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ROYAL AIR FORCE
COMPETITIVE ANGLING ASSOCIATION
(COARSE ANGLING CHAIRMAN)

Commander JSSO, RAF Digby, Ashby De La Launde, Lincs, LN4 3LH

PSTN: 95712 7201 28 Nov 07

RAFCAA COARSE ANGLING END OF SEASON REPORT 2007

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The 2007 Coarse angling season has been, to say the least an eventful one, with plenty of highs and a few lows. We won the Inter-Services (just), came a credible 18th out of 70 in the Division One National Championships, and gained a bronze in the European Military Championships. We also competed in the highly prestigious Angling Times Winter league, fished in a series of 6 qualifiers on a regional basis. With total mileages of up to 1000 miles, an out of sorts venue and no travel authority or funding, just managing to compete was an achievement although we were still disappointed with our 4th place finish, although we scored some excellent individual results against the best anglers in the country. 2007 also saw us secure a fantastic sponsorship deal for the Match and Carp team, with top tackle company Fox international. Domestically, the season has been a difficult one, with redundancies, OOA deployments and the sheer volume of work having a real impact on the league competitions, although only the Scottish League was unable to complete a full set of fixtures. A total of 170 different anglers still managed to make it onto the bank to fish at least one match though, so they are still out there somewhere, although average match figures are now around 20 anglers. The RAF Championships, held by popular demand on a commercial venue for the first time, was also disappointing in terms of attendance, with, for the first time, less than 100 anglers turning out on the day. Quite fittingly, the match organiser and RAF squad member CT Spike Milligan comfortably won the event. On the up side, the newest form of the branch competitive carp angling, which burst onto the scene last season, consolidated with a number of high profile events and a membership of almost 60 anglers, culminating in a very successful RAF Carp Championships, won by Sgt Graham Vincent from DCSA Corsham, who staggeringly caught 2 of the 3 biggest fish on the lake, including a fish of 39lb 9oz, which smashed the existing record out of sight. Two other record fish were caught this season, a 14lb 1 oz barbel by Gp Capt Sean Corbett and a 12lb 3oz bream by Flt Lt Mike Mason of RAF Cottesmore.

REPRESENTATIVE

2. The season started with the by now traditional trip to Holland, where the 2 RAF select teams battled with the other ser ices and the MoD for the prestigious Overseas Challenge, a keenly fought festival over a gruelling 6 day period. With the format and venues now optimised, this is an extremely popular event and no 2 years are the same. Following last years flood conditions, they couldn’t have been more different this year, with low water levels, clear skies and high pressure causing the fish to shoal up more than usual. Once again adaptability was the key to success and after a very disappointing first day by both the RAF teams, who were 3rd and 4th it was catch-up time. But class shines through and by the end of the final day it was a familiar story as the RAF teams occupied the first 2 places. Individually we held the top 4 places, with Sgt Steve Hutter becoming the 2007 individual champion. Special mention must go to Sgt Gave Atkinson however, who shattered the Zalk Lake record on the second day with a staggering 124.76kg of bream.

3. The Inter-services followed, and this year it was the RAF’s turn to host the event. Playing to our traditional strengths, we headed to the Grand union Canal near Halton. However this almost proved to be a costly mistake as a much improved Army team made the most of the fact that very few small fish were apparent in the chosen stretch and bonus fish were all important. By the end of the match it was clear that the result would be very tight, but the RAF brought home the trophy by a single point, 28 to the Army’s 27. The RN, with a weakened team only managed 17 points.

4. Soon afterwards the squad met again for Coarse Angling’s Blue Ribbon event. Held on a difficult New Junction canal, within stones throw of some of the best team’s in the country, it was never going to be easy to make an impression in this match. This was not helped by the fact that, during all the summer’s floods, the canal had been sealed off at either end and the canal was still and clear, and full of stale water. Small fish and light rigs were the order of the day, and despite the usual mediocre draw the RAF still managed a credible 18th place.

5. The next event on the representational calendar was the European Military Championships, a match that the RAF have dominated over the 7 years it has been in existence. Again held in the Netherlands, continental rules (or at least interpretations of them) make the event and interesting but challenging one for the RAF being confined to 4 hours and limited to 11 ½ metre poles. After a bad draw left us in third place on day one, the second day was always going to be an uphill struggle and despite valiant attempts the deficit was too great and we ended up with the bronze medal behind the favourites Belgium and France, both of whom could boast a smattering of international anglers.

6. The other major event of the year for the full representational team was the Angling Times Winter League, a highly prestigious series of 6 matches fished on a regional qualifying basis and featuring the very best teams in the country. Fished on an out-of-sorts Castle Ashby complex, the RAF came a credible but slightly disappointing 4th place, although some excellent individual results tell the story of a venue out of sorts and patchy. That the RAF is able to compete in this event at all is remarkable, with no travel authority or funding and individuals having to travel in some cases more than 1000 miles over the 6 weeks.

DOMESTIC

7. The domestic season has been a fairly traumatic one, with operational exigencies seriously affecting league attendances. The most recent loss of status for Stn level angling has had a further knock-on effect, although to the leagues credit they have all managed to maintain viable competitions, with the exception of the Scottish league. Of note, there remain a total of over 150 anglers on the RAFCAA (Coarse) angling match books, although only a small percentage of these are able to compete on anything like a regular basis. The RAF Champs was held on a commercial fishery for the first time due to popular demand, although the relatively low level of attendance of 99 anglers suggested that perhaps it was the vocal minority who had actually wanted the match moved from a natural water. Individual winner was the match organiser and veteran of many a championships, CT ‘Spike’ Milligan from Wyton, with an impressive 72lb 3oz. On the team front, for a change Brampton/Wyton did not sweep the board, with Cosford running out comfortable winners with Halton as runners-up.

COMPETITIVE CARP ANGLING

8. The undoubted success story of the season has been the bursting onto the scene of competitive carp angling within the RAF. Having been coaxed out of their bivvies, they have organised themselves into as sub-discipline and planned a full match programme, commencing with the 2007 RAF Championships held on an out of sorts CEMEX Sandhurst. As always with RAF matches, the conditions were against us, being clear and bright and the venue had been cleared of weed the previous week, making bites hard to come by. Although only 8 fish were caught, by 4 anglers over a total field of 27 who fished, the size of the fish more than made up for the lack of numbers. Sgt ‘Vinny’ Vincent had the session of his life to take not only the 3rd largest inhabitant of the lake at 37lb, but, with hours to go he also caught the biggest and by a long way a new RAF record of 39lb 9oz. This clearly also won High Wycome/Corsham the event with runners up the JSSO. Individual runner up was Sgt Hoyle from the JSSO, who made the best of being first out of the draw bag to bag two 20lb fish. Other competitive events included the British Carp Angling Championships qualifiers in which the current team captain, CT Mark Jarvis and FS Tug Wilson weighed in an impressive 213lb to win the event, no mean feat against some of the countries’ top carp anglers.

SPONSORSHIP NEWS

9. A highlight of the season was the securing of a major sponsorship deal with Fox international, one of the biggest and up and coming tackle manufacturers in the UK. This has been all the more valuable in that they have agreed to sponsor not only the Match squad but also the Carp Match squad. After almost a year of their support, the partnership is going extremely well, with numerous RAF write-ups and results in the national press publicising the Fox brand and excellent support from Fox. We look forward to developing this relationship further over the next few years.

A S CORBETT
Gp Capt
Chairman RAFCAA (Coarse)