Having been an angler since my childhood I've always enjoyed any time on the water, be that river or lake. My fly fishing started in my early teens on small waters and rivers but shortly after joining the RAF in 1983 I was introduced to competition fishing. During the late 80s and in some very good company, some of which are currently members of the club, I started fishing for the RAF Teams in the Bensons and Hardy championships, as well as the annual Inter-Services Matches. In the late 90s, I started to trial for the Welsh team and was fortunate enough to win the National on 2 occasions during a run of 14 Caps between 2001 and 2017.

After retirement in 2019 my fishing was mainly Midlands based with the RAF Greylags but I've always loved the Lake of Menteith and, after an International on Harray in 2011, I've enjoyed a few trips to Orkney. I joined the MVFFC in 2023 with a view to try and help spread the ethos and camaraderie south. Not the easiest of tasks for the committee as there are already a number of events organised, which involve Veterans from all 3 services in different teams.

Having the inaugural UK Championship at Rutland gave us this opportunity and it was also great to see the travelling contingent from Scotland brave the sun at Rutland. I was fortunate to have 2 great boat partners and also fortunate to catch a few fish over the 2 days on a very dour reservoir.

I hope that having the MVFFC 2025 UK Championship at Clywedog will see a few more members joining from South of Hadrians Wall and I also wish everyone tight lines and good health in 2025.