Needless to say I have spent the last few months preparing for the off.
The emphasis on preparation and readiness is paramount to a successful championship, gleaning as much information from anyone who had insight in fishing these unfamiliar waters.
My Kitchen became a cross between a tackle shop and soup Kitchen as I struggled making 17 lunches and dinners for the freezer so Bill wouldn’t starve and tying rigs, stop knots and hook lengths till they came out my ears.
Pauline Ferry arrived 3 day’s before we were to leave, she had been my inspiration for many years and we became the best of friends when I joined the team in 2002, always larking around and having laughs a minute, acting our age certainly does not apply to us.
We were to travel to Gatwick on Sat 3rd Oct for a night at the Ramada hotel before joining the team on Sun for flights to Dubrovnik.
Beamer packed to the hilt, all the preparation and readiness could not prepare me for the car crash I had 3 miles from home (1st in 30 yrs), no one hurt, we laughingly limped home to Bill’s astonishment, (he had just sent Pauline a text saying he was bored and missing us, now he had to put my car back together).
Luckily we did have a spare number plate but after making numerous phone calls I could not get a replacement windscreen that the Rod Tubes had cracked as they flew forward, Bill said ‘it wouldn’t stop him from driving it’ and I wasn’t going to be a wimp so off on our merry way we went, in gratefulness to sticky back plaster.
We arrived safely, at the too posh for us, Ramada Hotel, meals were very expensive, ( £20 for small burgher an fries) and Pauline ordered one meal between us I was mortified as we sat there sharing, but then when I ordered 2 drinks for over £9, I told her to ‘make it last’.
We joined our team mates, Sheryl, Adele, Avril, Janet (reserve) and manager Stuart next day and arrived in Dubrovnik in darkness were a much too small transfer bus was waiting to take us across the border into Montenegro and are final destination Budva, with legs wrapped round our necks as we travelled 2hrs along the coastline you could tell even in darkness that the country was of outstanding natural beauty, and when viewed in daylight I was not wrong.
We arrived at our hotel 11.30pm, unpacked our gear in our small basic rooms which would become are homes for the next 2wks.
Not being ones to waste time we were up on out practising on Slovenska Beach 1 of the 4 beaches we would fish during the championships, This became our pattern, getting up at 5am and fishing in turn the various beaches for 6 -7hrs per day for 6 day’s then afterwards honing are skill’s accordingly ready for the next day.
This 1st week we had glorious weather which gave us the conditions to snorkel the beaches, accessing the sea bed and were the fish where feeding.
The fish we were targeting were Mediterranean Breams, Wrasse, Garfish, Mullet, Comber, Weaver, Mormyrus, Weaver & Dorado using Mussel, Shrimp and Squid.
The superb weather had its down falls in the form of WASP’S, I’ve never seen so many, attracted by the bait it was like sitting on a nest, and lost count of the times we all got stung, but you had to carry on as if they were not there, you can’t be skittish when trying to win.
The opening ceremony took place on Sun afternoon which left Sat eve and Sun morning free to refine are rigs and sort are equipment ready for 1st match 9am Mon morning and the following 4 consecutive matches. Sat night and Sunday became very wet, Thunder and lightening filled the skies all night and day, but the parade went ahead with the band playing, as we marched through to the old town of Budva during a lull in the rain. We filled the town square as they welcomed 14 countries individually playing their national anthems, such a proud moment that brings a tear to the eye, we then had drinks and nibbles and legged it back to our rooms before the rain started.
The weather continued through the night, but Mon morning saw us at 7am on Jaz beach waiting for the officials to peg the zones. Whilst waiting in the car park the wind was so bad we witnessed a 60ft tree topple over, now that was scary and knew by 8am something was amiss when no one else was daft enough to turn up. We found out on are return that the match had been cancelled, what a shame, I thought with an off shore blow the beach was very fishable and more to our favour with possibly the continental teams struggling.
Pauline with the best fish in practice, I wouldnt of gone swimming if I had Known They were that big.
Tues with the weather improved saw the first of 5 day’s hard fishing, we were using anything from 0.12 – 0.18 hook lengths on 2 - 5mtr bodies, especially when the men’s matches preceded ours on the same beaches, cleaning out many of the resident species, we knew it would not be as easy as practice week.
The 1st of the championship matches was held at Slovenska in front of the hotel. This match is an official practice match and the scores don’t count, it is only a trial so any hiccups can be ironed out. Catching the most fish during the previous week made this beach my favourite, and I really felt at home here. I wanted to catch a few fish this day for moral, but also give nothing away to other competitors. I decided to fish the beach as if I was back home, throwing away all we had learnt the previous week out the window I starting fishing with rigs I thought would be too heavy, but no I got back fish, so I slowly, kept trying different types of rigs that I hoped wouldn’t be right, but still more fish, and without trying won my zone which is something I would have rather kept for later a later date.
Day 1, Sveti Stefan. 1st match of the championships, rocky in parts going to sand. I was happy when I was pegged on a stretch I had pre fished but disappointed that the fish had become elusive to me. I could see fish being caught but not by me. Being the weakest caster in the team I did not appear to be reaching the fish but then people were casting 30 – 40yds and bringing back fish, their seemed to be no pattern. It’s so hard to watch others catch when you don’t. Nevertheless I plodded on gutted but not letting it phase me, I’ve learnt over the years not to panic, this just leads to mistakes being made. I finished up 5th in section, still less than half way, things could have been worse.
When the results came through we were 6th on the day
Day 2, Jaz beach, we knew would be the scratchiest of all the beaches, rocky for the most part but then putting zones D &E onto sand, during our practice week we decided to fish it 3 times, as this beach we would fish twice during the Championship and the men once, but during the championship the fish became even more elusive, nothing was happening, I tried everything I could, still nothing. I knew weavers should be about if nothing else, During our practice the parts of the beach had features, here there was nothing just sand, so disregarding everything I knew should work, decided to go back to basics, Bingo, first cast 1 Weaver, I could of kissed the spiky *******, the Croatian girl besides me (who slaughtered me on day one), had 2 fish and was winning my zone, so I was flat out again playing catch up, I ended up with 3 Weavers to win my zone on rigs I would use back home, but that’s fishing , and being ready for the unpredictable.
Finding out later that Pauline, Sherryl and I had section wins and Avril had a third it gave us a day win and we were in silver position, the camp couldn’t be happier.
Day 3, Becici beach. 3 saw me on peg B2 and from the off on the second cast 3pegs to my left someone caught a good size fish; it leaves you a bit deflated as most of the fish were small. Then 4 pegs to my left I noticed someone pulling one fish in after another, there was nothing being caught around me. We don’t get to know the type of fish being caught which does not help, only amount. I strained to see the type of rig she was using and could see it was very short, I put one together, so off the mark to what we had practiced with, and started catching. Knowing I had quite a bit of catching up to do I worked flat out, not having a bonus fish I finished up second in section, that was better.
Later when results came through Sherryl had a day win, Pauline and Adele had section wins and I was second which gave the team another day win, which put us in Gold position, the camp was ecstatic. We now had our work cut out.
By the time we got back to the hotel every day, it would at least 2.15pm, we would rush for something to eat then have a team meeting to plan our tactics for the next day. Turf out the tackle box, trash rigs and get next batch ready, Reline reels tie more hook lengths the list goes on, and then when all was done about 7.30 you may just have been lucky to get warm water for a shower, ready for evening meal and bed at ten.
Day 4, Slavenska Plaza. This match was to be held at Jaz, but it was altered the evening before? Rocky and sandy in parts, I was on peg D2 and all the action seemed to be coming from the Croatian girl around D7, I cast the distance she was casting but got nothing, I tried everything, you can imagine the feeling of hopelessness, Team Gold slipping from our fingers because I couldn’t catch a fish. How I prayed, It worked though, I got 1 fish then 2 and that was my lot.
The girl to my left had blanked and 3 to my right had too, so I was grateful for my 2 small fishies.
We all came off the beach deflated not sure who had what, we tried to figure it out, but we would know soon enough.
Sherryl had a 4rd in section, myself 7th, Avril and Adele both had 8ths
It was a long couple of hrs waiting for those results, and when they arrived , yes we were disappointed to learn we had lost The Gold, but ecstatic to find we had held on to Silver, our 1st medal fishing in these type of waters.
An Hour later saw us scurrying for the presentation.
I was really proud to have that Team silver medal placed around my neck and proud of my fellow team mates who helped put it there, and the tears rolled down my cheek as I listened to the national anthem.
Sherryl had also won individual Silver, we were thrilled for her, she was Sherryl had worked hard for the team and had got her just rewards. Well done.
We had all worked so hard, we were a true team that pulled together. We got to the beaches an hr before any one else, so we were prepared and ready, no one complained at fishing 11days out of 13 and the hrs of work we put in. As a team we worked and figured out how to fish those beaches ourselves, without outside interference and it worked. Some of us had good day’s other’s bad, but we all put in 100% effort in and that's all you can ask of anyone
TEAM RESULTS,
1st, Croatia 10pts,
2nd, England 16pts
3rd, Portugal 19pts
4th, Italy 21pts.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
2nd, Sherryl Bellfield
8th, Heather lindfield
17th, Pauline Ferry
27th, Avril Withyman
30th, Adele Smith
Superb Report. You will have to show Bill how it's done 