When we started to prepare the Youth World Fly Fishing Championship 2009 in Chotebor, we were afraid if there is enough water in rivers. Therefore two venues were selected on the river Chrudimka - downstream of reservoirs, another one on the Svratka River - downstream of the water reservoir Vyr and a bouldered part of the S zava in Stvoridla. The choice of the last fifth venue was not easy at all, because we wanted to organize it on waters of the organizing Fishing club in Chotebor.
Last year's dry summer the Doubravka almost drought out, and therefore we decided for an option of the Brevnick Reservoir, which is located in the suburb of the town and Doubravka was a reserve venue. The local Reservoir has about 10 hectares, but fishing from shrubbed banks would be unfair and furthermore, we were afraid that the stocked rainbow trouts might swim on open water and there would be nothing to fish. This was the reason why the competition from drifting boats was chosen.
Then there was one year of preparations, whose main person was may be the youngest International Organizer in the history of FIPS-Mou championships - Jiri Pejchar who managed sometimes impossible things and spent thousands of hours on this job. He managed to gain many volunteers from anglers, local administration, but also regional politicians and many sponsors. At the beginning I would like to say that in Chotebor has grown up the new organizer of fly-fishing competitions, from whose enthusiasm we will surely use for many years.
Our last year's worries about the development of weather and lack of water in rivers were wrong, because the Central Europe saw after a thirty-year break the summer European monsoon accompanied by heavy and a month-long lasting storms and downpours, which hit not only Czech-Moravian Highlands but all Bohemia. Due to high water, finally, we had to eliminate the venue on the S zava River in Stvoridla which turned into the dangerous Yellow River, and finally we used the Doubrava again, which was a small river again. About 1,000 kilos of nice rainbow trouts from the lake breeding facility were stocked into the reservoir, and then the first youth teams were arriving in Chotebor. Finally, there were thirteen teams and this unhappy magic number has made many troubles for Jiri, because there were never so many teams and we calculated with a maximum number of twelve teams, which have no participated so far. River practice sectors and competition venues cannot be extended easily as well as the accommodation capacity in the town and near surroundings, because there was a high number of accompanying persons.
We were quite happy that FIPS-Mou did not send the second vice-president Jurek Kowalski from Poland to this competition. He was here at the inspection before the championship and we do not understand him very well. He promotes "classic fly fishing" with a line flying in the air and therefore he would like to destroy modern nymphing techniques which do not require so much of a fly fishing line. Jurek was at the inspection before the championship and he was incredibly bitching Jirka Pejchar. He was criticizing also such things like a distance of the toilette paper from the toilette at the rest room. Especially, he wanted to push forward his proposals into the rules modifications with a permanently flying fly line, which he did not manage to push forward at the Congress in Dresden, and therefore he did not succeed with us as well. He arranged cancellation of the amendment that allows using of the micro-rings against which he is also fighting. However, we did not mind it, because there is no mention about them anywhere, and if the micro-rings are located on the leader that is above water, and then they cannot be used also for its sinking as well as for floating, but also for connection of its parts.
The delegates on behalf of the FIPS-Mouche were Mr. Borut Jerçe, who is the Chairman of the Slovenian Anglers Union and the Secretary General of the FIPS-Mou and Mr. Ilkka Pirinen from Finland, who is neither the member of the Presidential Board nor the Technical Committee. Therefore I was not sure why he was appointed for this Championship. Ilkka explained us that the FIPS-Mou President Paul Vekemans, who has known him since the World Championship of Seniors in Finland and to whom he trusted as a specialist of a secret computer drawing program FIPS-Mou, and as an expert of procedure of compilation of results. When James Fergusson was in charge, it was his job and today probably only Mario Podmanˇk, from the current officials, is able to do it. FIPS-Mou does not want to give its "secret" and never was interested why in the Czech Republic the results can be issued within 2 hours, while in other places it takes three to five times longer time. The results from the first day he calculated himself, but then he realized that our girls can do it faster and left it on them. Generally, I have to say that both delegates from FIPS-Mou have done a very good job and I cannot raise any objections against them. Mr. Borut Jerçe knew the competition rules very well and by their application he managed to solve very difficult situations which have come out from continuous French protests and objections.
The management of the French team of youth has had many troubles recently. These troubles come from the mania that the organizers want to make harm to this team. However, what has shown Jean Astier in Chotebor this year had no parallel, and sometimes I thought it was like at the EU session in Brussels at the "match" Sarkosy - Topolanek. The French captain from the very beginning practically isolated his competitors from the others and therefore the French did not take part in the party before the official opening of the championship. All of them also did not like the fact that the French captain during the competition was often shouting at his competitors using the level of tone that was not really dignified for his position.
We know the competition rules as well as Jean, and if we wanted to make troubles, then no championship would be finished in any country, see for example the spoilt draw for the river venues this year in Scotland, or thirty-five meters long beats at the World Championship in Finland. As we are able to recognize serious from unserious and soluble from insoluble, we are trying not to make any troubles to the organizers.
All already started at the first captains meeting, where Jean protested that on the Svratka were not marked beats in the afternoon before the draw. However, these places were marked already 14 days before on trees and stones, on the banks and the man who marked this venues was a very famous Czech ex-competitor Tom ç Starěchfojt… and nobody would ever suspect him of any kind of cheat. Furthermore, the complete length of the venue and thirteen teams did not allow any other solution. The French accused us in the Internet forums after the championship that we stocked rainbow trouts into the "Czech" beats after the draw. We have experienced it twice in different countries, but in this case it was complete nonsense. The draw was done after nine in the evening and when Ilkka issued the results of the draw matrix, it was long after ten at night and completely dark outside. I am sure that none of our organizers would ever have an idea of this, because nobody here thinks in this way. In reality few trouts were stocked in this venue about a week before the event.
Just at the first period on the Doubravka Jean was trying to persuade the controller that the caught roach is dace and another smaller fish is a good fish. To make the things worse a private farmer was mowing his meadow near the four-hundred meters long French beat with a tractor, and then we were only waiting what else will happen. At the lunch Jean was complaining that the French competitors got the meal late and he did not hesitate to come for the International Organizer to "push" him to the restaurant which was really busy, because there were altogether competitors who should have had lunch near the S zava. I do not know why the French were waiting one and a half hour in front of the restaurant, before they decided to go for lunch at the moment of the busiest time in the restaurant. And definitely, none of the staff knew who they are.
The controllers were given an instruction before the competition to carry bags and free rods, then nobody would steal unattended tackle. In the morning we were on the meadow to see the French fisherman, and it was done by the controller in this beat and Jean did not protest. In the afternoon there was a strong conflict with the controller who was carrying rods for Czech competitor - Jindrich Kalivoda. When the Frenchman showed the controller he will break the rod, the controller showed him a fist and in the evening the official protest of the French team had to be solved by the Jury. The meeting lasted until midnight, and the result was a warning for the Czech competitor with a Solomon's conclusion that the bags and disassembled rods can be carried, but not the assembled rods.
The second day on the Svratka still before the competition was the young Frenchman angry that the beat is wrong and there are no rainbow trouts at all, etc. It was not true, and he himself could see it, but you would naive to think that he at least apologized. The real cause of this incident we found a week after the event and it was related to the fact that the French were strongly persuaded about the night stocking of rainbow trouts only to selected beats. During the championship for reason of coming storms the sessions were prematurely finished and this was the reason for protests from the young Frenchman. Another time Jean wanted to prolong the fish in the measuring device and experienced controller automatically, as it is common in the Czech Republic during the competition, in such a situation slapped his fingers, because as a captain he should have done anything.
As there were thirteen teams at the championship, it was necessary to fill up a free place in a boat for the pair to keep the rules. The first day filled up this hole the Czech substitute and the second day Ilkka was in the boat, what the French had missed, and in the evening when the French team had this "impair" boat, they did not want anybody to be there. There were several such small incidents with the French on the lake, and I am not going to bother you with them, because exceptionally it was not aimed against those unable Czechs, but against competitors from other countries. It was interesting that other teams were shaking their heads over such protests and they supported us.
At the end we have a bit sweetened the competition for the French team, when one of them was in the boat with a member of the Czech team 2. The Czech guy caught a rainbow, and in the second half of the period, when he was a captain on the boat, he brought the boat into shallow water and then the French blank and it meant loss of any chance for the individual medal. Also the Czechs could use the valid rules for their favor.
Regarding the development in the team competition, the team of the Czech Republic 1, coached by the captain Milan Cubˇk, was on the first place from the beginning to the end and the French were balancing between the second and fourth place to finish finally on the second place and with a difference of 39 placings. This great difference proved also the number of caught fish 378 : 269 in favor of the Czech team. For the French it was a clear proof that the whole championship was a huge cheat. The bronze was awarded to the Spanish team this time and it was a great success for the team which traditionally does not have any camp before the championship.
The fourth place was for the Czech team 2 that was missing only few centimeters for the medals and some of the Czech youth were crying due to it. If there had not been any rain before the last competition on the Doubrava and water had not been dirty, there might have been a medal, but there were blank competitors and those 13 penalty points for the Czech second team was too high loss. A surprise was the fifth place of young Polish boys, who caught only 5 fish less than the second French and from the bronze medal they were only 5 placings away. The Polish young competitor, the only one, managed to catch two fish in dirty water of the Doubravka with an imitation of red worm. The sixth place of youth from Slovakia 1 was probably a disappointment for them and with respect to the fact that after two rounds they were one before the last, it did not finish so badly and the next year they will want to change it at home.
In the individual competition the warned competitor Jindrich Kalivoda became the winner, and he has shown that he can not only fish with a nymph, but he is also able to fish with a dry and wet fly and he was successful also on the still water. The best on the still water was the competitor from South Africa - Chase Nicholson - who finally finished on the second place. As the only one he was excelling on the lake (water temperature under surface was 26řC), when he managed to find fish in deep water near the water release. He used a sinking line Di - 3 (Sixth Sense) and used tiny flies such as Pheasant Tail - he caught seven rainbows on it! He caught three fish at once and a double and what's more, he lost couple of fish when he was playing with them. Other competitors did not get closer to him at all and majority of them were blank. To be fair, the stretch in the length of fifty meters was closed along the dam, into which many fish pushed, but there was a space for only half of boats. The third place was for the Polish young man Adam Wnekowicz, who showed a very balanced performance and he was one placing in total better than the home competitor David Chlumskě. The fifth place was for the Slovak competitor Matus Sis k. The best competitors had to undertake anti-doping tests for the first time in history.
Generally, we can say that this was a very nice championship, except continuous French protests. These protests from the French side did not finish even after the end of the championship and the French team manager had to show off it in the hotel restaurant, where he was saying to the personnel that the Czech are cheaters and in his opinion the French are winners for him. Similar opinions were heard from some of them on the Internet, and therefore they did not come to say good bye to anybody and in the morning they disappeared without saying anything - again the same as four years ago in Rozmberk. Once they could show how to organize the youth championship well. Other teams liked it here very much, and the similar opinion was shared by both FIPS-Mouche delegates and three invited international supervisors who were controlling the Czech competitors.
Altogether from waters near Chotebor about 3,143 pieces of eligible fish were caught that was the average of 9.7 fish per competitor and session.
At the end it is necessary to thank to all organizers, especially to Jirka Pejchar, sector judges and controllers and all sponsors as well as the Chairman of the Czech Fishing Union - Prof. Petr Semeniuk who personally took part in the end of the championship and awarded the best competitors. A similar competition should take place in two years in South Bohemia in Rozmberk nad Vltavou which will host the Senior European Championship.
