Tracy&James | Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Our case finally turned up from the airport towards the latter end of last week; how they'd managed to 'lose' a 6 foot tube with 'Bazuka' written on the side of it, which had been especially checked in as oversize luggage, is beyond me. What made the situation worse was that the EasyJet logistics rep absolutely guaranteed that the case hadn't been loaded in Jersey as he'd spoken to the baggage handlers and they'd have remembered such a distinctive load coming on the aircraft. This turned out to be a complete lie, he hadn't checked at all – he probably popped outside for a few puffs of his vape and then came back in and made it all up. Many thanks to Laura (not that she'll be reading this – but maybe someone who knows her will be) who went to Jersey airport to try and find the rods. After being given the run around for a bit she eventually found out that the case was on the plane and must be in Liverpool somewhere, unfortunately at this time Tracy and I were back in Wales.
I was particularly upset about losing the case because I'd thought long and hard about taking my own 'unique' casting gear or just relying on the BFCC club outfits. Given the forecast was for a decent breeze, I decided that I wanted to cast my own gear that I routinely practice with. As such, my S55 rod (made from a blank that is no longer available, and a previous holder of the BFCC record), my ST27 rod (a custom made AtomSix) and my T38 rod all went in with the club rods. The club T120 is also fairly unique, being made by Mike Marshall from a couple of sections of stiff carp rod, combined with a level section of carbon fibre tube at the butt end. Losing the T120 would have been bad enough, with no alternative available for the last event of the year in October, but losing so much of my own gear would have been a massive blow. It was a stressful wait.
Casting wise my event got off to a shocker, with my worst accuracy score for years – perhaps ever. I'm still lacking control due to my injury and struggled to control things in the wind. I also noted to myself that I tend to practice accuracy when I think distance would be frustrating, i.e. on sticky, flat calm days and perhaps this played a part. I therefore decided to put some more practice in on the tougher days. The first distance event, the T120, didn't go as well as I expected either. This competition had to be re-started as the wind shifted by almost 90 degrees after the first set of casters had finished. After the tapes were re-orientated I cast again and ended up 10ft behind the distance that I'd set in the other direction. It was also the case that I cast the S55 further than the T120, which really shouldn't happen, so I knew I'd under-performed irrespective of the lost 10ft. I also managed to cast the ST27 further than the T38, which again, when considering 'mass is king' when it comes to distance, is unusual. I did actually set a new BFCC record with the ST27, so perhaps this is explained by casting the lighter outfit better than expected.
My best events of the day were the #5, the ST27 and the S55. Interestingly in all three of these events it was my first, relaxed 'banker' cast that went the furthest. For the rest of each of the sessions I thrashed away, desperately trying to get close to the initial cast, whilst the marker got increasingly bored from inactivity (the BFCC only requires the longest cast to be measured). Anyway these 'banker' casts produced a grand slam in terms of the ISCF recognised events; 40m plus with a #5, 50m plus with a ST27 and 60m plus with the S55.
The last BFCC event of the year – at Brentwood, Essex on 4th Oct - is again going to be a shoot-out for the championship, as it was last year. As such, anyone attending has the opportunity to get their name etched permanently on the trophy – just perform well enough across the 7 events and fame and fortune awaits (I'll buy the winner a pint in the bar for starters). The top casters from Jersey will be attending as well as potentially some other international competitors. Of course the usual full day of top quality tuition will also be available for those who want to improve their fishing cast. Hopefully the weather gods will be kind to us.
Hope you're having a great week,
James