16 nations descended on the Smederevo Steelworks Canal in Serbia over the 7th & 8th August to fish the 20th FIPS-ed U18 World Championships. England would go head to head with 2014 champions France and the 3rd place Poland and the trio once again found themselves jostling for a podium finish with host nation Serbia also in the running.

Steve Sanders, Sensas U18s Team Manager stated; “England’s performance was a stunning victory after losing most of one of the weeks practice days because of floating weed preventing them practising properly.  The team plan came together on the last practice day on Thursday with a combination of carp early in the match being the target followed by a switch to small fish tactics after the first 30 minutes.

On day one this tactic worked brilliantly with England having 3 carp in the first 30 minutes in different sections.  Switching to small fish cemented their positions and England finished the day with a score of 14 points on the first day with France on 18 in second, Poland on 22 in third and Portugal and Italy in equal 4th place with 24.”

The second day was always going to be a very, very tight match with the French, Polish and Italians fishing an out and out small fish match and Portugal fishing a wholly big fish match, England stuck to fishing the combination match they fished on the first day.  A superb day two performance by host nation Serbia saw them score 6 points and drag themselves into the bronze medal position with a total of 46 points.  The tussle between England and France see-sawed all day with neither side knowing the final result at the end of the match, but England’s tactic of fishing for big fish and being selective when fishing for the small fish resulted in France having 19 points on the second day and England scoring 21 points to give England a 2 point victory over the two day competition.

England’s Sensas U18’s have an incredible record at the World Championship in recent years, since 2011 England have won two team gold and three team silver medals with a number of individual accolades following, the latest of which 17 year old George Organ from Gloucester who’s 7 points over two days was enough to secure individual bronze. 

Top 6 Team Results:

1st England 35 points
2nd France 37 points
3rd Serbia 46 points
4th Poland 46 points
5th Portugal 49 points
6th Italy 50 points

For Drennan Team England’s U23s it was a very difficult match with teams aiming to catch a carp in the first half an hour or fish for the small fish for the full match.  There were few fish between the 10/12gm and carp of 1.5 -3 Kilo.

Mark Downes, Drennan U23s Team Manager said “We elected to take the carp route initially….we only hooked one, it was lost. Belgium took 3 carp in that time and ran out easy winners on day 1 with 19 points . France as usual just fished for small fish and finished 3rd with 22.  After the initial 40 minutes or so it was catch up for our team and being so many small fish behind it was difficult. As the end of the match approached we had to try to catch a carp in the last 30 minutes …again no joy.

Apart from Rory Jones who had 1 carp and 2 kilo of small fish the rest of the team fell between a rock and a hard place!  With England on 40 points and Belgium on 19 we had to be aggressive and we decided to fish for carp on day 2. We needed at least 3 catches and we needed a very low score to secure a medal.  After 1 hour there was just one carp in the first 2 ½ sections and now we were much too far behind to make any difference with small fish.

Hindsight is a great thing but had we concentrated on small fish for the full duration we could have secured a bronze, but this is not our mentality.  We were not as good as the French on the small fish so we needed a combination of both tactics to win and we couldn’t achieve that.  The lads worked tirelessly in the 38 degree heat all week, and it was a shame they did not get the rub of the green they deserved. Full credit must go to the team for their perseverance and dedication, hopefully this will be rewarded next year in Portugal.”

Top 6 Team Results:

1st France 42.5 points
2nd Belgium 45 points
3rd Spain 58 points
4th Italy 58.5 points
5th Czech Republic 65 points
6th Croatia 68 points

10th England 87.5 points

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The three key overarching priorities of the contract are to increase participation amongst existing and new anglers, tackle illegal angling and manage a fund to improve angling facilities. The contract will run for up to 4 years and is currently worth £1 million a year, although the value of the future contract may vary, depending on rod licence sales.

Key elements of the contract include:

• providing expert advice to clubs and fishery owners on how to identify and secure additional funding
• improving facilities at fisheries and clubs for anglers
• encouraging take-up among junior anglers and address the recent decline in this age group
• retaining and recruiting more anglers to go fishing
• exploring options to develop the voluntary bailiff scheme which has been piloted in the South East
• working with enforcement partners (including the police), club and fishery owners to clamp down on angling-related rural crime.

Sarah Chare, Environment Agency head of fisheries, said:

“This contract marks a new era in how the Environment Agency will deliver our fisheries duties.  By contracting and working with partners we will secure the best future for angling by playing to strengths and making rod licence income go further.  It is what anglers deserve. We are delighted to be working with the Angling Trust on this endeavour.”

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust, said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this contract and our ambition is to go above and beyond the requirements of the contract wherever possible.  Both organisations are committed to protecting and improving freshwater angling by tackling the issues identified by anglers as part of the National Angling Strategy.  The Angling Trust offers a very cost-effective way of delivering this work because of our extensive network and unique access to match funding.”

The contract has match funding clauses meaning that rod licence money goes further and the best possible service and value for anglers is delivered, for example through working with Sport England.

Advertised through the Official Journal of the European Union, interested organisations expressed initial interest earlier this year. Applicants were then asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire to ensure they were suitable to be formally invited to tender for the work.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

ANGLING TRUST INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 - GLOUCESTER CANAL

The 172 strong field in Saturday's (1st August) Angling Trust Individual National Championship faced a strong wind that made good pole presentation very difficult so the match was mainly a feeder affair for most.

However, that didn’t put off David Cooper from Cambridge, as an unproductive start to his match on the feeder saw him switch to the pole at 13m and he never looked back as a succession of bream up to 6lb graced his net for the remainder of the match.

Drawn on peg 631, the upstream end peg on the Cambridge Arms stretch, David fished worm over groundbait to amass 16.570Kg and record a narrow victory and the title of National Individual Champion 2015.

Matt Godfrey from Sheffield was hot on his heals with a 15.950Kg net of skimmers and roach taken on maggot and groundbait feeder on peg 178 which was also an upstream end peg above Rea Bridge.  Kevin Lavelle from Kirkby wasn’t far behind either weighing 14.450Kg of bream and eels from peg 47 on Hempstead Bend, fishing worm and groundbait feeder.

Andre Grandjean, Angling Trust Event Manager, said:

"It’s going to be hard going for some fishing next week’s Division 1 National as there were a few barren areas so everyone will be praying to draw on some bream which are feeding well at the moment. We would like to thank Mark Treasure and his team for organising such a smooth running match."

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Draw: 7.30am Brentford Boating Arch, Kew Bridge, Strand on the Green, W4 3RE

Tides: High 07.15 Low 14.45

Fishing: 9.30am - 2.30pm (depending on tide height)

Rules: Thigh wading permitted, all fish except eels can be weighed

Zones: A) Strand on the Green. B) Barnes

Pegs: As per chalk numbers on wall. A) from Cafe Rouge down to just past the Grove Park Rd Slipway (1 - 25). B) from just below Barnes Railway Bridge down to Leg of Mutton.

Tickets and Prize monies: £500 First Prize then £250, £150 and £100 - split across both zones - and winners trophy. Tickets £5 with proceeds to the angling charity Get Hooked on Fishing

Sections and Pools: Ten 5 peg sections and £10 pools. Pay out top place only (overall match winners excluded)

Parking: A) At Strand on the Green, Thames Rd or Grove Park Rd. B) Barnes High St.

Prize Giving: 4.30pm Brentford Boating Arch, Kew Bridge, Strand on the Green

Organiser:
Will Barnard 07747 647 921

Stewards:
Danny Williams 07854 240 368
Mike Smith 07946 515 352
James Thornhill 07837 980 210

Refreshments: Drinks and BBQ at Strand on the Green Embankment

Access Points to River: See map on the day for location of steps

This annual fishing match is part of the TideFest - a celebration of the recreational importance of London's River. 50 pegs maximum across the two zones at Strand on the Green and Barnes. Both stretches have a good head of roach, dace and bream. The four main prizes will be split alternatively across both zones to give all anglers a chance of making the frame.

Source: Angling Trust

Fishmark is now the recognised angling club accreditation that is awarded to a Club when they achieve the criteria to demonstrate they have achieved nationally recognised standards of Club Management, Child protection and duty of care, sports equality and ethics and Management of Activities.

The main difference between the new Fishmark award and the previous Clubmark award is that Fishmark has been split into two levels, Standard and Advanced. This enables some Clubs that never achieved the strict criteria in Clubmark, such as high levels of fishing activities, to achieve accreditation at a standard level. With these Clubs being able to apply for the Fishmark award it means that they can ensure they are working at the required levels of child protection and club management because the minimum requirement is the same for these categories in both Standard and Advanced levels. The change ensures that ALL member Clubs have the opportunity to ensure they are delivering at a high level of safety and development.

The benefits of being a Fishmark accredited Club are:

• Easier access to Sport England and some local authority funding
• More professional management of your Club
• Support to develop and modernise your Club
• Improved integration between schools, community and your Club
• Increased publicity for your Club
• Increased membership for your Club
• Improved access to coaches and coaching at your Club
• More recognition from your County Sports Partnership(CSP), local authorities and schools
• Higher profile for your Club
• Increased safety for ALL your members
• Improved framework and focus on Club development

Accreditation is only accessible to Angling Trust club members and is FREE of charge.

Read the the new ‘Benefits of Fishmark’ PDF guide HERE to find out more.

If your Club is currently Clubmark accredited then this will continue with no changes at all until the expiry date on your certificate. Once you have passed your expiry date you will be offered reaccreditation under the Fishmark scheme.

If you would like more information or to apply for accreditation please contact your Regional Officer or Dave Evans at dave.evans@anglingtrust.net or for club membership of the Angling Trust please call 01568 620 447 during office hours or read more at www.anglingtrust.net/clubs

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The meeting, held last week at DEFRA, included Sarah Hendry, the new Director of Water, Trevor Bishop from the Environment Agency, Dominic Gogol, Water Policy Manager for WWF-UK; Colin Fenn, Associate for WWF-UK; Martin Salter, National Campaigns Coordinator for the Angling Trust and Hannah Freeman, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and chair of Blueprint for Water.

The Minister was reminded of previous government commitments to reform the outdated abstraction regime which currently sees 30% of all rivers either fully or over abstracted while less than a quarter are now classified as achieving 'good ecological status' (GES). The UK is a signatory to the EU Water Framework Directive which requires 75% of  all rivers to achieve GES by 2027 at the very latest.

The Angling Trust's Martin Salter made it clear that with climate change delivering more water shortages and a rising population pushing up demand for increasingly scarce resources now was not the time for tinkering around the edges.

Mr Salter said:

"We need a new national water policy that includes compulsory water metering, new storage reservoirs and a reform of an outdated abstraction regime that leaves far too many rivers dangerously low and at risk of environmental damage."

The Minister was presented with a copy of the Charter for Chalk Streams – a joint initiative between the Angling Trust, Salmon and Trout Association, WWF, Wildlife Trusts, The Rivers Trust and other groups.

The Charter for Chalk Streams, launched in May 2013, calls for a range of measures, including the introduction of compulsory water metering to reduce waste and cut unsustainable abstractions. It states:

Chalk streams are recognised as a unique global asset providing a pristine environment for wildlife with rich clean water and high quality habitat. Some 85% of the world’s chalk streams are located in England and many in and around London have almost disappeared in normal weather conditions. Only a handful receive the high levels of protection that their conservation status requires.

The groups are planning to write to the Minister outlining how UK rivers are faring compared to other countries. They will be inviting him to visit a chalk stream later this year to see for himself the pressures that these rivers are under.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Coral Fish 'O’ Mania takes place over the weekend of the 18th and 19th July at Cudmore Fisheries outside of Stoke-on-Trent with the Saturday featuring 16 finalists competing for the  £30,000 winner’s prize and with it the most exalted title in match fishing.

On Sunday 19th, the Coral Fish 'O’ Mania International Challenge will consist of eight two-man teams competing for the £10,000 first prize. Once again the defending champions are England and they will be challenged by Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and from continental Europe, the titans of Italy, Holland, France and Belgium will all be vying this prestigious crown.

Coral operates over 1,800 betting shops in the UK and is also one of the fastest growing online bookmakers. It is part of the Gala Coral Group, the British betting and gaming operator which also owns the biggest bingo operator in the UK, Gala Bingo, and a successful Italian betting operation, Eurobet.

Both days of Fish 'O’ Mania will be televised live by Sky Sports for 5 and a half hours each day. There is also the Coral Fish 'O’ Mania Ladies championship on the Saturday and Fish 'O’ Mania Juniors on Sunday.

To get the sponsorship off with a bang, Coral are offering a prize of £5,000 to the person who guesses the winning weight on the Saturday match. For full details go to http://www.fishomania.net/guesstheweight 

“We are rapidly expanding the portfolio of sports on which we bet and the betting markets that we offer on each sport and this sponsorship of the UK’s most exciting fishing competition is a great way to demonstrate the size and breadth of our customer offering. We are thrilled to be associated with such an innovative and popular event,” said Simon Clare, Coral PR Director.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said: “We are all very excited to be working with Coral on fishing’s biggest event. Fish 'O’ Mania has stood the test of time and is now one of those great British summer sporting occasions and is a superb couple of days out at an outstanding location.

“There is a special atmosphere at Cudmore and we are expecting thousands to come over the weekend. For those that stay at home, Sky Sports will be bringing every minute of both days from start to finish!”

Contacts: 
Luke Riches, luke.riches@matchroom.com  07785 395688
Simon Clare, simon.clare@coral.co.uk  07860 465139
           
Notes: Matchroom Sport is one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and is responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, Matchroom Sport was founded in 1982.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The Big Fish aims to test the skills of some of Britain's best amateur anglers, in some of the most dramatic and challenging places on earth from tropical seas to frozen rivers and lakes. This will be more than a competition to find Britain's best all-round angler - it is an expedition around the world with a fishing rod.

Last year the Angling Trust helped to promote The Big Fish by encouraging anglers with the necessary skills and experience to apply to be considered as one of the participants.

Martin Salter, National Campaigns Co-ordinator for the Angling Trust said:

"I can think of nobody better suited to breathe life, humour and expertise into this competitive fishing adventure than Matt Hayes. This is a man who is just at home battling marlin in the Gulf of Mexico as he is casting a fly for salmon or a dead bait for a winter pike. What's more Matt is a great communicator with a large and established following which almost guarantees the programme a good audience even before the first cast is made."

Angling Trust Chief Executive Mark Lloyd added:

"It really is very welcome that the BBC is promoting angling in this way and challenges the impression, that had been gaining traction in some quarters, that the BBC is somehow 'anti angling'.  I have no doubt that such a high profile programme will be a great advert for our sport and will also help the Angling Trust with our wide range of programmes to get more people of all ages to take up angling."

Matt Hayes has described the series as "the most significant media event in the sport since the BBC's classic ‘Passion For Angling’ and says "I’m thrilled to be a part of it."

He added:

"It takes the sport into the homes of millions of families and gives them an insight into the skills required to be a truly great angler. It’s going to be a blend of calm and precision mixed with explosive action and sharp teeth. And all the drama will take place in some of the most spectacular locations on the planet."

Each programme will see the contestants travelling to a different country with very distinct climates, landscapes and habitats around the world where they will be tested using a wide range of techniques under the watchful eye of experts. The contestants will use knowledge gained from locals on how to find the perfect spot to land a catch, and will face challenges which combine their own experience and talents with newly learnt skills.

The Big Fish is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC 2 later this year.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Whilst it has been relatively quiet angler wise over the past couple of weeks, those anglers who have continued fishing have been doing really well and particularly on Temple with pretty much every angler reporting multiple catches during their session which includes a thirty.

Leading the pack on Temple this week was Johnathon Winfield who had a great result over the weekend landing Temple's 'Ghost' at a very impressive 38lbs. The Cheam angler fished peg 4 into open water about half way out. He used a 15mm cell bottom bait over a small bed of bait. Interestingly this was Johnathon’s 1st fish out of Temple! What a great result, well done! (Pictures to follow).

Gary Brown was another angler who had a brilliant session on Temple landing 4 fish from peg 11. He fished from Sunday to Wednesday and his catch included a 30lb 6oz common, one of the fully scaled stockies at 18lb 8oz, the deformed mirror at 19lb 14oz and other mirror at 19lb 10oz. Well done Gary, good angling! All fish are piling on the weight as you can see and spawning hasn't had an effect on their condition!

Fred Roome is currently halfway through his 48 hour session on Temple at the moment and he has got off to a flying start catching 'Friar Tuck' yesterday at 34lb 12oz. As you can see the fish are still in absolutely immaculate condition with no marks from spawning and still at good weights! Fred caught from peg 3 out in open water using squid flavored boilies.

Moving back a week, Rob O'Neill had success landing 3 lovely Temple mirrors. Interestingly all 3 fish were caught by casting to showing fish with runs coming an hour or less after getting a rod onto the spots. Bait used was by Aqua Dynamix, either double 16mm bottom baits or single 12mm pink pop ups. All fish were from peg 11 and weighed 23lb 9oz, 24lb 7oz and 27lb 10oz. Well done Rob, good angling!

Another angler to catch during the spawning period was Paul Pitchley from Croydon landing four fish haul was topped by this mint 30lb mirror from peg 3. Cell boilies were used as bait and the other fish were a mirror of 26lb 12oz as well as commons of 18lb 8oz and 23lb. Nice one Paul, well done!

Turning to the Old Lake, Mark Ramkoleea had a decent session at the weekend. Here are two pics from Friday night, a lovely dark 19lb common (pics attached) and one of 18lb. He had 6 carp in total, all on cell snowmen during a quick overnight session.

Aaron Barnes fished the Old Lake over the weekend and had a 23lb 4oz common from the margins of peg 37. 18mm cell was the bait used. (pic attached)

Rob Shepard from Trowbridge managed a 23lb 8oz common from the Old Lake. He fished a 18mm pineapple boilie in peg 34.

Paul Kerry fished over night Friday on the Old Lake with his son Alex Kerry fishing peg 71, whilst Paul had just one small carp for around double figures, his son Alex fished peg 72 and had his best carp session ever beating his personnel best not once but twice first with a 24lb 6 oz common carp and then with a mirror carp of 27lb. All fish fell to single Cell wafters fished a rod length from the island with loose fed Cell bollies with 20 to 30 added after each fish capture. (pics attached)

Tom Knight had a great session catching 11 fish which included 3 twenties, a 24lb mirror and commons weighing 22lb 11oz and 20lb 5oz. Tom fished peg 36 to the island catching on Icelandic Red

Source: Bury Hill Fisheries

The video - entitled "Creating Record Breaking Crucian Fisheries" (which can be seen bekow) - was launched this week and begins at Godalming Angling Society's famous Johnson's Lake, the home of the current british record crucian. It goes on to feature work by both Newbury Angling Association and Christchurch AC who are creating their own crucian fisheries at Warwick's Water in Thatcham and Holtwood Ponds in Dorset. The video, which includes some angling action from the Marsh Farm Day Ticket fishery, was produced and presented by Angling Trust Campaign Chief Martin Salter and filmed by John Sutton of Clearwater Photography.  

As well as catching some lovely fish for the camera Martin Salter explains how clubs and fishery owners can create their own successful and popular crucian fisheries. Martin reveals that Godalming AS took over £20,000 in day ticket sales last year at their Marsh Farm complex in Surrey.

Martin Salter said:

"Crucians are under threat due to predation, loss of habitat and through hybridisation with other species. This is why the National Crucian Conservation Project - the brainchild of angling artist Chris Turnbull - was established with the support of both the ourselves at the Angling Trust and the Environment Agency. We hope this short film will inspire others to begin restoring crucian habitat which will help create a national network of bespoke and popular crucian fisheries."

He added:

"All record breaking crucian fisheries have to start somewhere which is why our video begins at the famous Johnson's Lake in Surrey from where the stock was taken to create the amazingly successful Marsh Farm fishery - a place that has earned over £20,000 in day ticket sales last year. This just goes to show how popular and profitable crucian fishing can be."

Angling Artist and NCCP founder Chris Turnbull said:

"It's really uplifting to see how enthusiastically some angling clubs and fishery owners are responding to our call for more crucian waters. It seems that at last the message is getting though that neglected species like crucians offer a wonderful alternative to stocking king carp everywhere!"

Peter Rolfe, author of the crucian bible "Crock of Gold" added:

"I’ve always believed that it is through angling that the crucian (Carassius carassius) will be saved from extinction in the UK. It is so satisfying to see this coming true, through the efforts of the Angling Trust, the Environment Agency and so many committed individuals.  Together we can ensure the this super fish’s future and bring back to angling some of the traditional skills and pleasures that we have been in danger of losing."

David Marshall, Secretary of Newbury Angling Association said:

"We at NAA are very pleased to be supporting the crucian project and excited that the real work has finally started after several months of obtaining permits to drain down the lake, to move the fish and obtaining health checks.  With considerable help from the EA our Warwick's Water has been drained and the existing fish moved to other lakes we own. The next step is to introduce some lilies into the lake and allow the lake to settle prior to the introduction of the crucians later this year. Upon completion we believe we will have a water which will be the envy of many clubs and a valuable asset for our members"

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News