Am I the only angler in the South of England who isn't aware of local matches (I'm based in Basingstoke)? Or are there none? Perhaps they're so good, those in the know want to keep them secret.

Time for a change!!!

If there is anybody in the South who is interested in getting together, forming a club with the intention of organising some local friendly matches, maybe some seasonal leagues and who knows developing a few teams to enter in the Airflo's and Lexus's of the future ..... great!

If the Iain Barr's and Leigh Pond's of this world are reading this, I wish you the very best in the future ....... there might be some new kids on the block soon. Still, you're welcome to join, we might find a place for you on the team.

The only conditions for joining are:
1) It's for fun first
2) Any standard is welcome
3) If you wan't to join, try and bring a friend along for one of the fish ins (preferably somebody new to the sport).
4) So long as fishery rules permit, we will welcome allcomers from Bamboo to Blobs, from Invictas to Indicators and all points in between (remember point 1)

If you are interested, please drop me a line and we might even still have enough time to organise the clubs first Christmas Party.

__________________
Knowledge is knowing tomatoes are fruits ........
Intelligence is not putting them in a fruit-salad!

You are right there is a dearth of Competition Anglers in the South. The Entries in the Airflo Classic for the las couple of years tend to bear this out.

However it is not all that bleak. The Federation of English Fly fishers Southern Region (FEFFSR) covers the South and runs Social competitions/ Social Fishing as well as qualifiers to the National Competitions.

They are one of the Fedeartions of the CEFF and details can be found on www.ceff.org.uk

John Ball is the Secretay and mey be worth contacting.

Hi Egnot

Thanks for that. Every time I remember CEFF and the Airflo eliminators, I've always missed the local events by a few weeks.

Even worse, one of the heats was at Haywards Farm this year (probably my closest water). The problem is I never saw any advertising for it.

I spoke with John Ball and he said that Airflo missed it out of their catalogues this year, but gave me Richards number.

There lies the next problem. I've left messages for Richard but had no reply (Richard, if you're reading this, your answerphone light is blinking).

I'll keep trying though, they do seem to be doing good work.

Anyway, thanks for the tip and the reply (never sure if the threads get read or just quickly scanned).

Gav

__________________
Knowledge is knowing tomatoes are fruits ........
Intelligence is not putting them in a fruit-salad!

Hey egnot, Thanks again.

Not sure if you spoke with John Ball directly, but he called me today.

What a really nice guy.

Waiting for my Southern Fed paperwork to come through the post.

__________________
Knowledge is knowing tomatoes are fruits ........
Intelligence is not putting them in a fruit-salad!

That's great news, always happy to help.

Egnot.