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2009 Report

2009 EAST MIDLANDS REGIONAL FLY FISHING QUALIFIER

All five forces in the East Midlands Region took part in the 2009 Fly Fishing Regional Qualifier to determine which force would represent the region at the 2010 Nationals.

This year's event took place at Rutland Water on May 21^st and was hosted by Leicestershire Constabulary. Expectations were high, Rutland has been fishing exceptionally well of late and with a fair spread of talent between all five forces, a time bonus of 1lb per hour and an eight fish limit a close weigh in was expected.

The competitors set off at the 10am start to all areas of the lake which gives a good idea of how well it had been fishing. The conundrum facing the teams was whether it was best to target the larger fish or go for a quick eight smaller ones. The only down side on the day was the stiff westerly wind that was blowing down both arms.

By the 6pm finish it was clear that all teams had experienced mixed success, some bagging up early while others caught late on. As expected the weigh in proved to be one of the closest for years. Here's how it all ended up;

1^st Individual Tony Gill Lincolnshire 8 fish for 23lb 7oz
2^nd Individual Tony Ball Derbyshire 8 fish for 22lb
Best fish fell to Jim Neil of Lincolnshire, a Brown of 3lb 1/2oz

Both Tony Gill and Tony Ball will represent the Region at the 2010 National and be part of the England Team in the 2010 Home International.

 3^rd Individual and first reserve for the above was Mark Mathieson Northamptonshire  8 fish for 21lb 1oz. 

The team result was decided by picking the best four bags from each force;

1^st Derbyshire             75lb 12oz
2^nd Leicestershire        74lb 14oz
3^rd Lincolnshire            74lb 6 1/2oz
4^th Nottinghamshire     70lb 7oz
5^th Northamptonshire   56lb 5oz

Thirty Three competitors took part in the event, seventeen bag limits were caught, all but two competitors caught fish. In total 189 fish were taken with a rod average of 5.72 Best methods on the day was a floating line or a midge tip and buzzers.

The 2010 East Midlands Regional will take place in May and will be hosted by Northamptonshire. Date and venue TBA.

Dave Summers
Leicestershire Constabulary