Confederation of English Fly Fishers

29th WORLD FLY FISHNG CHAMPIONSHIPS DRYMEN SCOTLAND

In 2007 Ian Greenwood the manager of the English World Flyfishing team announced that he wanted the Confederation of English Fly Fishers to allow him to select his team for this event two years before.  Usually teams are selected the year before and ratified at the annual A.G.M.

Ians request was considered on the basis that the teams entering the event would not be allowed to fish the venues for two months prior.

However the team was selected so that they could go to the venues the year and fish them in the competition months to get a feel for them.
The team selected was JOHN HORSEY, HOWARD CROSTON, DAVEY PARKER, SIMON ROBINSON, IAIN BARR and BAZ REECE led by IAN GREENWOOD. Between them there was a vast amount of experience at this level with good knowledge of Scottish fishing.

The five venues chosen were THE LAKE OF MENTEITH, LOCH LEVEN, CARRON LAKE, LOCH AWE and RIVER TAY.
Some venues were familiar to the team but in 2008 they made forays to the venues so that the team had the best preparation for the event.
Other International teams were also doing the same and the team knew that this was going to be a tough event.

By the end of the year all the venues had been fished.  Tactics and flies had been developed.  Through his fly tying company, Iain Barr provided flies for the team and Hardy/Greys equipped the teams with clothing.
As the team went to Scotland at the beginning of June they had confidence that they would be able to mount a serious challenge.

The competition would be held over three days and five fishing sessions. A total of 27 teams had entered and it would be difficult to set a result as of course there were many fancied teams such as FRANCE, POLAND, CZECH REPUBLIC and of course SCOTLAND on home soil.   The CANADIANS, USA and AUSTRALIA had also been over to practice and were in with a chance.

From the practice sessions it was clear that Loch Awe, Loch Leven were going to be particularly tough.  The Lake of Menteith had suffered a large fish kill prior to the event but had been restocked and was fishing well. Carron was in form and the Tay would prove challenging because of its size.

The competition started with fair weather but an easterly wind which made for chilly nights and starts in the morning. After the first day Awe and Leven were proving hard venues with many of the field trying for just one fish. It was clear that there would be blank sessions for teams and results proved this. After the first day the French were well ahead on points with the English in sixth place. But there were so many teams close on points it was going to be interesting to say the least. At the end of each day England sat down and had extensive de briefs and planned each session ahead of them.
The second day was one session in the morning with a rest in the evening. By the end of the day England had got within 40 points of the French in second place. But again there were many teams that could catch up and the blank sessions were a key to this. Who could hold their nerve as this was going to go to the wire. In the past England have been in medal winning positions at this stage and faltered at the last.

So into the last day and the morning results looked good and England appeared to be getting back at the French and also Scotland ,Who were down in fifth place were stringing in some good results too. In the Individual stakes Iain Barr was in the top three rods.

At the end of the day England had endured another dreaded blank in the last session but word came back that the French had two. But at that stage no one could see the results and it was down to trying to work out who had done what. The Scots had really had a good day and nerves jangled.
Before the results were officially announced the French had conceded victory but was it correct?

Finally the results were announced and indeed England had become the World Champions. France was second with the Scottish team taking third place. But to put a cherry on the top of the cake Iain Barr was announced the new World Individual champion with Canada then Belgium.

For England this was the first team gold in the World championships since 1995 and the result of meticulous planning and commitment from the team.

Of course not only was the dedication of the team rewarded but the foresight of Ian Greenwood to select the teams earlier to get them prepared was fully justified. The team also had the assistance of others in the run up but thanks also to those who were pivotal in backing the team. John Ball who has been making up the funds once Sports council money was stopped with help from, Guide flyfishing, Fulling Mill, Snowbee and Hardy/Greys.

The celebrations were long and with the distillers GLENCOYNE as the sponsors of the event it was a memorable occasion.