awwaffic 2004
“What a Difference: awwaffic 2004 makes a lasting difference to almost a thousand people in the developing world”
Some of the winners at awwaffic 2004. Second place team Lincoln Telemetry (Right to Left), Brian Lumb, Andy Daubney, Caroline Norledge, Matt Dytham and individual beginner trophy winner Amanda Smith with awwaffic organiser Chris Evans (far left) and WaterAid Fundraising Manager for Midlands and East region, Fiona Blake (front).
Back in April’s edition of Trout Fisherman you may have read the feature on the Anglian Water WaterAid Fly Fishing Challenge (awwaffic) where the awwaffic organisers were encouraging you to take part in this high profile charity fundraising event.
Well many of you did and the 25th June saw over 120 fly fishers, experienced and novice, from all over the UK arriving at Rutland Water to take part in a record year for the event. The total sum raised by fly fishers, sponsors and contributors this year was £14,033, a fantastic increase on last years £7,790. This will provide over 900 people in the developing world with a safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene education for life.
One of the objectives of awwaffic over the last two years has been to encourage new blood in the sport and with novice and first time fly fishers making up nearly 50% of the entrants this year it seems that the event is set to continue to bring new rods to our still waters and rivers into the future. Local Fly Fishing Club “Rutland Water Fly Fishers” supported the event by sending around 25 members, including many of the top stillwater fly anglers in the UK, to give expert tuition in both casting and boat fishing to the beginners and1st time anglers.
The fishing was quite tough on the day but the 30 teams managed to catch 88 trout weighing over 181 lbs with rod average of 0.7, reflecting how difficult the fishing had been with the high winds over the preceding weeks. Having said that there were some good bags of fish caught including winning novice, Amanda Smith of team Lincoln Telemetry with 8 fish for 16 lb 8oz. Martin Kay of team Halcrow won the Largest Fish Trophy (experienced angler) with a fantastic Rutland Brown weighing 6lb 10oz.
Winning Team from Barhale Construction (left to
right), Rudi Smit, Steve Patrick and Instructor Luke Shevlin.
The match results were;
Team results;
1st Barhale with 10 fish
for 22 lb, 2nd Lincoln Telemetry 11 fish for 21lb 12oz, 3rd
Scottish Water with 9 fish for 17lb.
Individual results (experienced);
1st Martin Kay with 3
fish for 10lb 5oz, 2nd
Raymond Smith with 5 fish for 10lb 2oz,
3rd David Chappell with 3 fish for 6lb 3oz, Largest Fish caught by Martin Kay 6lb 10oz brown trout.
Individual results (novice);
1st Amanda Smith with 8
fish for 16lb and 8oz, 2nd
Rudi Smit with 5 fish for 11lb 11oz, 3rd Steve Patrick with 4 fish
for 8lb 7oz. The Largest Fish was caught by Rudi Smit and
weighed 3 lb 5oz.
The day was rounded off with an excellent meal and presentation at the Waterside Café Bar, where Mr Mike Martin, Director of Anglian Water Technology Group, presented the winners trophies. There was also a chance to pick up a great bargain at the raffle and auction with the retail value of the prizes/lots on offer totalling over £2000.
The organisers, Chris Evans and Paul Dimbleby, have received very positive feed back from this years competitors and would like to say a big thank you to all who made the day possible. Chris said “The event has grown tremendously this year and we hope next year it will grow even more. We are already looking at ways of improving the day and maximising its fundraising potential so that we can support WaterAid and help even more people in the developing world in years to come.”
Next years event will be held at Rutland Water on the 24th June 2005 and anyone interested in entering a team or sponsoring the event can email Chris Evans on cevans@anglianwater.co.uk. Team entries cost £250 for teams of 2 and £350 for teams of 4. There is also the web site which can be found at either www.awwaffic.org or through the WaterAid Web site www.wateraid.org where you will find lots more information.
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