Bernie Maher - National Fly Fishing Champion 2004
Sitting at my desk checking the website, I decided to chase up some of the local fisheries for their latest news and results. My first call was to Bernie Maher, left, over at Press Manor Fisheries at Wingerworth, he always needs a little encouragement to get copy in on time... the conversation went something like this:

Morning Bernie, it's Kev Miles at AnglersTimes - got any news for me, how's it fishing, anything happening, what's new?
Hi Kev, yeah, thanks for calling, yeah it's doing ok, a 29 came out of the carp lake recently - oh I won the National Fly Fishing Championships last week.

WHAT?

Yeah... I won the National Fly Fishing Championships at Bewl last week.
It's not very often people say that to me when I phone them, so I quickly organised a visit for the very next day to learn more from our new National Fly Fishing Champion.

Driving out of Chesterfield onto the Matlock Road, I really was a happy bunnie, the sun was starting to show, it wasn't raining (for a change) and I had put a fly rod in the back of my car - just in case - yes, it promised to be a good day.

Turning left off the main road and dropping down towards the fishery, the valley was cloaked in autumnal mist, the kind of mist that makes for brilliant atmospheric photos - somebody up there likes me - I thought. A right-hander at the bottom of the dip and I was in the car park, I grabbed the camera hoping to capture the early morning sun rising over Bernie's trout lake.

As I dashed down to the waters' edge I disturbed a heron - I'll rephrase that - it scared the life out of me! It took off, literally a yard from where I was stood - they are big when you get that close!
Undaunted, I managed to snap a few pics - they never turn out as good as the real thing though, do they? I put it down to the processors (!).

Time to put the wellies on, I thought, and headed back to the car park - just as another car pulled in. A good opportunity to get some inside information here - so I wandered over and started chatting.

The guy turned out to be John Prentice, a regular at Press Manor and what's more - a celebrity to boot! John's a folk musician and was recently in the pages of the Derbyshire Times - it's a small world.

Chatting to John as he tackled up, he explained how much he enjoyed fishing at Press Manor, his biggest fish so far was an impressive 6lb 8oz rainbow and his favourite method was to use buzzers and emergers on a floating line, switching to lures and fry patterns early and late in the season, I must admit I could have chatted all morning but we were disturbed when Bernie drove his 4x4 into the car park.

With a quick wave, John - eager to get fishing (any probably to get away from me) - strode off towards the dam end of the lake as Bernie opened up the caravan and put the kettle on.

Sitting on the wooden bench in front of the lake, in brilliant sunshine, a cup of tea in my hand - I had to ask - 'How'd you manage it then Bernie? - come on, tell me the full story.'

Now the expression 'dog with two tails' springs to mind, as Bernie started to explain just how he had managed to win such a prestigious title.

He went on to explain, it all started back in April with the regional eliminators held at Gratham. Out of 100 anglers, Bernie came in the top 30, which was averaged out with the results from the next match held at Rutland in May. This time Bernie came 14th, which meant he progressed into the next match - the Midlands Final - again at Rutland. Out of 66 anglers in the Midlands final, Bernie came 8th and so progressed to the National Final held at Bewl Reservoir on 25th September 2004.

So there he was - at The Confederation of English Fly Fishers 2004 National Final, along with 99 of Britain's best fly-fishers, all competing for the coveted trophy, and he admitted to me 'that was good enough for me - never mind anything else.'

Bernie explained to me how the final went, saying he had just three days practice at Bewl but was feeling pretty confident with his game plan as he tied up the flies the night before the event.

On the big day, with his boat partner Richard Houghton from the North West, Bernie put his plan into action and started the session with a slow sinking line, pulling orange and black blobs through the surface layers. He admits he wasn't disheartened when Richard landed a rainbow first cast!

Sticking to his plan, it took half an hour before Bernie finally managed to land a fish and then - much to Richards' amusement - immediately changed to nymphs!

Using a Daiwl Bach, Silver Invicta and GRHE, Bernie caught fish steadily throughout the morning, at 1pm he had nine trout to his credit, having only lost one fish. Richard hadn't fared quite so well with four fish, so they decided to move and at precisely 2.58pm Bernie managed to land his 10th fish and bag limit. Richard fished on and landed one more trout to bring his total to five fish.
Under the competition rules, a time bonus is added for anglers who catch their limit early, so Bernie qualified for an extra 3lb

The results are as follows1st Bernie Maher (Midlands) with 21lb
2nd Mark Miles (South West) 19lb 14oz
3rd Nick Halstead (Yorks) 19lb 10.5oz
4th Phil Dixon (Trent) 19lb 4oz
5th John Horsey (South West) 19lb 1oz

There were 487 trout caught, giving a total weight of 893lb 5oz. - the rod average being 4.87. The biggest fish landed during the event went to Mark Miles (no relation) with a cracking fish of 5lb 4.5oz. And there you have it - a close competition with just a couple of pounds difference between 1st and 5th place.

Bernie added: 'I must admit I'm a happy man - just to get to the final was good - but to win it - that's something else!' But level-headed as ever, he concluded: 'It's a great feeling - but I won't let it go to my head, I've got my feet firmly on the ground... fancy another cup of tea?'

Bernie who is a APGAI instructor and a guide on the River Wye at Haddon Estates can be contacted on 07976 306073 or visist www.pressmanorfishery.inuk.com