For the winner Kayleigh Smith (Matrix, Bag em baits) this proved a very poignant occasion.  Last year Kayleigh’s mum tragically died whilst this match was being fished at Lakeview.  So Kayleigh was determined to try and win the event in her mums memory. Happy she achieved her dream although it was a very close result and her joy was shared by lots of the competitors, including all her international team colleagues.

Kayleigh, who was a previous winner of this event fished peg 48 on Back Deans where she fished banded pellet at 13 metres along the margin to record a fine weight of 35.650 kg. The majority of her catch comprised of carp to a weight of 4 kg plus a few skimmers.

In second place just a few grams in arrears fishing Back Deans peg 34 was Wendy Locker (Tackle Locker/Drennan) with a weight of 35.000 kg. Wendy also caught the majority of her fish on 6 mm banded pellets at 13 metres down the edge plus a few fish on meat fished short.

Third place went to Sophie Hill (Garbolino) fishing Back Deans peg 36 who had a nice net of carp fishing hard pellets at depth both short and long with a few fish on maggots in the margin late in the match to weigh 27.350kg.

Top Ten Individual results

1) Peg 48 Back Deans - Kayleigh Smith 35.650 kg
2) Peg 34 Back Deans - Wendy Locker 35.00kg
3) Peg 36 Back Deans - Sophie Hill 27.350kg
4) Peg 8 Front Deans  -Deana Wood  20.950kg
5) Peg 63 Back Deans - Helen Dagnall 17.800kg
6) Peg 3 Front Deans  - Heather Dewey 17.750kg
7) Peg 33 Front Deans - Sue Arkell 17.650kg
8) Peg 40 Back Deans- Sandra Scotthorne 16.660kg
9) Peg 6 Front Deans  - Pam Mason 14.600kg
10) Peg 54 Back Deans - Zoe Buckley 14.400kg

Section Winners

Peg 8 Front Deans - Deana Wood 20.950kg
Peg 33 Front Deans -Sue Arkell 17.650kg
Peg 48 Back Deans - Kayleigh Smith 35.650kg
Peg 63 Back Deans - Helen Dagnall  17.800kg

Teams of 4 Final results

1) Starlets 71.500kg
2) Lindholme Lakes 61.950kg
3) Warrington Team Gold 56.550kg
4) Sonubaits Passies Pink 45.000kg
5) 4 Amigos 39.100kg
6) Billy No Mates 37.850kg
7) Marukyu Maidens 24.150kg

Winner of the Claire Dagnall Trophy donated in memory of Claire Dagnall and awarded to the highest placed under 21 angler Amy Marcroft on Back Deans 60 with a weight of 14.400 kg.  The trophy for Young Up and Coming Angler on the day was awarded to Sarah Taylor from the Wirral with 10.300 kg

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

IInvasive non-native species can have a damaging impact on British plants, animals and ecosystems - by spreading disease, competing for habitat and food and direct predation.

Plants that grow profusely can block waterways while some animals can damage riverbanks - so they also affect economic uses of our environment and add significant management costs.

As a water user, you may unknowingly be helping to spread invasive species from one water body to another in equipment, shoes and clothing.

Last year we spent £180,000 trying to remove topmouth gudgeon from our fisheries - a particularly nasty invader which damages fisheries and outcompetes many of our native species. As a result, we’re hoping the species will be wiped out in Britain by 2017.

So what can you do to help?

Protect your fishery: check, clean and dry your kit.

Check your equipment, boots and clothing for living organisms.

Clean and wash all equipment, boots and clothes thoroughly.

Dry all equipment and clothing.

Source: NNSS

One of the members of this privately owned stretch has generously offered Salmon and Trout Conservation UK four days this summer, with the money raised going to the S&TA auction fund.  

Two rods will have exclusive use of the beat.  There is some wading, it is dry fly only, and catch and release for the brownies. The price is £450.00 per day for two rods.  

The S&TA UK are delighted to offer, on a strictly first-come, first-served basis, the following dates:

22 June 2016
28 June 2016
3 July  2016
16 Sept 2016

Payment must be made at the time of booking.   Please contact Veronica Kruger at auction@salmon-trout.org / telephone 01722 415553 to avail yourself of this fantastic opportunity.

Source: Salmon and Trout Conservation UK

Tea and coffee served from 6.45pm, meeting will start at 7.15pm

The draft agenda will include:

• Angling Trust Key Campaigns Update - Martin Salter, Angling Trust National Campaigns Manager guides you through how the Trust is working for you to promote and protect angling
• The work of the River Thames Alliance - RTA Chair John Edmonds gives an overview of the work of the group
• Fisheries Update - Your local Environment Agency Fisheries team give an update of the work in your area
• Open Forum Session - Ask questions and raise issues with the Environment Agency and the Angling Trust

This meeting is free to attend and open to all. It is aimed at ALL freshwater anglers, Coarse and Game. It is a key opportunity to hear about the work of the Environment Agency and is a chance to tell the Angling Trust what YOU think their priorities should be. Plus updates from key organisations in your area.

It looks like being a fascinating meeting, so if you love angling and live within reach of the venue, make sure you attend.

If there is a specific question you would like to ask at the meeting please let us know in advance by emailing ian.shepherd@anglingtrust.net

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The Angling Trust Video Battle (ATVB) – run in conjunction with Fishinginfo.co.uk – is calling for anglers to get creative by shooting and editing their own short fishing video to compete with other battlers to win fabulous tackle prizes worth hundreds of pounds.

All that competitors have to do is shoot a video about anything related to angling. It can be funny, artistic, educational, theatrical, the nature of fishing, a prize catch, a favourite venue, a chat about fishing with a bunch of mates … anything!

Videos should be no longer than three minutes long and there will be two categories for entrants – 16 years and under, and 17 years and over.

Completed videos must be received no later than Sunday, July 31st. Entries will be showcased on the Fishinginfo YouTube channel from Tuesday, August 16th – and then the battle is on!

Each battler can then share and publicise their video on their own social media accounts and platforms and the four most-viewed videos by Sunday, September 18th will compete in the Video Battle final along with one lucky wildcard battler chosen by Angling Trust Ambassadors Carl & Alex.

The winning videos will be chosen by a judging panel in early October.

Commenting on the challenges in encouraging younger participants to angling, fish artist and project manager Adam O Connor (aka Dusto) said: "The power of social media can often be a hindrance in getting kids involved in sports and angling has seen a decline in younger participants in recent years.

“With Video Battle we aim to claim back some ground and inspire newcomers to the sport by using what we have in abundance – talented and creative people with a passion for fishing.

“These traits are sure to shine through during this exciting competition. With many great prizes up for grabs in the Angling Trust Video Battle who wouldn’t want to have a go!"

Throughout the competition, Dusto and fellow host Ant Glascoe Jr will be getting out and about meeting some of the battlers and getting the low-down on their video entries.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Despite funding cuts from government, the Agency has committed additional funding to support this extensive programme of work over an 18-month period.

The approach aims to address five key issues affecting salmon stocks:

• improving marine survival, which has decreased by almost 50% in 20 years;
• reducing the impact of both commercial and recreational fisheries and in particular phasing out mixed stock netting;
• finding fish passage solutions to mitigate the impacts of man-made barriers to migration, improving river habitat and tackling predation from fish-eating birds;
• safeguarding sufficient flows;
• reducing agricultural pollution to improve water quality and maximise spawning success.

This move follows intense pressure by the Angling Trust on Ministers and Environment Agency officials through the ‘Save our Salmon’ campaign for immediate government action to save rapidly declining salmon populations. The Angling Trust was voted to head the campaign by readers of Trout and Salmon magazine in 2015.

The most recently (2014) published assessments of salmon stocks in England and Wales by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) showed further declines from previous surveys to the lowest numbers on record.  With at least 900 full time jobs supported by recreational salmon angling and hundreds of millions of pounds worth of fishery rights dependent on fish stocks it is imperative that drastic action is taken now.

The EA acknowledges that restoring salmon stocks is not a feasible task for a single organisation; rather a co-ordinated approach is required involving action from wider government and partners.  Consequently, the Salmon Five Point Approach is a partnership initiative involving Defra and a range of partners including the Angling Trust and Fish Legal, the Atlantic Salmon Trust, The Rivers Trust, and Salmon and Trout Conservation UK, who will all play a role in delivering on specific objectives.

The Angling Trust, as the national representative and governing body for angling in England, will be providing recommendations to reduce the impact of recreational rod angling on salmon by voluntary measures on a river-by-river basis to avoid the threatened imposition of mandatory catch and release. The Trust will be developing and implementing a proposal to secure private sector support for enforcement by volunteers and to help fund the buy-out of nets.  It will also be continuing the ongoing work with its Fisheries Management Advisors to promote more effective control of predation from cormorants and goosanders. 

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal,  said: “We are pleased to see this comprehensive and detailed response from the Environment Agency to the Save Our Salmon campaign that the Angling Trust launched last year. The real test will be whether these fine words are converted into a really comprehensive change in the way that we manage the many pressures on salmon stocks.  Anglers will play their part, but it is vital that other Defra agencies and branches of government take action if the 5-point approach is to be successful. The Angling Trust & Fish Legal will continue to campaign and if necessary take legal action to ensure that the protection of these magnificent fish is taken much more seriously at all levels of government.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Other recent Temple catches include Mike Goddard’s stunning 28lb 12oz mirror, Temple supremo Matt White's 25lb 10oz mirror, Dean Rogers 25lb 1oz mirror and Bury Hill Bailiff Clive Elson's 24lb 2oz mirror.

Another angler to catch recently was Stuart Mountjoy who caught four fish, a 25lb 6oz mirror, 22lb 2oz common, 19lb common and 18lb 4oz mirror. Interestingly, Stuart was fishing two different baits but all of his fish came to the S-Core rod. When Stuart packed up he gave his left over S-Core bait to Kevin Nash who was fishing close by, Kevin immediately swopped his rods over to the S-Core bait very quickly landing a cracking brace of mirrors weighing 28lb 12oz and 24lb. Needless to say we are now stocking the Richworth S-Core in the shop, anyone using it please let us know how you get on.

Source: Bury Hill Fisheries

With the field for the final expanded to 32 anglers, the main event starts on Friday 8th July, with the draw for pegs at 8am at the event hotel. The five hour match then gets underway at 10.30am on two lakes, with 12 pegs located on Moors Canal and 20 pegs on Suez Canal.

This is a five hour match with a single weigh-in at the conclusion and is not open to the general public.

The 32 finalists will be divided into sections of four and the top two weights in each section after the five hour match will move forward to the 16-man televised section of the final on Saturday 9th July. The draw for the Saturday will take place at Cudmore around 5.00pm.

The second part of the final will commence at around 12.05pm on Saturday 9th and there will be the traditional weigh-ins every half an hour with the match concluding at approximately 5.05pm.

There is a whopping £50,000 on offer to the champion with the runner-up receiving a tidy £10,000. 

There are three other matches taking place on the Saturday; Fish ‘O’ Mania Ladies and Juniors and the International Masters. The Ladies and Juniors will consist of six anglers competing in each match and will take place on the Suez Canal. Each match will last for four hours with a single weigh-in at the conclusion.

The winners of the Ladies and the Juniors will receive £1,000 each.

The International Masters will take place on Arena Lake and comprise six anglers representing Holland, Italy, England, Scandinavia, Germany and France. The English representative will be the luckiest loser from Friday’s Fish ‘O’ Mania final. This will be the angler who finishes in third place in his section with a weight closest to the angler who finishes second.

The prize fund for the International sees the winner receive £3,000 while the second placed angler takes home £1,000.

Tickets for the big day are now available from www.fishomania.net as well as the venue, and Get Hooked on Fishing.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Retaining their places from last year are; Alex Clements, Matt Barnett and Rory Jones while Bradley Gibbons will also feature as he progresses from the U18s.  The fifth and final place in the squad goes to Sheffield’s Ricky Marshall who will win his first England cap.

The team are;
Alex Clements, Southampton
Rory Jones, Herefordshire
Bradley Gibbons, Berkshire
Matt Barnett, Hampshire
Ricky Marshall, Sheffield

Coruche on the River Sorraia is a notoriously difficult venue for England Teams.  The under 18s and under 23s have only one team bronze medal in their last two  visits to the venue so  the team will be looking to improve upon that record in 2016.  It is expected that barbel on the waggler and bleak and borga on the pole, plus the occasional Carassio and mullet will be the target species.

Mark Downes, Drennan U23s England Manager stated

“This is a good team, all capable of fishing at distance but equally at home putting 200 small fish on the scales if needed.  We will need all of our technical and tactical skills on this one if we are to do well.”

Mark this year will be joined by Darran Bickerton as his Assistant Coach.  Darran has a wealth of experience and is well travelled.  Mark said “tactically Darran is superb, and his attention to detail when it comes to preparation is meticulous, along with myself we will leave no stone unturned.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The broadcasting giants have thrown their support behind a host of new angling shows which will include both competition highlights and a 'Top Gear-style' fun and entertaining fishing show.

Hughes, Angling Promotion Officer with the Angling Trust, said: "I’m over the moon to be working with  BT Sport and all the brilliant energy and creativity that comes with it. Our sport is magnificent and we are one of the leaders on the international competition scene.

"As anglers we need to see more of the big events televised and the wider public needs to know just how good England are as an angling nation."

Hughes, who has already revolutionised angling event coverage and himself has netted two world titles in carp fishing, added: "Part of my role with the Angling Trust and Sport England is to promote participation within our sport and I aim to do exactly that.

"Taking angling to a wider audience is exactly what we need and showing the public how good we are, and also the fantastic benefits of angling, are vitally important to the future of our sport.”

The agreement will see 27 new programmes being made for BT Sport made up of 15 event highlights shows to be broadcast shortly after the event, and a magazine-style series of 12 programmes covering all disciplines of the sport, and featuring star guests, fun challenges and a look into some of the conservation and environmental benefits of angling.

Events to be included are UK Champs, British Carp Champs, Match This, Parkdean Masters, World Predator Classic, World Carp Classic, World Feeders, Floats, Carp and Lure Championships plus two other events made especially for TV.

The first of the competition highlights shows will be broadcast in May with the magazine show airing in late autumn.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News