Lexus Team Final this weekend

This weekend, the 18th and 19th September, will see 21 teams of 6 anglers descend upon mighty Rutland Water near Leicester to compete for the title of 2011 Lexus Team Champions.
All the teams have qualified from their Regional Heats earlier this year and the Grand Final looks like being a cracker!

Scores of full International Anglers will be rubbing shoulders and sharing tactics with anglers fishing their first major final - where else but fly fishing can you witness such a thing?

The rules have been amended to allow Catch and Release, so only 4 fish will be killed and then unlimited catch and release using de-barbed hooks.  At this stage, boobies will still be allowed, but not double hooks.

There is no doubt that Catch and Release is the best way to ensure a true result and the only worry is that some anglers will not de-barb their hooks properly - however, a Marshalls Boat will be on the water to check flies and hooks and anyone found with a hook not properly de-barbed will have their released fish disqualified.

Due to the Catch and Release element, the need for the ever-controversial Time Bonus has been eliminated and the team catching the greater number of fish normally wins - unless of course, some of the team members decide to target the larger, grown-on trout for which Rutland Water is rightly famous - in that case, the race for the stockies could be unwise!

I am hoping for a couple of testing fishing days, where stockies do not influence the result, competitors have a choice of whether they want to target the grown-on fish, they need a multitude of methods to catch them and most important of all, everyone has a great few days, leaving with some happy memories and making some new friends.

Full report on Tuesday.