An FFI team of 19 strong, including 10 MCI's and 5 THCI's, ran a booth, provided free instruction all day and put on 15 demonstrations at the inaugural London Fly Fishing Fair("LFFF") on March 10-11, 2017 in the spectacular setting of the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.
The LFFF is the brainchild of the visionary father and son team of entrepreneurs John and Fergus Kelley. It is the only major UK fly fishing fair to be held in Western Europe's largest city.
The FFI demonstrations at the Fair were:
Power - Brian McGlashan
Roll Casting - Bryan Martin
Tip Path-On the Straight and Narrow - Phil Ratcliffe
Two Handin' it - Ally Bremner, Phil Ratcliffe, Chris Hague
Saltwater Casting - Chris Hague, Sekhar Bahadur
Single Handed Spey Casting - Christopher Rownes
Switch Rods - Christopher Rownes
When the Wind Blows - Paul Brown
On Sunday March 12, the day after the Fair, the team held an IFFF Instructors' Day at Sportfish in Reading, England, about a 45 minute drive west of London. Around 30 people attended.
The day started with 5 short workshops and then the participants fortified themselves with bacon sandwiches expertly grilled by Rob Doyle, APGAI before open casting and mentoring sessions in the afternoon.
The workshops were:
Presenting with Impact - Phil Ratcliffe
Distance Casting - James Evans and Tracy Thomas, British Fly Casting Club
Skagit Casting - Alun Rees
The Five Essentials Over Time - Sekhar Bahadur
Who Am I? A Two Handed Game of Charades - Ally Bremner
Photographs by Paul Brown, MCI, pictured below.
Sekhar Bahadur, MCI on the casting pool with LFFF Ambassador Marina Gibson. Marina was one of many ladies of all ages at the Fair!
Bryan Martin, MCI, THCI, CBOG doing his demo on roll casting
Two of the travellers, Christopher Rownes, MCI from Switzerland (L) and Brian McGlashan, MCI, THCI, CBOG from Scotland (R)
The legendary author, artist, fisherman, casting instructor and FFI Ambassador Award winner Charles Jardine doing his trademark barefoot wade in the casting pool demo
A treasured memento of the Fair
LFFF founder John Kelley (front) at the IFFF booth with (L-R) Mike Heritage, MCI, Brian McGlashan, Phil Ratcliffe MCI, THCI, Chris Hague, MCI, THCI, Bryan Martin, Sekhar Bahadur, Bob Goble, GAIA, and Keith Jones, IFFF, with fishing notables Marina Gibson and Matt Hayes flanking Roger Miles, MCI.
Alun Rees MCI, THCI giving an Instructors' Day Workshop on Skagit style casting.
World distance championship finalist James Evans and 2016 ladies 5 wt distance world bronze medalist Tracy Thomas (to the left behind James) of the British Fly Casting Club wow the Instructors' Day crowd with their workshop on distance casting.
The FFI team for the LFFF
Alex Adams, CI
Alex Titov, AAPGAI
Ally Bremner, THCI
Bernie Ratcliffe, GAIA
Bob Goble, GAIA
Brian McGlashan, MCI, THCI, CBOG
Bryan Martin, MCI, THCI, CBOG
Chris Hague, MCI, THCI
Chris Rownes, MCI
Dominic Hewitt, GAIA
Ian Pople, GAIA
Keith Jones, IFFF
Mark Surtees, MCI
Mike Heritage, MCI
Paul Brown, MCI
Phil Ratcliffe, MCI, THCI
Roger Miles, MCI
Sekhar Bahadur, MCI
Steve Yeoman, CI