I have been fishing since I was a young lad, It has always been a passion of mine,

I used to go to my local Gartmorn dam fishery at the weekends & spend the full day, then through the week when I was at school if I wasn't working in the local pet shop after school or doing my milk rounds,all to save money for all my fishing equipment, l would be at our local Gartmorn dam again, where I would fish till dark & forget the time until my dad would come come up dragging me home by the ear near midnight in the summer months.

After taking a break from fishing when I joined the Army after leaving school, I didn't have as much time for it as I would have liked as it was one of the only things that actually gave me time to myself to indulge in my thoughts.

After leaving the army I would do a spot of fishing here and there in between working and raising my family, I always thought I was not to bad a fisherman, well that was until I joined the MVFF club where I learned more about Loch style fishing and friendship than I have anywhere else as it’s not all just about the fishing,

The people that I have met in this group have been the best bunch of guys I have ever met, who have helped me along the way and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be writing this just now, so I would like to say a special thank you to all the veterans in the club who gave me a warm welcome to the club when I joined two and a half years ago for all the help, support and of course all the information they have given me during that time, which has definitely worked to help me win the competition this year, so a big Thank You!! from me Guys.

Also a big thank you to Clywedog Resevior for having us and hosting such a great competition which was thoroughly enjoyed by myself & l’m sure everyone else who took part.

Best Regards

Stevie McArthur

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.