Seasons Greetings

Our last fish-in saw 12 anglers on the river Thames at Wolvercote, with the level so low the fishing proved very slow going with just one pike being caught, 6lb and falling to assistant RO Mark Tyrtania, successful tactic was arrive an hour late, chuck out a herring, go to sleep on the bank, wake up and catch a fish. Easy!

It was good to see a couple of new faces and friendships made and despite the slow fishing and early morning rowers I believe everyone enjoyed the day.

On to the latest events info:

Charity Fish-In
Charity fish-in at Barford, Warwickshire Avon on Sunday 4th March 2012. The current idea is that we are taking on the Shakespeare and Birmingham Regions. Pike and Predator Magazine have kindly agreed to sponsor this event and have donated a year’s subscription and two books as prizes, but the real object of the day is to help two very worthy cancer charities – Cancer Research and the MacMillan Nurses. There would be a charge of £15 to fish; of this £3.00 would go to the Barford Club and the remainder would be divided equally between the two charities. We hope for a really good turnout, to give the charities a generous donation. There are approximately 50 pegs available and it is planned to have a pint in the Joseph Arch pub in Barford afterwards where food will be available. The event will be covered in Pike & Predators magazine. I really hope we can get a good number of our lads taking part in this event. Please let me know by Sunday, 15th January 2012 if you would like to take part, we may then open this up to other regions.

Orchid Lake Fish-In
There is only a couple of places left for this exclusive event which takes place on Monday 30th January 2012. The lake is 17.5 acres and owner Marsh Pratley does not allow pike fishing at this renowned carp water although it is known to contain a good number of pike up to specimen sizes. Many people have asked to pike fish this water, the answer usually being a No so this really is a great opportunity. £20 for 3 rods, full details from myself, if you wish to attend please book with myself by Friday 6th January 2012.

Dates For Your Diary
Thur 26 Jan 12 - Meeting (guest speaker is Neville Fickling – Big Pike)
Mon 30 Jan 12 – Fish-In (Orchid Lake)
Sun 19 Feb 12 - Fish-In (Blenheim Palace)
Sun 04 Mar 12 - Charity Fish-In verses Shakespeare & Birmingham regions (Warks Avon)
Thur 19 Apr 12 - Meeting (guest speaker TBC & trophy night)

Trophies Season 2011-12 (current standings)
Biggest Stillwater pike = 21lb 12oz (Mick Woods)
Biggest river pike = 25lb 6oz (Eamonn Deeley)
Veterans trophy (over 60) = 18lb 4oz (Tony Hallatt)
Junior Trophy (under 18) = 3lb 11oz (Jacob Orton)

To receive a trophy at the end of the season an individual must have attended at least 2 regional events (meetings / fish-ins). Please report catches to me or Mark Tyrtania, obviously venue details are not required but a photo would be good for the regional gallery.


Finally thanks for all your support during 2011 and let’s hope the region can go from strength to strength next year. Wishing you all very Merry Xmas and a Healthy New Year.

See you all on Thursday 26th January 2012 for our next meeting when piking legend Neville Fickling is our guest speaker.

Tight Lines

Vince Williams
Email. Vince.williams@royalairforcefa.com