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Federation of Welsh Anglers.

Supported by the Sports Council for Wales and the Environment Agency.

Game Angling.

If your passion is game angling, then Wales is for you. It has a wealth of rivers and lakes in a variety of stunning scenarios, choosing where to fish is often more difficult than actually catching your fish.

Welsh rivers account for more than half the sea trout caught in England and Wales, couple this with the number of large seatrout caught every year and the availability of fishing, it makes for a very special destination.

Wild brown trout are abundant, whether you fish the famous rivers or intimate brooks; the stunning lowland lakes or the majestic highland lakes, the challenge is the same. These trout are truly wild and the angler must use all his skill to catch them.

The reservoirs of Wales are set in such scenery that you would be forgiven for thinking they had always existed, these, together with small fisheries of quality; provides the angler with plenty of choice.
Wales has always had quality grayling fishing, but the choice of rivers is now expanding, the rivers of South Wales are gaining a high reputation for the quality of their grayling.

One thing is certain when you have fished in Wales; you will treasure the memories

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The Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championship comes to Mid-Wales On Wednesday 23rd June the market town of Rhayder hosted the Opening Ceremony for the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championship which was to be held on the lakes and rivers of mid-Wales on the following four days. Rhayader and Elan Valley AA had worked very hard to ensure it would be a memorable occasion for all and the Welsh Salmon ad Trout Angling Association is greatly indebted to them for making it such a huge success. The opening ceremony itself was held at Rhayader Leisure Centre and the hall was full to capacity. A welcoming address on behalf of the Town Council was given by the Mayor, Cllr Lee Jones followed by words of welcome from Roger Williams M.P.(Brecon and Radnor); Kirsty Williams, AM, (Leader of the Welsh Lib-Dem Party); Nick Bourne A.M (Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party)and Cllr Kevin Curry. Also present was WSTAA’s President the Lord Moran accompanied by Lady Moran. The compere for the ceremony was Moc Morgan and he and his wife Julia sang a specially composed song of welcome to the competing teams. The Rhayder Male Voice Choir had a standing ovation after singing their unique and memorable selection of songs of welcome to the teams. Jill Mandeno from New Zealand, chairman of the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Committee, thanked the residents of Rhayder and mid-Wales for their warm welcome before declaring the Championship Event open. The Teams took part in a parade around Rhayder town accompanied by members of the the Town Council, Nantmel and Brytirion schoolchildren, the Girl Guides, the Army Cadets, St John Cadets – led by the energetic and musical Rhayader Samba Band. The welcome and applause along the streets was second to none The Ceremony and the Parade had been meticulously planned and organized by Pauline and Alan Lewis, Hardware Store, and to end the evening the teams and guests enjoyed a wonderful buffet supper at the Elan Hotel, Rhayader arranged by that connoisseur of fine food and wine Trevor Jones – also of Rhayder. (Trevor also took on the huge responsibility of arranging all the travelling associated with the teams and the championship) The Fishing and the competition results There were eleven teams of five in the competition (9 all male teams and 2 all female teams) and they came from: Australia (2 teams), Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland (2), South Africa (2) and Wales (2) They fished the following fisheries in mid-Wales: the river Wye (bank), Talyllyn Lake (boat), Clywedog Reservoir (boat and bank) Craig Goch reservoir (bank) Each competitor fished the five venues – which called for subtle differences in presentation and technique – and the butterfly weather meant that our fisheries were not seen at their best though everyone enjoyed the experience of fishing the five. The Australian teams – those teams from ‘down under’ - have some superb fishing abilities and they proved themselves very difficult to beat. It was interesting to note that two lady anglers came to the fore on two occasions with Helen Philps (Scotland) in the lead after session one and Cherylee Powell from South Africa (who happened to be on her honeymoon) winning her session on Talyllyn lake. After very tight competition the Aussies came out on top beating a very able English team into second spot and the highly experienced Scottish team into third. The top rod at the championship was a young fisher from Scotland – Michael Lowe - and it seems that a Bibio on the still waters and a brown bodied fly with a Cul ‘de Cennard wing on the river were his secret weapons. The Commonwealth FF Championship’s motto is ‘Fishing in Friendship’ and this year the Friendship Trophy was won by the team of five lady anglers from South Africa. One of our own – who only came in as a substitute but proved to be a super-sub – won the Fly-tying Competition. Warmest Congratulations to Andrew Banner.- member of the Red Kite Team WSTAA is greatly indebted to the Head Controllers for giving of their time and for the efficient way in which managed the sessions on their waters. They were: Lance Burton on the Wye; Dallas Davies on Llyn Clywedog; Phil Wood om Talyllyn; John Felton on Craig Goch. A huge, huge ‘Thank You’ also to the forty-five controllers who turned up daily at the venues thereby ensuring that the competition could go ahead fairly and smoothly! Their contribution to the success of the event is really appreciated. WSTAA would also like to thank the small organizing committee that comprised of Chairman, Euros Jones; Treasurer: Mike Heckler; Eric and Dion Davies (fisheries liaison officers) for all their hard work over several months – and also Moc & Julia Morgan – secretaries of WSTAA. The next Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championship will be held in Tasmania in February 2012. *Moc & Julia Morgan*
Competitors who took part in the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Champioship in mid Wales recently.
The top Welsh Team in the competition - the Red Kites Team captained by Jamie Harries. Also in the photo (with jacket in hand) is Andrew Banner - winner of the Commonwealth Fly-tying Competition.

Gareth Dixon, the top angler, receives the Brown Bowl Award from Moc Morgan at the Chew Valley International Fly Fishing Match

Moc Morgan, President of the International Fly Fishing Association of the U.K. presents Bob Jones, captain of Wales with the Graham Munroe Hall Trophy and Captain's badge for winning the Spring International Match on Chew Valley Reservoir

SPRING INTERNATIONAL ON CHEW VALLEY LAKE - MATCH REPORT.

On Friday 15th May the Welsh National Fly Fishing Team won Gold in the first four Nations International match of the 2009 competitive season. The match was fished on the popular Chew Valley reservoir near Bristol. It was a keenly contested match with only a matter of pounds between the four competing teams when it came to the weigh-in.

From the results of the last four international matches it looks as if the Welsh Senior squad is on a roll as the team has consistently performed well winning Gold on three occasions and taking silver on the fourth – the match that somehow slipped away.

The Welsh team had put in a lot of time on Chew Fishery and this preparatory work definitely paid off. On the two official practice days the weather - despite being cold - was quite favorable - as was match day until 4.00 p.m. when strong winds and driving rain made things very unpleasant. The practice days’ results had been good for Wales and this helped to boost the team’s confidence.

At the weigh-in it quickly became apparent that the four teams were very, very close. England had caught 47 fish, Scotland and Wales were equal with 44 fish and Ireland had 37. The result of the competition is based on the weight of fish caught and the Welsh team had taken some exceptionally heavy fish. The total Welsh weight was 101.260 lbs. England’s catch weighed 99.910lbs Scotland’s 94.340lbs and Ireland 78.190lbs.

It would seem that once again Boobies and Diawl Bach were the favorite flies and floating lines were the most effective - although the Midge tip was quite useful. The quality of the fish was exceptional and a brown trout weighing 15lb 12ozs was caught on match day in the friendly ‘Officers’ Competition’.

The top rod and winner of the coveted ‘Brown Bowl’ was Gareth Dixon from Wales. He was really on fire on match day having enjoyed some exceptional practice sessions on the lake. He had discovered a fly that the Chew fish found irresistible. He had generously tied similar flies for each of his team mates but his winning bag of 9 fish weighing 19.620lbs proved that Gareth also had something special at his fingertips. As he said when presented with the trophy – ‘This is something I have always dreamed about’.

Each member of the team contributed to the team’s wonderful success - they all had fish to present at the weigh-in.

Before leaving Chew, Bob Jones (Captain) - in exuberant mood - expressed his gratitude to his team mates for all their effort and contribution. His team members were:
Gareth Dixon, Keith Cadogan, Gareth Jones, Garry Davies, Russell Owen, Richard Hooper, Craig Gimblett, Mark Barton, David Hoppe, Stephen Docherty, Craig Bowen, Aled Dixon and David Jones.

WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS, LADS, ON A GLORIOUS WIN!

The Happy Welsh Team - The Champions at the Chew Valley International Fly Fishing Championship held on 15th May 2009