Scottish National Fly Fishing League
SNFFL Don Competition
The Scottish Fly Fishing Premier League (SNFFL) competition was held on the River Don on Sunday 7 th August on the ADAA Upper & Lower Don beats of the river Don.
Most of the competitors had arrived up in Aberdeen on the Saturday to have a look at the water and put together a plan of attack, the remainder of the anglers would travel up to Aberdeen on the morning of the event.
Everything was in place, permits sorted out, water closed to our ADAA members, car park signs in place, the one thing we couldn't control was THE WEATHER . It's always the same, you plan everything just right and the weather always let you down. The Don was just settling down nicely, the colour was just about out of the water, the water height was 5” above summer level, and it was looking good.
Even on Saturday night right up until about 6pm things were looking great, that was until the weather report came on the TV, Shaun Batty you better run if you see me in Tesco's in the next day or two.
A severe depression, that's what I had on Sunday Morning when I saw the Don. It had rained cat & dog from about 10pm on Saturday night, I could hear it on my roof as I tried to get some sleep.
All of the competitors & their controllers gathered at the Aryburn car park at Lower Parkhill for 08.00 to collect their permits and pick their morning & afternoon pegs out of the hat, the two beats were broken down into 18 pegs, 9 pegs on Upper Parkhill and 9 pegs on Lower Parkhill. Once everyone had their pegs and controllers they set off to find their starting points.
The river continued to rise all day with little let-up in the weather with large rafts of river weed and debris floating past, but as you would expect from such a field of experienced anglers fish were being caught, some of the competitors had a good day and some never even saw a fish.
It was just one of those days you wanted to be over. Just before the end of the morning session I went in head first at the Goval pool, the only thing dry about me was “that's right you guessed it”
One hour for lunch was just enough time for me to get home and change, I was back on the water with 5 minutes still to go before the start of the afternoon session and the rain had stopped for a wee while, but that lasted for about 5 minutes.
There wasn't much caught in the afternoon but we had a result. See attached.
Next week will see the SNFFL First Division take to the water at Parkhill, please remember that Upper & Lower Parkhill will be closed to All ADAA members from Midnight Saturday 13 th until 6pm Sunday 14 th
current leader board here
Many thanks
Why SNFFL ?
In years gone by our Team Scotland European & World fly fishing squads were handpicked from what organisers at the time thought was the best anglers we had at the time. This was up for question as you would imagine as some anglers questioned why some angler were in the team and not them.
A group of anglers dedicated to competition angling came up with an idea of having a Scottish Fly Fishing League in which anglers would compete for their rightful place in representing Scotland in Europe and the World fly fishing competitions. From that came SNFFL (Scottish National Fly Fishing League)
The Scottish National Fly Fishing League (SNFFL) is currently divided into two leagues, Premier League and First Division; both Premier League and First Divisions comprises of 18 anglers in each. Entry to (SNFFL) will be on a first come basis and a waiting list will be drawn-up with a view to a 2 rd division and so on as demand requires.
The criteria for promotion to the Premier League from the First Division are through a points system laid out by the SANA Competitions Committee. Anglers participating in these competitions are awarded points, the competition rules replicating FIPS-Mouche International rules and scoring. The competitions are run on both rivers and Stillwater's and the venues are selected by the Competitions Committee. Both Premier League and First Division will compete at the same venues be it on different dates.
2011-2012 and 2013 the venues for FIPS-Mouche World and European Championships are primarily river based and at present are reflected in the venues for SNFFL league. SNFFL venues will change to reflect FIPS-Mouche Championships.
Promotion from the First Division to the Premier League will be results based 4 up and 4 down and by the final results in the series of competitions set out by the competitions committee. Promotion to the Premier League is awarded to the 4 highest place anglers 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th , occasionally it may be necessary to promote other anglers from the First Division (e.g. if an angler withdraws from SNFFL) to keep the Premier League to its full capacity (i.e. 18 anglers), this will be done on a pro-rata basis, based on results from the league. Any vacancy in the Premier League will be offered to the next place angler from the First Division.
The criteria for selection to the SNFFL First Division are any one of the following achievements.
• At least one World Cap
• At least one European Cap
• At least one International Cap
• Competed in a Scottish River Final in the past five years
• Competed at a Scottish Loch Final in the past five years
• 1 Youth International Cap and be over the age of 18 years old
All of the following prerequisites
• Show commitment and a willingness to improve their angling skills
• Show commitment and a willingness to attend team workshops
• Have a positive and constructive attitude towards teamwork
• Be a team player, with disregard for individual gratification
The Aberdeen & District Angling Association have two anglers representing them in the SNFFL Premier League, Kenny Riddell & Richard McHattie, Kenny Riddell with be travelling to Italy in late August 2011 as part of Team Scotland (World Squad) to take part in the World Fly Fishing Championships www.sfwc2011.it
Richard travelled to the Czech Republic earlier in the year with Team Scotland (European Squad) where they finished a very respectable 7 th overall, the best finish the European squad have had in over a decade.
Mike Cordiner is currently well placed in the SNFFL First division and should be promoted to the Premier League for 2012. Mike has been fishing for the International River Squad this year so was unable to compete for a place in the Premier League for 2011.
Anyone with any interest in SNFFL please feel free to contact Kenny Riddell dondwader@aol.com where he will be happy to assist.
Kenny will be keeping ADAA members up-to-date with how the World Squad is progressing during the SFWC in Italy in August/September.