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Autumn 2011

Loch Internationals

Autumn International
Grafham
23rd September 2011

Scottish Team sponsored by Lake of Menteith Fisheries,
Fishers, BVG Airflow, Edmundson Electrical, Flyfish Europe, Modus Building Services, Thrums Engineering Services and 7plus7 Construction.
(Click on sponsors logo to go to their website)

Autumn International - Grafham
23rd September 2011

England got their tactics spot on at the Autumn International at Grafham and were rewarded with a wide margin win over Scotland with Wales in third and Ireland fourth. This was an impressive display by England with their top three rods of Iain Barr, Nikki Long and Ed Foster accounting for 41 of their 106 trout. Half of the England team finished in the top 14 of the 56 anglers. This was a far cry from a poor England performance at the Spring International where half of their team were in the last ten and they picked up the wooden spoon.

Scotland put in another sound performance with 76 fish which was 14 ahead of third placed Wales. Half of the Scottish team were in the top 17 with the top three rods of Kevin McCabe (Change FF AC), Steven Welsh (Dalbeattie AC) and Ewan Clark (Strathtyrum AC) taking 27 trout. Scotland have now had 3 gold and 2 silver medals from the last 5 Home Internationals and will be looking forward to 2012.

The outstanding performance of the day came from David Hoppe of Wales who had 18 trout for 39lbs 10.375ozs which earned him the Brown Bowl for the best basket. David fished with Steven Graham (Perth RASC)of Scotland who had 8 trout and their haul of 26 fish was the top boat.

Top rod for England was Iain Barr with 16 fish for 37lbs 6.25ozs. Top for Ireland was Derek O'Brien with 4 fish for 11lbs 6.375ozs and top for Scotland was Kevin McCabe with 9 fish for 21lbs 8.75ozs.

Grafham fished well all week and the quality and strength of their trout must make this fishery one of the best in the country. Many areas had been found to be holding good numbers of trout which responded to various methods throughout the week.

.


	Country	Fish	Lbs	Ozs
1st	England	105	229	6 5/8
2nd	Scotland	76	168	8 3/8
3rd	Wales	62	137	8 5/8
4th	Ireland	34	79	13 1/8

Kevin McCabe
(Phoenix Silver Salver winner - Scotland's top rod)
5th

I was paired with Tom Davis (England) and before we started we discussed where we wanted to go and agreed on the areas to be covered. We started at G buoy and Tom picked up 1 there. From there we went to the Exhibition Centre and drifted in and out there for the rest of the day. I took my fish on diawl bachs on a midge tip line and finished up with 9 to Tom's 8

Steven Welsh
7th

I was paired with Dai Jones (Wales) and when we got to the boat we talked about the areas that we thought would be holding fish and decided where we would go. We started at N buoy at the dam where Dai got 1 early on and I dropped 1. I picked up 1 there then he went 2 to 1 up. I picked up 2 rapid after that. We moved from N buoy to Sludge Bank where I missed 1. From there we went to the Willows where I got 2 straight away. When there wasn't much doing at the Willows we went back to the dam where I missed 1 and dropped 1. Then we went back to the Willows and I picked up 2 rapid. We finished off back at N buoy where Dai picked up 1 and I missed 1. Dai finished up with 3 and I had 9.

Ewan Clark

I was drawn on the day with Irishman Andrew Lloyd, a full-time guide on Corrib & Mask. He said to me on the day just to go wherever I wanted as he had been struggling on practice days.

For the first hour we headed up to sludge bank where I had been getting fish the day before. However, once we were up there it was quite sheltered and calm and the boat was practically static so we weren't covering much ground but still managed to boat one on di3 and sunburst booby.

We noticed that there were about 20 boats off the dam and decided to head up there. Once we got there I spoke to fellow team mates who were on 3 and 4 fish apiece and they all said that the fish were high in the water, catching on sunburst fab and diawl bachs. I put those flies on a midge tip and hit fish steadily, off the dam and also marlow bank, ending up with 9 for the day. My partner also changed to a similar set-up and he ended up with 3 fish for the day.

I finished in 8th place overall and 3rd in the Scottish team which earned me a carry forward to a place in the team next year.

Jock Kettles
9th

I was paired with Fechin McMorrow (Ireland) and after I lost the toss we agreed to start at N buoy. I picked up fish there on the first two drifts on a mid glass. We spent the morning in that area and moved over to the Willows and G buoy in the afternoon. I picked up another 3 fish there on diawl bachs on a midge tip. At the end of the day I had 7 and Fechan had 3.

Steven Graham
12th

I was paired with David Hoppe (Wales) who was the Brown Bowl winner with 18 fish. Like most of the others we discussed the areas that had held fish on the practice days and agreed where we would go. At the off we went straight down to the tower at the dam where we both picked up fish on midge tips. We could see fish getting caught over at D buoy so we went over there and picked up another 2. From there we went to the Exhibition Centre and drifted in and out there for the rest of the day picking up fish on diawl bachs and fabs.

David was having a great day and deserved to win the Brown Bowl. Although I matched his methods I couldn't keep up with him and finished up with 8 fish.


Scottish Team Result


Position		Club	Fish	Lbs	Ozs
5th	Kevin McCabe	Change FF AC	9	21	8.750
7th	Steven Welsh	Dalbeattie AC	9	18	15.625
8th	Ewan Clark	Strathtyrum AC	9	17	15.375
9th	Jock Kettles	Change FF AC	7	17	8.375
12th	Steven Graham	Perth RASC	8	15	12.125
15th	Ronnie Gilbert	St Fillans & Lochearn AA	6	14	4.625
17th	Neill Barrett	Gilmerton Miners FFC	6	13	13.875
30th	Andy McKay	Port Glasgow AC	4	8	3.000
31st	Graham Connelly	Kahts Whiskers AC	4	8	1.500
32nd	Gordon Hayward	Balfron Piscatorials	4	7	13.625
33rd	Agnes Thomas	Bank of Scotland East AC	3	7	10.750
38th	George Martin	Port Glasgow AC	2	6	7.375
41st	Peter Auchterlonie	St Fillans & Lochearn AA	3	5	3.625
43rd	Ian Storrar	Balbeggie AC	2	5	1.750

Team

Ronnie Gilbert (Captain)

Club: St Fillans & Lochearn AA

Previous Caps: 4

History: Scottish National Champion 2008

Peter Auchterlonie

Club: St Fillans & Lochearn AA

Previous Caps: 8

History: Scottish National Champion 2010, Brown Bowl 1999, Phoenix Silver Salver 1999