How do I begin to describe the events and disappointments surrounding EuroMeet, on what should have been a weekend to remember. I had been looking forward to this event for several months and I suppose it was tempting fate for me to be anything other than mildly optimistic, considering we’d dropped from 89 anglers to just under 70 in the space of two days during the preceding week. We’ve all had that feeling, haven’t we, that when something starts to go wrong, its somehow is just not going to get any better!

It all started in the early hours of Saturday morning as Dave Ewing, little Dave Ewing and myself headed off for the EuroTunnel terminal at Folkestone in my late model BMW 320i. I'd just got it back from the garage after spending over £350 searching out and fixing a fuel problem… or so I thought! About 80 miles from home and 30 miles from our train terminal, the vehicle started to violently snatch and shake for short periods as fuel starvation reached the engine... bugger, here we go again!
Why it decided to do it at that point, I don't know... it’s called an INTERMITTENT problem… one of the most difficult to solve, as any car-minded person will tell you AND it never rears its head while there's a mechanic watching!
Anyway, I assured my anxious passenger (Ewing the Elder) that it had done this before and that it was a running issue and not one of breakdown proportions. DE don’t do driving so is inexperienced in these worldly matters. However, I could do nothing but persevere on, towards to our waiting train and whatever else was lying in wait for us… I didn’t have to wait long!
Despite the ongoing hiccups with the transport we pulled into the terminal car park in good time and made our way to the waiting area ready to be called up, only to find flashing signs telling us of an hour’s delay, due to a train breakdown… I hope it wasn’t an intermittent problem!!! A ray of shining light broke from the corner of the terminal, it was an AA help desk and they were open. I could now start adding to my weekend’s expenditure by taking on some European breakdown cover and ease my passengers worrying mind. Some £40 lighter we made my way to some available seats while drinks were ordered and we started to wait… and wait…. and wait. Two and three quarter hours later we’re called up ready for embarkation! What next, I wonder???
Surprisingly, the journey through the tunnel was uneventful, which was really fortunate. We arrived in Calais on the lookout for fuel and after a brief pit stop we headed off for the A26 and down towards Lens and Valenciennes.
We’d chosen this route over the one through Lille, because DE was convinced we’d encounter major traffic delays… and who was I to argue. The journey was a doddle, except for that fuel problem, and we eventually arrived at the venue around 90 minutes later.

I must say how relaxed I found the whole process of finding the venue. The local Pommeroeul angling club had positioned signs around the locality, only something normally associated with major tournaments in the UK, like Nationals etc.

Right: One of the numerous signs placed around the area of Pommeroeul.

Our arrival on the bank was a relief and we could see several anglers fishing, including four guys from my neck of the woods, the Coulter’s and Bond’s. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves picking up a few slabs (except Dave Coulter who’s only use to catching carp). They had arrived around midnight at their hotel, after a slight detour across France… I had told them we were in Belgium, so it wasn’t my fault! Their hotel looked after them though, as they trudged through the reception and they wined and dined until the early hours.

Above: Mal Bond with his practice bag of bream.

We met up with our man-on-the-spot Mark Turner, who’d been looking after all those practicing, including his Romanian protégé and next door neighbour Aurel Gavriloaia (left). It was obvious that Mark had clearly got him hooked-up properly, because he was catching bream at a fair lick by the close of practice!

Match day dawned and I was apprehensive to say the least. All the MA team had all spent so long planning for this day and now we were here it was something of an anti-climax. Don't get me wrong, from what we'd seen the previous day I had no worries regarding our Belgian hosts, on the contrary, without them the weekend would have degenerated into a farce. I can’t say I was surprised at the organising abilities of any Belgian’s because I'd been well aware from as far back as the 2005 World champs as to their excellent record… and they did not disappoint us at EuroMeet.
As soon as I hit the draw HQ I was faced with my first major problem, angler’s milling around, waiting to get going. Unfortunately most of the Belgian's attending had not paid the pools entry and unlike the UK where I could just shout and tell them to get their dosh out, here there was a small problem of language! Marshaling together Dave Ewing, Pommeroeul Club President Emille Battard and Mark Turner, I got them to circulate and get people to form an orderly payment queue as soon as possible. This was of paramount importance because as they had not paid via our internet payment system, we were totally unaware of how many would attend, which in turn would dictate how many pegs we'd require.
Some 45 minutes later, it looked like another 10 had fallen by the wayside, so with Emille's help we placed 60 numbers in his special ‘bingo' machine. Now, when I was told that we could do the draw with a bingo machine I envisaged a rather large tubular container with table tennis sized numbered balls inside... wrong. What Emille produced was a dinky little contraption with balls the size of hamsters' nuts. It did however do the business admirably and it was probably one of the quickest draws I've ever been involved with, again, all down to Emille.
Everyone shot off, with the Ewing clan waiting for me to deliver them to their pegs. Young Dave had decided to fish the match, but he’d only be competing for his section prize.
The day started cloudy, if a little chilly, belying what was about to descend on us. Things were slow to say the least with most having set up a feeder, however it was noticeable that quite a few Belgians stuck with the slider and pole…strange, I thought, like many others, that this was going to be a feeder match! We knew that roach wouldn’t figure in any of the calculations and that it was bream or bust.

Above & right: Hiding under cover from some of the worse weather ever seen in the area at this time of year, England's Malcolm Bond nets and then safely deposits his second bream of the match in his net. Mal, who'd drawn just about the same area he'd practice'd the day before, was confided that he was well up on the leaderboard and the final weigh-in saw him finish fourth overall with 3.060kg.

It didn’t take long after the start for the drizzle to come down, which in turn gave way to rain, which in turn gave way to HAIL…. hail at this time of year, what the hell next?
For around an hour the heavens belched out these frosted marbles and the temperature plummeted and everyone… and I mean everyone, was feeling the conditions. Even in the tented area the ground was becoming waterlogged, at that was with plastic sheeting laid down. The anglers on the bank looked like a bunch of miserable gnomes, most of them slowly drowning under their inadequate waterproofs… I was thankful that I was not sharing their ordeal.
This was turning into a disaster, which no one could have forseen… unless of course those who didn’t turn up did! … but then they’d have to be psychic, or something, wouldn’t they?
As the match entered its final stages it was clear that something had gone seriously wrong with the weather and consequently affected the fishing. The best news of a catch I could muster during my continual sweeps of the match length was three or four anglers sitting on TWO FISH with the possibility that someone might have three fish… not exactly stirring stuff…at least we wouldn’t have to draw for the top places… unlike one of the section were everyone blanked. The list of DNW’s read like a who’s who of Belgian angling… Luc Vercammen (Lucky Luc, I believe he’s now referred to after he drew the section money!), Frans Schoubben, Eric de Venti (although the family name was salvaged by his dad Mario right) and World Champ Guido Nullens … and we must not forget our own David Ewing along with Mark Turner, who’d obviously peaked during his practice sessions.

The final weigh sheets told the awful truth… out of 59 anglers, FORTY SEVEN had blanked, an appalling statistic and one not worthy of such a well run and prestigious event.
We had experienced one of the worse days ever for the time of year, in fact I’d received word that during that morning around TWO INCHES (50cm) of snow fell in Betrix (left), about a 120km to the east of us… I suppose we could count ourselves lucky that we weren’t fishing there!

Above: Starting to feel the cold and damp, our Scottish 'braveheart' Dave Ewing, sits it out without so much as decent waterproofs or a brolly!

Although the weather had completely ruined the day the sun did put in an appearance at the end and at least brightened up the presentation ceremony were we were honoured by the presence of Jean Pilate, Administrateur of the Maison Wallonne de la Peche and Belgian team manager Roland Marcq, which gave our event in Belgium great credibility. The trophies sponsored and donated by Bever Hengelsport in Willebroek were stunning and really capped off the ceremony.
There were some noteable highlights in the match, like little Dave Ewing winning the best performance trophy, even though he’d blanked, he’d did it in style, showing complete dedication under the appalling and extreme conditions and remained at his peg the whole 5 hours… not bad for an 11 year old and every inch (millimeter) a winner in my book.

Right: Two of the regions top officials, Emille Battard and Jean Pilate.

Above: Slawomir brings his lone bream to the net for a well deserved section win.

Let's not also forget also our lone Polish entrant Slawomir Urbaniak who’d driven for over SEVENTEEN HOURS with his wife and daughter to be with us at EuroMeet. He managed to win his section with just one fish… the only fish in his section… his joy was evident by that beaming smile in the photo below... well done mate!

There was also one of our English visitors, Wayne Bond, who’d received a phone call during our Saturday evening meal informing him that his granddad had just died back in England. He decided to fish on, as his granddad would no doubt have wished, and came third… well done Wayne. Then there was Mark’s next-door neighbour, Aurel Gavriloaia, who’s only been fishing for a few months. He’d put in a stunning practice session and a then gained a section win… beginners luck… maybe… maybe not? He was a close second for the best performance trophy, but lost out to tender age and dedication!
In fact, everyone who travelled to Belgium where stars in my book, considering their poor return from the weekend… well done to you all.

Above & inset: Wayne Bond has a brief respite with the pole from the monotony of watching a static feeder tip, blissfully unaware of the interloper in his peg. It seems Mary's little lamb strayed a bit too far from the flock and ended up in the canal. Wayne overcame the distraction to nearly take the spoils but ended up in third place overall.

Left & above: Belgium's smiling Rene Vanreeth with these two slabs for 4.340kg, which took him to the runner-up position and also gained the biggest fish trophy with a bream of 2.280kg, which was presented to him by Belgian team boss Roland Marcq.

Above & right: A nearly smiling Johnny van de Merle with his unique EuroMeet Champions trophy and the three bream for 5.010kg which earned him the title

Right & below: England's Wayne Bond sat next to Johnny at the and of the match length and fished despite a family bereavement. His two bream were rewarded with 3rd place overall and he was presented with his special trophy by Jean Pilate.

Left: Wayne's dad Malcolm came so close to framing with these two fish for 3.060kg... he did however win his section with them so it wasn't a total lost cause. Mal was full of praise for the whole weekend and the said that despite the terrible conditions he thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to come back next year.

Below, the whole of our presentation group from left to right:
Top row: Belgiam Team Manager Roland Marcq, Winner Johnny van de Merle, Pommeroeul Club President Emille Battard, Wallone Administrateur Jean Pilate.
Kneeling: Runner-up Rene Vanreeth, Best Performance winner Little David Ewing and Third place Wayne Bond.

The weekend had not entirely ended there, for we still had remaining the small matter of a match on Monday, which was arranged to be held above the gigantic lock in Pommeroeul’s top basin.

Emillie and his team took the trouble to erect a tent for our use (above), along with supplying drinks and food. Considering that only 12 fished (including myself) it was extremely welcome and very much appreciated by all concerned, especially as it drizzled for most of the day, again… I thought it only ever rained constantly in England?! Most of our generously donated Browning prizes, were distributed here to the various winners, as well as trophies kindly sponsored by the superb local tackle store in Bon Secours just up the road.

Left: The Master (that's Mark on the right!) with his Apprentice, Aurel after another succesfull match.

Below: French policeman Fred Smagge, collars MA's David Ewing. David was later released without any charges sticking!

Guess who won … our lucky beginner Aurel again who banked 4 bream… I say lucky because I fished next to him and knew he’d obviously drawn an ‘aquarium’ swim!!!
Mark salvaged some pride by showing his skill with the pole and some small roach and skimmers, while young Dave Ewing blanked along with his dad again … like father like son eh!
After our prize giving, at which Jean Pilate attended once more, we all said our goodbye’s and hit the road. The route back was still fraught with fuel ‘hiccups’ but we made our ferry in good time, despite being given misleading info by my navigator!