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Post by flashyal on Apr 20, 2008 15:45:54 GMT -1
Hi TT, Are you competing in the European Championship in Spain. They're coming up shortly (12-18 May). www.europeanflyfishing2008.com/scripts/en/bienvenido.phpIt looks like there will be 4 river beats and only the one lake beat which will definitely suit the better river anglers. I don't know what the fishing is like there but from the pictures of the beats on the website the rivers look very low and dry . Its up in the mountains though so there should be plenty of good runs.I'd day it'll suit the French with their style of fishing. So TT are you entering. Best of luck if you are.
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Post by Teifi Terrorist on Apr 20, 2008 19:19:50 GMT -1
So TT are you entering. Best of luck if you are. Qualified for the World and European this year Flashyal, but sadly couldn't make the World due to being in Argentina/Chile and at the time of competing there was uncertainty regarding a Welsh team for the European champs. As such, stepped out of that one too. Looks like nice water though, hopefully it will be a good comp. Totally agree with your comment, the French should do really well, as should the Italians - I doubt the Czechs or Poles will be far behind either.... TT.
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Post by salarex on Apr 22, 2008 9:05:04 GMT -1
Heard that the Czechs and Poles actually have semi-professional or even professional teams that fish in leagues - which would explain why they are so good and why they tend to win these!
Can anyone confirm this or have any further information on their fishing leagues?
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Post by Teifi Terrorist on Apr 22, 2008 10:25:01 GMT -1
Not sure to be honest Rex. However, I have been fortunate enough to fish with a gent in Poland that has been European Champion a few times, and a gent from Belgium who has also been European Champion. I wouldn't have said that their tactics differ greatly from ours, or from tactics that we can learn and adopt. However, the way they fish the river and their 'mentality' certainly does give them the edge. From fishing with these 2 gents I could see that they were highly competitive, even on 'fun' days, finding it difficult to disassociate the competition mentality from any fishing day. They had a hunger to catch fish, and lots of fish, whereas most of us would be happy plodding around and scrapping a few here and there. They also knew when to change and what to change to, they are thinking people, not letting monotony take hold. The French, Belgians, Spanish and Italians usually do very well on rivers that receive high fishing pressure and where the daily catch maybe a handful of fish. They are very use to crystal clear rivers and targeting individual fish. The Czech's and the Poles do very well on quantity, especially if the rivers are quicker and more 'pocketed'. However, they are very versatile and adopt to most situations. These may be slight generalisations, but the caps do fit. Why can't we keep up with them at present? firstly, because of the funding (not sure how the funding structures are in the aforementioned countries, but they can't be worse than the Welsh system) - the funding structure (a very sore subject within the Welsh scene) varies greatly between nations. As such, you often find the best anglers not being able to afford to represent or compete on the World scene where little or no backing is given. It does cost a small fortune - when I represented Wales you even had to purchase your own badge to show that you were in the Welsh team, and that you had represented your country. Secondly, it seems that the competition scene in the UK spends more time bit.ch.ing and back-stabbing than sharing information and evolving - with this being evident on a local and team basis too. Sad, but true. Little progress can be made in the current climate. We do have a strong competition scene in the UK, however, it does tend to be moreso on the reservoirs than the rivers - hence the reason why most nations look to us for reservoir tactics etc. and why the home nations usually do very well on these 'legs' of the competitions. Further to that, a plethora of competitions exist on the reservoir scene, with very few on the rivers. The competition scene helps evolve and develop tactics, and also helps develop the breed of competition anglers required within this field. Times may change, but until the funding issue and the politics gets sorted I wouldn't expect any strong performances from Wales on the rivers scene.... I think the situation is slightly different in England, who have been putting in some strong performances - e.g. John Horsey came 4th overall in this year's World Champs. Team results: www.2008worldflyfishingchamps.com/userfiles/File/Finalteam.pdfIndividuals: www.2008worldflyfishingchamps.com/userfiles/File/Final_Ind.pdfTT.
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Post by flashyal on Apr 22, 2008 17:10:28 GMT -1
Hi Salarex,
The Czechs I know are near enough full time professionals. They're funded pretty much and fish the rivers every day right throughout the season trying out different tactics.
The competition scene there is run on a league basis so consistency rules. They have a National Championship, but even winning that does not guarantee you a place on the National Team. The fairest way for everyone, as if you get a stinker of a draw no matter how good an angler you are if the fish are not there you ain't going to catch.
On the league basis you can afford to have one or two bad results and the cream always comes to the top over the series. Being in competition with each other so often during the season no wonder they're so good.
FA
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Post by flashyal on Apr 22, 2008 17:34:35 GMT -1
Here's an interview with Lance Egan, one of the USA Anglers who competed in the World Championship in New Zealand and what he has to say about Competition Fishing and the Czechs. flyfishing.about.com/od/flyfishingbasic1/a/Lance_Egan.htmBasically, fishing competitively so often improves the angler immensively. FA
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Post by salarex on Apr 23, 2008 9:47:02 GMT -1
Very interesting stuff - thanks for the links.
Going with my boy to Czech Republic to fish some competitions in September - really looking forward to that and you guys are forewarning me to expect to learn LOTS!!!
I don't intend to compete myself - that would just be embarassing ;D but want to do some fishing!
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