Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

As announced in March last year, the results of the Lower Itchen qualifier (November 2019) and the Wherwell, R. Test qualifier (February 2020) will both stand, with qualifying competitors fishing the Rivers National Final next year in 2022.

In addition, there will be new series of River Qualifiers, with qualifying competitors also taking part in the 2022 Rivers National next year.

For any queries regarding the AT TEFF Rivers Qualifiers please contact the coordinator Peter Scholes – 07523 121 494.

Matches will be fished to full international rules and AT TEFF River Qualifier scoring system. Measure, Catch & Release basis. Only in season fish 20cm and above will be eligible for measuring / scoring / awarding fish points.

Entrants will be split into 2 groups:

• Morning group fishing am & controlling pm.
• Afternoon group fishing pm & controlling am.

The Qualifiers kick off on the Lower Itchen in October 2021, details below:

October 2021

Sunday 10th October – South East FF Federation – Lower Itchen fishery (Official Practice: Saturday 9th October) – Organiser: Tony Fox – Overall Results: 1. Gillaum Vermeulen 2. Cameron Craigs 3. Gavin Walsh 4. Mike Heritage 5. Daniel Price 6. Trevor Hayman

Andrew Smith reports: “The decision to run this match just after the closure of the trout season paid off, as we saw the Lower Itchen fishery in fine form with excellent water clarity and pleasant weather.
Grayling were well spread throughout the river, with plenty still in shallow riffles. Only a single day’s coarse fishing had taken place, so it seems the fish had not become preoccupied with a maggot diet. All age groups of grayling were evident, with a good number of 40cm plus specimens.  
Fish were caught on a variety of methods. The rod averages for the morning and afternoon sessions were over 19 and 15 fish, which shows the quality of the fishing.”

Full Results:

November 2021

[Sunday 28th November – River Wear – Cancelled]

January 2022

Sunday 23rd January –  River Dee – Overall Results: 1. Simon Caddy 2. Kevin Moran 3. Simon Clarke 4. Richard Baxendale 5. Stan Moore 6. Brian Lillie

Full Results:

March 2022

Sunday 6th March – River Dee – Overall Results: 1. Chris Richardson 2. David Bradley 3. Richard Baxendale 4. Stan Moore 5. Andy Taylor 6. Pete Scholes

Full Results:

[Sunday 27th March – River Dee – Cancelled]

April 2022

Sunday 10th April  – River Ure, Wensley – Overall Results: 1. Peter Crowe 2. Dan Scott Paul 3. Graham Kennerley 4. Philip Shaw-Browne 5= Anthony McKenna 5= Chris Richardson

Full Results:

Organiser Paul Page reports: “It was an early start for all, meeting up (and returning at the end for results etc) at the Three Horseshoes Inn in Wensley, in the heart of Wensleydale. The Qualifier was centred around Lords Bridge on the Bolton Hall Estate, which gives magnificent views of the river and Bolton Hall, especially on Sunday when it was bathed in bright mid-day sunshine. Wednesday’s rainfall over the Howgills put a welcome metre of water on the river level on Thursday, which by Sunday had fined down to a nice pace and level for the Qualifier. Despite the flush of fresh water, the fishing was challenging. Being a trout-only competition, the abundant grayling were to play no part, and the trout were being their usual early-season elusive selves.

The morning session on the Wensley beat, downstream from Lords Bridge, was greeted with an overnight frost and bright sunshine. However, Peter Crowe managed to measure six brown trout between 29cms and 35cms to win the morning session, with Graham Kennerley coming a close second with four trout. The seven anglers who fished the morning session caught a total of twelve trout between them.

After swapping over from controlling to fishing, and changing partners, eight anglers competed in the afternoon session upstream of Lords Bridge on the Bolton Hall beat. Conditions had changed after lunch, with the weather becoming overcast and a significant drop in temperature. More competitors caught trout, but to a lower overall total of eight. Dan Scott Paul won the afternoon session with three fish, the biggest being the largest caught during the day, a superbly conditioned 40cms brown. Second place in the afternoon went to Phil Shaw-Browne, where his 39cms trout, caught on a dry, gave him the edge.

Peter Crowe said he didn’t get much chance for a proper practice, but when walking the river on Sunday he identified a couple of spots where he fancied his chances to fish if drawn in the morning. Fishing with small black flies did the trick.

Dan Scott Paul said it was very tough on the upper beat, a fight for every fish. The Duo brought him two fish, with the 40cms fish on a Pheasant Tail nymph, while his third fish took a Taddy. He thought it was a wonderful setting.

Paul Page, the event organiser, said that the early April Ure Qualifier was always a challenge as the grayling are out of season. But whilst the conditions were ideal there was little fly life to be seen. However, Peter with his six fish showed that if you had the right tactics and read the river well there were trout to be caught. Wensleydale, and the Ure, are a stunning place to fish, and our thanks go to Lord Bolton for giving us access to his estate’s fishery.”

May 2022

Sunday 15th May – Overall Results: 1. Paul Fairhurst 2. Carl Nixon 3. Brian Lillie 4. Nick Craigs 5. Pete Scholes

Full Results:

Report: The final qualifier on the River Wear 15th May, the last chance before the AT TEFF Rivers National on Upper Tees: 3rd & 4th September 2022. Ooh, how hard the River Wear fished too, the AM session fished a little better with every angler recording a measurable trout, whilst the PM session proved to much harder with only one angler finding a fish big enough to count.
Talk in the pre-match meeting was the river looked in great condition, but a lack of water had made the trout harder to tempt. As the day panned out, finding trout over 20cms in length was quite difficult, as was getting past the ravenously feeding grayling.
Well done to the guys who qualified in such taxing conditions, super performance.
Highlight of the day was an enormous trout of 60cms landed by Brian Lillie, “Well played and landed Brian” This monster fish was pushing 5lbs and in good condition.

Final – Saturday 3rd-Sunday 4th September 2022, River Tees

2019-2020/2021-2022 River Qualifiers – Entries, Results & Allocation

NB: AT TEFF matches now have an AT membership requirement. If you need to renew or sign up please visit www.anglingtrust.net/membership or call 0343 5077 006 (option 1).

October 2022

Sunday 16th October – South East FF Federation – Lower Itchen fishery (Official Practice: Saturday 15th October) – Limted to 26 competitors – Entry details out in early September – Organiser: Tony Fox

Italy – Comano Terme, Terentino, 18th-24th July 2022

The 7th FIPS-Mouche Masters World Fly Fishing Championships, for competitors aged over 50, was held in Comano Terme, Terentino, Italy, from 18th-24th July 2022. It was held in parallel with the 19th Cortland World Youth Fly Fishing Championships.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

Australia – Belgium – Czech Republic – Finland – France – Ireland – Italy – Luxemburg – Nederlands – New Zealand – Romania – Scotland – Slovakia – Slovenia – South Africa – Spain – Sweden – USA

SECTORS

The 6th FIPS-Mouche Masters World Fly Fishing Championships wias held on three rivers, the Sarca, the Chiese and the Noce. The Sarca River has its source in the Adamello glaciers and flows into Lake Garda, leaving the lake as the Mincio River. Lake Garda is 77 kilometers from the source. The Chiese River has its source in the Adamello Group, and at 160 km in length is the ninth longest river in Italy and the largest of the sub-tributaries of the Po. The Noce River originates at 3360 m above sea level on the Corno dei Tre Signori, in the Stelvio National Park in the Ortles-Cevedale group and flows into the Adige River near Trento after 105 km.

Sector 1 – Sarca River, Spiazzo
This stretch of the Sarca river has good characteristics with an almost completely natural bed, abundant flow, deep potholes and good current. The fish population is made up of native and introduced brown trout, marble trout including large sizes, hybrids and grayling.

Sector 2 – River Chiese, B/T Tourist Area Borgo Chiese
Chiese has a torrential character, with a wide riverbed, crystal clear waters alternating with low sections and with deep potholes and sections of “flat” and fast water. Trout species: marble trout, brown trout, hybrids, grayling.

Sector 3 – River Noce
Sector 3 begins 1 km upstream of the Iscle landfill and ends at the Biotope set up about 200 meters downstream of the Moncovo bridge.

Sector 4 – Sarca River, Tione
The competition venue is 6.3 km long and includes a “catch and release” area of approximately 2,300 meters downstream from the built-up area of Villa. This area has good characteristics, with an almost completely natural riverbed, abundant flow and deep potholes.

Sector 5 – River Noce, Rotaliana
This stretch of Noce extends from the Rocchetta gorge to the Mezzocorona power plant outlet. The watercourse has the characteristics of a classic valley floor stream with gentle slopes where short riffles alternate with long swampy areas, including deep ones. The water buttercups stands out on the bottom. From April to August the water is generally slightly hazy and the flow rate is consistent between 6 and 8 m³/s. The banks are easy to access. The fish fauna is mainly composed of marble trout and the marble-brown trout hybrid, and secondarily of the brown trout and grayling.

RESULTS

Session 1
After one session the Czech Republic were lying 1st with 24 placing points, one ahead of the USA in 2nd, and Luxembourg 3rd with 28 points. Ireland are 12th and Scotland 14th.
In the World Youth Championships, run concurrently, Spain were 1st on 8 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 14 points, and France 3rd with 23 points. Ireland were 8th.

Session 2
The second session saw Belgium and Italy do well, with Italy moving into 2nd place with 57 placing points, the same as the Czech Republic in 1st place, with the USA 3rd with 58 points. Ireland moved up to 9th place, with Scotland 15th. Benoit Dequinze (Belgium) was top of the individual rankings with 3 placing points, with Milan Senkyr (Czech Republic) 2nd and Bret Bishop (USA) 3rd, both on 4 points.
In the World Youth Championships, Spain held onto their lead with 23 points, with the Czech Republic 2nd on 34 points and France 3rd with 43 points. Spain’s Sergio Heredero led the individual rankings with two 1st places, with Emile Jacquet (France) 2nd on 3 points, ahead of four competitors all on 4 points.

Session 3
The third session saw another reshuffle, with the USA moving into 1st place with 74 placing points, some distance ahead of the Czech Republic in 2nd place, and Italy in 3rd, both on 91 points, with Belgium 4th on 94 points. Ireland dropped to 10th place, while Scotland remained 15th. In the individual rankings Milan Senkyr (Czech Republic) moved into 1st place with 5 placing points, the same score as Bret Bishop (USA) in 2nd, with Mike Sexton (USA) 3rd with 6 points.
In the World Youth Championships Spain remained in 1st place with 49 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd on 59 points, and France 3rd with 67 points. Carlos Delgado (Spain) became the top individual with 5 placing points, with Emile Jacquet (France) 2nd with 6 points, and Sergio Heredero (Spain) 3rd with 7 points.

Session 4
Session 4 saw the USA retain their 1st place with 113 placing points, one point ahead of Belgium, who moved up into 2nd with 114 points, with the Czech Republic 3rd with 121 points, one ahead of Italy on 122 points. Both Ireland and Scotland dropped in the team placings, Ireland to 12th and Scotland to 16th. Bret Bishop (USA) led the individual rankings with 7 placing points, with Milan Senkyr (Czech Republic) 2nd with 11 points, and Michael Twohig of Ireland moving into 3rd place with 12 points.
The World Youth Championships saw Spain stay ahead in 1st place with 67 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 80 points, and France in 3rd with 86 points. The Irish youth team were 9th. Spain also had the two top individuals, with Carlos Delgado 1st with 7 placing points, and Sergio Heredero 2nd with 8 points. Jan Witner of the Czech Republic was 3rd with 11 points.

Session 5
The 5th and final session saw USA hold onto their 1st place to become the 2022 World Masters Champions with 137 placing points, just three ahead of Italy who moved up into 2nd place with 140 points, with Belgium 3rd with 154 points. Ireland went up one place to end 11th, with Scotland 16th. Individually, the USA had another reason to celebrate with Bret Bishop becoming the 2022 World Individual Champion with two 1sts, a 2nd, a 3rd, and a 5th place in his sessions. Michael Twohig of Ireland won his final session to finish 2nd with 13 points, with Rene Koops (Netherlands) 3rd with 19 placing points, the same score as Benoit Dequinze (Belgium) in 4th.
In the World Youth Championships Spain maintained their lead to become the 2022 World Youth Champions on 85 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 94 points, and France 3rd with 111 points. The Irish youth team finished 9th. Spain also dominated the individual rankings, with Carlos Delgado the 2022 Individual World Youth Champion, with three 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd place in his sessions, and Sergio Heredero 2nd with 12 points. Jan Witner (Czech Republic) finished 3rd with 12 points.

You will find more information at the competition website here>>

Congratulations to England’s Sheena Goode who is now placed 27th in the World. Sheena defeated lost baggage and raging Norwegian Rivers to successfully represent England at the 1st FIPS-Mouche World Ladies Fly Fishing Championship in the region of Stor-Elvdal and Rendalen, Innlandet, Norway on 4th – 10th July 2022.
Whilst England were unable to raise a full Ladies team for the championship, Sheena stepped forward to fish as an individual competitor so that England would be represented at the inaugural Ladies World Championship.
Without any team mates to practice with, Sheena joined up with England’s European Team who were practicing at an adjacent river system. Sheena’s journey was eventful, KLM had lost her fishing kit and bags, so she started out with just an overnight bag. With high waters, the rivers were unfishable, so lake practice was the only option, with borrowed clothes and tackle. However, come Day 3 Sheena’s bags arrived, which allowed her to settle in for the last couple of days practice before moving onto the Championship at the Øiseth Hotel at Åkrestrømmen.
The teams that had arrived earlier in the week had had the good fortune to practice on fishable rivers and hence put them at an advantage for the Championship. Despite this, having to fish blind on a new river system, and being on her own without the benefit of team meetings and shared tactical information, Sheena managed to catch in all 5 fishing sessions and avoided the dreaded blanks.
Sheena caught 13 fish in total, grayling, rainbow trout and white fish. The biggest being a 40.5cm grayling. 10420 fish points for 31 placing points giving her a 27th place overall.
Paul Page, Angling Trust’s FIPS-Mouche Representative, said, “You expect it to be tough when you compete against the world’s top fly-fishing nations, but to go it alone and achieve such a result with no team members to help you prepare for the rivers and lakes you are going to fish is a massive achievement. It indicates to me that England’s Ladies could be up there with the best in future years, if they can get a team together. Well done, Sheena, cracking result, you’ve shown us what’s achievable.”
Sheena Goode said, “I am so honoured and proud to have fished in this event, the 1st World Ladies Fly Fishing Championship. It’s been a dream for years and I knew it would be tough, and it was! But skills I have gained through many hours of practice and Home Internationals seems to have paid off. Reading each sector and session was key. I have met old friends and made many new, the location wasn’t bad either. Norway is stunning. So, ladies please give it a try, you never know what could happen and meet some incredible ladies too.”

The 26th FIPS-Mouche European Fly Fishing Championships & 1st FIPS-Mouche World Ladies Fly Fishing Championships was held at Stop-Elvdal and Rendalen in Norway, from the 4th-10th July, 2022.
AT TEFF was represented by Bernie Maher (Captain), Tony Baldwin, Ben Bangham, Gilliaum Vermeulen & Mark Withyman.
Sheena Goode represented England Ladies in the World Ladies Fly Fishing Championships as an individual.

Sectors
Sector 1 – Atna River
Sector 2 – Upper Glomma River
Sector 3 – Lower Glomma River
Sector 4 – Mistra River
Sector 5 – Storsjøenlake

Opening Ceremony at Koppang

Session 1

Ladies – Results

In the Ladies’ World Championship Sheena Goode, fishing as an individual, came 3rd in her section on the River Atna, and is currently 14th out of 46 in the overall individual placings. In the team placings, the Czech Republic are 1st with 11 placing points, with Australia 2nd with 21 points, and the USA 3rd with 23 points.

European – Results

After Session 1 England were lying 9th out of 16 teams. Ben Bangham scored a 6th place with 5 fish on Lake Storsjøen, while on the River Atna Mark Withyman also came 6th with 6 fish. Guilliaum Vermeulen came 8th on the Lower Glomma, Bernie Maher 11th on the Upper Glomma, with Tony Baldwin 15th on the River Mistra. Finland were in 1st place overall, with 12 placing points, ahead of the Czech Republic in 2nd with 26 points and Spain in 3rd, also with 26 points.

Session 2

Ladies – Results

Sheena Goode, fishing as an individual, managed to save a blank on the Upper Glomma to finish 6th in a section where four ladies failed to catch. She was 19th out of 47 in the overall individual placings. In the team placings, the Czech Republic were still 1st with 23 placing points, ahead of Australia 2nd with 45 points, with Norway moving into 3rd place with 46 points.

European – Results

Session 2 saw England remain at 9th place out of 16 teams. Mark Withyman scored a 3rd place with 16 fish on the Upper Glomma, while Ben Bangham came 5th on the River Atna. Guilliaum Vermeulen came 7th on the River Mistra, with Tony Baldwin 11th on Lake Storsjøen, and Bernie Maher 15th on the Lower Glomma. Finland retained their 1st place overall, with 35 placing points, with Spain moving up into 2nd place with 46 points, and France moving up to 3rd with 57 points.

Session 3

Ladies – Results

Sheena Goode, fishing as an individual, came 8th on the Lower Glomma with 4 fish, and was 25th in the overall individual placings. The Czech Republic hung onto their lead in the team placings with 40 placing points, with Finland moving into 2nd place with 64 points, and the USA going up into 3rd place with 68 points.

European – Results

Session 3 saw England slip to 10th place, with Guilliaum Vermeulen scoring a 9th place on Lake Storsjøen. On the rivers Mark Withyman came 10th on the Lower Glomma, Bernie Maher 11th on the River Mistra, Ben Bangham 12th on the Upper Glomma, and Tony Baldwin 13th on the River Atna. Ex-England International Andy Croucher, now fishing for Norway, was 21st in the individual rankings, having had a 6th place on the lake, and a 4th and 8th place on the rivers. Finland consolidated their 1st place overall, with 60 placing points, ahead of Spain in 2nd place with 76 points, and France in 3rd with 83 points.

Session 4

Ladies – Results

Sheena Goode, fishing as an individual, came 10th out of 10 on the Nordre Renaelva, even though she managed to catch, and dropped to 31st in the individual rankings. The Czech Republic remained top of the team placings with 55 placing points, with Finland still in 2nd place with 75 points, and the USA in 3rd place with 97 points.

European – Results

England moved back into 9th place in Session 4, thanks to Guilliaum Vermeulen winning his session on the River Atna with 13 fish, and Ben Bangham coming 3rd on the Lower Glomma. Bernie Maher came 7th on Lake Storsjøen, while on the other river sectors Tony Baldwin was 13th on the Upper Glomma, and Mark Withyman 14th on the River Mistra. The top three team placings saw a reshuffle, with France moving from 3rd to 1st place with 101 placing points, Spain moving into 2nd with 105 points, and Finland dropping to 3rd with 108 points. The Individual leaders were Luigi Brunelli (Italy), ahead of Jussi-Pekka Myllymaki (Finland), both on 9 placing points.

Session 5

Ladies – Final Results

Sheena Goode, fishing as an individual, had a better session on Lake Storsjøen, coming 4th with 3 fish, and ended the championship in 27th place. Wth four of their team making up the top four individuals, the Czech Republic are the 2022 Ladies World Team Champions by a convincing margin, finishing with 62 placing points, ahead of Finland in 2nd place with 96 points, with Norway moving into 3rd place with 120 points, just one point ahead of the USA. Tereza Rutova (Czech Republic) is the Individual World Ladies Champion, scoring two 1st places, two 2nds and a 3rd in her five sessions.

European – Final Results

A disappointing final session saw England slip back down to 10th place and 241 placing points, with Mark Withyman coming 10th on Lake Storsjøen, Bernie Maher 11th on the River Atna, Tony Baldwin 12th on the Lower Glomma, Ben Bangham 15th= on the River Mistra and Guilliaum Vermeulen 16th on the Upper Glomma. In the team rankings France held on to their 1st place to become the 2022 European Champions, scoring 128 placing points, the same total as 2nd place Spain, but with higher fish points. In 3rd place was Finland with 135 points, ahead of Poland on 149 points, Slovakia on 164 points and Norway on 177 points. With a 1st place on the lake, Luigi Brunelli (Italy) stayed top of the individuals to become the 2022 European Champion, scoring a 1st, three 2nds, and a 3rd place in his five sessions, with Jussi-Pekka Myllymaki (Finland) staying in 2nd place and Jean-Guillaume Mathieu (France) moving up into 3rd. Guilliaum Vermeulen finished 34th overall, Ben Bangham 38th, Mark Withyman 41st, Bernie Maher 54th and Tony Baldwin 74th. Former England international Andy Croucher, fishing for Norway, finished in 46th place.

Symposium, Presentation of Prizes and Closing Ceremony

You will find more information at the Championship website here, and on their Facebook page here

The venues and dates for these qualifiers are now available – please click the link ‘Match Calendar’ on the right side of this screen.

The AT TEFF Executive has worked hard to minimise entry costs to anglers and will be reducing entry fees to just £27.50. We are also working hard to negotiate favourable prices with all the fisheries.

If you have any questions relating to these qualifiers please contact me by email.
Ian ian.colclough@gmail.com AT TEFF

April 2022

Friday 15th April – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Grafham 

Results: 1st Mark Macleod 2nd Mark Rose 3rd Tony Curtis 4th David Currie 5th Kevin Glenn 6th Paul Wild 7th Robert Middleton 8th John Pearn 9th Frank Sumnall 10th Jake Wenman 11th Pablo Mullings 12th Simon Clarke

Sunday 24th April – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Blagdon

Results: 1st Dale Burgess 2nd John Horsey 3rd Paul Golding 4th Dave Reynolds 5th Andy Stones 6th Mark Miles 7th John Piper 8th Ron Howard 9th Tony Baldwin 10th Gary Morris

May 2022

Sunday 8th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Carsington

Results: 1st Richard Hood 2nd Sean Porter 3rd John Brown 4th John Henshall 5th Daniel Tranter 6th Andrew Axon 7th Tony Smith 8th Bruce Blackshaw 9th Graeme Bell 10th Neil Thomas 11th Simon Caddy 12th Nick Donald

Sunday 15th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Bewl 

Results: 1st Philip Thompson 2nd Richard Denney 3rd Jake Martin 4th Baz Reece

Sunday 15th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Draycote

Results: 1st Nick Donald 2nd Andy Campbell 3rd Warren Langridge 4th Lee Cartmail 5th Graham Willis 6th Anthony Roy Fox 7th Rob Allan 8th Sam Smith 9th Sean Hanlon 10th Lee Patten 11th Peter Elliott 12th Paul Cramp 13th Mark Parsley 14th Graham Currie

Sunday 22nd May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Rutland

Results: 1st Ben Race 2nd Paul Runec 3rd Neil Cohen 4th Leigh Pond 5th Paul Tweddle 6th Martin Griffiths 7th Neil Hodgson 8th Tez Livin

June 2022

Friday 3rd June – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Blithfield

Results: 1st Ryan Feber 2nd Lee Bartlett 3rd David Johns 4th Steve Smalley 5th Tony Smith 6th John Hood 7th Martin Griffiths 8th Chris Webster 9th Jack Vallis 10th Matt Nuttall

Sunday 19th June – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Chew

Results: 1st Martin Burgess 2nd Lloyd Pallett 3rd Alan Clark 4th Andy Cottam 5th Martin Barrett 6th Paul Sweatman 7th David Minall 8th Matt Kingdon 9th Michael Walker 10th Andrew Haskins 11th Richard Walker 12th Alex Johnstone 13th John Huckings 14th John Bowen 15th Paul Roach 16th Martin Faulkner

July 2022

Saturday 9th July – AT TEFF Official Loch-style Repechage Practice, Draycote (book directly with fishery)
Sunday 10th July – AT TEFF Loch-style Repechage, Draycote – invitations will be sent out around 22nd June

September 2022

Thursday 8th – Friday 9th September – AT TEFF Official Loch-style National Practice, Draycote (book directly with fishery. Note that you must fish with another qualifier on 9th)
Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th September – AT TEFF Loch-style National, Draycote (by qualification) – invitations will be sent out on 1st August

Link to Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yNnq8rDtBZqq0-T9ln9P4v1TWxzjmguKeoh2gFNxC6E/edit?usp=sharing

Day One, Session One

We are here at Draycote Water, Rugby for the 4th Angling Trust Loch Style Team Championship. The weekend of high octane focused, nip and tuck competition started at 09:00 this morning.
Here are some of the images from the morning prep and Le Mans style start, as our competitors line up boats ready for the off.
09:00 was the off, as all the boats but one shot off in search of the Shoals, and feeding fish. Boat 13, carrying Richard Slater and Ian Donaldson of Elinor slipped back out of the melee. They slowed up off the back of the pack to have a couple of exploratory drifts onto J buoy, just off the jetty.
More updates thoughout the day

Day One, Session One Results

We’ve had our first session change, and processed the results for update one, the current standing is Renegades on 17 fish for 765 points, Greenwell Persuaders 14 fish for 651, Rio Draycote 14 for 635 & Fish Hawks 14 for 633. So the morning session sees the teams off to flying starts, we’ll have our second update in about three hours from now.

Day One, Mid Session Update

Mid session update – 14:00.
The half hour window, when the team members fishing and stewards change over, is also an opportunity for the various teams to get together and discuss tactics. Word is, the fish are up in the first six foot and this is where anglers are concentrating their effort.
Though this is very much a team comp, it’s always interesting to note the individuals who are pushing the field.
1 David Eames RAF Fish Hawks 7 fish 316 points
2 Lee Henfrey RIO Draycote 6 fish 265 points
3 Mark MacLeod Greenwell Persuaders 5 fish 234 points

Day One, Second Session

Update from the 2nd session of the day. We find out teams swapping positions on the leader board with Renegades still in 1st place on 44 fish – 1971 pts, RAF Fish Hawks moving into 2nd 40 fish – 1794 pts, Rio Draycote 3rd 35 fish – 1571 pts and one fish separating the next two teams.
Teams swapped anglers and stewards, as well as information and tactics, for the 3rd and final session from 16:00 to 19:00.

Day One Results

Day Two, First Session

Day two session one. We popped out to petrol the boats and see if we could catch some of the action.
Here’s Mark Rose of Renegades landing one of his four fish, adding 216 points to his team’s total.

Day Two, First Session Results

Results from the first of today’s sessions. This morning’s fishing has seen Fulling Mill Team Tequila squeeze in between current leaders Renegades and yesterday’s runners-up RAF Fish Hawks.
The accompanying picture is of some of the teams motoring out for session two.

Day Two, Second Session

2nd session of Day Two.
Things are heating up as the teams begin dialling in to where the fish are.
Rainbow Corner is still the most popular, yet it’s getting crowded and some of the teams are taking the gamble of finding new water to drift and fresh shoals that have not been pressured.
While out patrolling the boats we saw one boat with two fish on at the same time as other boats around them also began bending into fish.

Day Two, Second Session Results

Results, Second Day, Second Session.
Just like last year, it’s really got close at the top and for the first time Renegades are off the top spot. It would still be a brave bet to say it’s all over with three hours left to fish.
The boats are off at 19:00 and results won’t be far behind

Mid Session, Day Two

Mid session update, the boats are off the water in 10 minutes.
We popped over to take a look at the action from Barn Bank, the boats were fishing short drifts off the shallows, within ten minutes we saw a double-up as one boat landed two trout at the same time. Boat 15, substitute for Boat 1 from yesterday with anglers from Renegades bending into fish as were Fulling Mill TT.

Final Results

The weekend of competition is over and the results are in for 2022.
An amazing two days of top flight elite competition over and here are this year’s placings and top places.
Third – picking up £600 RAF Fish Hawks
Runners Up – taking £800 Renegades
This year’s winners and turning around yesterday’s results:
Fulling Mill Team Tequila
Well done on all on a fantastic performance and great match!

Report

1st Fulling Mill Tequila 133 fish 5988 pts £1,200
2nd Renegades 105 fish 4683 pts £800
3rd RAF Fish Hawks 103 fish 4641 pts £600

The AT reports: The Angling Trust’s 4th Loch Style Team Championship, contested over the weekend, was as exciting and dynamic as ever. The very first session’s results read: Renegades 17 fish, Greenwell Persuaders, Rio Draycote & RAF Fish Hawks all on 14 fish, with just 132 points separating the top four places.
Leaving Fulling Mill Tequila with 8 fish, Elinor 4 fish and Fly Boys 2 fish, after the first three hours. All comfortably on the score sheet but certainly playing catch-up, over the next five sessions the team placings would swap again and again. As during each angler change-over, teams would meet in huddles to discuss tweaks to tactics and methods employed. As Sherlock Holmes would say to Watson “The game’s afoot”!
By the second session, RAF Fish Hawks, FM Tequila, and Rio Draycote had slipped in between Renegades and Greenwells. For the next two sessions (PM Sat & AM Sunday) the teams would vary, both in position and points. Only the bravest pundit would place a bet on any specific outcome.
Then during the midday session on Sunday, Fulling Mill Tequila made a break for the lead, going into the final session with 16 fish on Renegades and Fish Hawks. But as we witnessed last year teams can drop and gain placings by 20 fish or more, and the size of fish targeted can also have a huge impact on results.
The final tally saw Fulling Mill Team Tequila lift this year’s trophy, and only two fish separating third place from the runners-up, Renegades and RAF Fish Hawks.
Matthew Griffiths, FM Tequila’s captain, explained how they changed tactics and the fortune of their campaign this year.
“On Day One we fished a Fast Glass from the outset, pulling as we had during practice. We also tried fishing Booby Bashers if struggling, as this had also brought fish the boats whilst practising too.
Realising this wasn’t working, we took advantage of our time stewarding, noting other teams were fishing higher in the column, generally on the washing line. For us we got our best result in the last session with Tequila FABs hanging a pair of Superglue Buzzes.
Sunday, we kept this going from the off, finally dialling into the use of six-foot Slow Tips, fished on short drifts over relatively shallow water around Rainbow Bay, action was swift at times and occasionally frustrating. On one session I bumped and lost eight fish, before netting a further eight to the boat.
It was great being back in this compition, as FNF Nymphomaniacs we picked up this trophy in 2018 & 2019. It’s great to be fishing the AT Loch Style Team Champs again. Even better to lift the trophy for a third time, with a fresh team and new team mates and our first major win as a new team too. We’re off the Loop Inversion from our next comp with the confidence this win brings under our belt”
Angling Trust wishes to thank, Fly Fish Store and Draycote Fishery and the team for hosting this event, New Leaf Catering for providing the Sunday fare for our hungry anglers, and Chris Bobby of Greenwell Persuaders for support with our technical scoring system. Most importantly of all, to all our teams and anglers whose dedication to the competition makes it such a great competition.

24th June 2022

Results:

1. Scotland 65 fish 2968 pts 47 placing pts
2. Wales 55 fish 2589 pts 50 placing pts
3. Ireland 59 fish 2621 pts 51 placing pts
4. England 56 fish 2517 pts 56 placing pts

Individual Winner: Ross McKeen, Scotland 5 placing pts

Largest Fish: Terry Bromwell, Wales 73.3 cms

AT TEFF was represented by: Cameron Craigs (capt), James Atkinson, Harry Fox, Chris Micallef & Carl Nixon. Congratulations to Scotland on their convincing victory.

Carl Nixon reports: Arriving for pre-match practice on Sat 18th, we were greeted with strong 35mph+ winds. Looking at the forecast we knew match week would be settled, very warm and with sporadic cloud, all teams were in for some excellent fishing.

These gusts stayed until late Sunday where we covered Beats B & C in relative shelter from the weather. On beats B & C, known as the Streams and Upper Parkhill, we were soon experiencing the excellent fishing we had been told about. Although the deceptive flow to the river and some of the hardest wading we’ve experienced made the fishing unsteady under foot, the practice was off to a great start.

Monday we were joined by current EPP & National Champion James Atkinson, who had been taking part in an EPP event on the River Ure. James joined us on Parkhill, Beat D. Where we were lucky enough to encounter some brilliant fishing, with several of the team landing fish to 5lb. As the day progressed, a pattern and a possible match plan was starting to take shape. To that point we decided that to hopefully save increasing fishing pressure, we limited catches to 2/3 fish and move on. We progressed to Beat E in the afternoon. Where yet again we stuck to the 2/3 fish plan and steadily put together a comprehensive beat map and approach.

Tactics were discussed at length at the regular nightly team debrief, practice flies, thoughts on set-ups, and tales of lost monsters.

Beats were drawn Wednesday evening, with the surprising outcome of all teams having several anglers fishing their team mates’ water from the morning sessions. This alone made all teams have a slight rethink to their match plans.

Small drab flies in the 14-18 range, either fished at distance with floated sighter or nymphing style on the level line.
Emerger style patterns for the slow water
Duo in the streamy riffles.

Match Day

As we all headed off to our respective start points, the weather was extremely warm for the 09:30 start, 24 degrees, mist in the air, and a very high air pressure made fishing very sticky.

Harry drew Beat A, James Beat B, Beat C for myself, Chris drew the lovely beat D and Cam drew Beat E.

As we met for lunch after session 2, the scores were tentatively worked out, tales from all teams of blanks on some sessions, and some high catch returns for all teams, made the halfway score very tight. Scotland 20, Wales 26, Ireland 25, England 29. Unfortunately Harry failed to get on the score card in the morning session, which meant we needed a great afternoon session. Having a chat, we knew our match plan was correct, we had all generated fish or chances, so we regrouped and knew we could make the afternoon session ours.

As we met after session 4, we knew the scores would be tight, and after doing some quick maths, we knew that we had won both session 3 & 4, all we could have asked for and more.

As the result was announced, Scotland were congratulated and deserved winners. Sadly our session wins in 3 & 4 weren’t enough as the place points just weren’t where we needed them to be.

We stuck to our individual & team match plan, and unfortunately it didn’t quite pay off as we had hoped.

I couldn’t have asked any more from the rest of the team during practice & match day, we were 110% committed, just not our day.

Thank you to Team Captain Cameron Craigs who led from the front all week.

Fellow team mates Chris Micallef, James Atkinson, Harry Fox, Mark Lynch & myself.

Thank you to the following who kindly supported Team England.

Jason Lieverst & Nicole Darland of MasterNymph USA
Mike Laycock of Craghoppers
Franta Hanak of Hanak Competiton.
Glasgow Angling Centre.

Last but certainly not least, every angler, and family members who very kindly bought raffle tickets, bonus ball tickets and donated where they could.

1. Ireland 36 fish 1030.8cms 1761pts
2. Scotland 31 fish 894.8cms 1526pts
3. Wales 21 fish 604.8cms 1029pts
4. England 18 fish 517.3cms 882pts

Best Basket: Denis Goulding (Ireland) 7 fish 190.3cms 332pts

Largest Trout: Toby Bracey (Scotland) 33.4cms

Top England rod: Tony Baldwin 3 fish 79.1cms 140pts

There is more coverage of this event on the BBC News website – Northern Ireland, see here

AT Team England Fly Fishing was represented by: Paul Angell (manager), Andy Cottam (captain), Tony Baldwin, Martin Burgess, Peter Crowe, Graham Currie, Ashley Davis, Kim Green, John Hood, Alex Johnstone, Eamon Mounter, Ben Race, Richard Slater, Paul Sweatman & Tim Wellman.

Congratulations to Ireland on a convincing victory.

Full Results:

What is the EPP?

The EPP is the Elite Performance Programme, which is a competitive fly fishing programme established in 2018 in order to develop elite anglers and provide a framework for selections teams to represent England in World, European and now 5 Nation Championships.

Who runs the EPP?

For the 2022 programme the official is Scott Nellins, however assistance is requested to peg river sections.

The programme is supported by staff at the Angling Trust (AT) and Team England Fly Fishers (TEFF).

What is the timeframe for EPP?

The Elite Performance Programme will run between June 2022 and September 2022, running over 7 days (2 x 2 days and 1 x 3 day).

What is the format of the EPP?

The programme will have 16 places available and is based on 4 events

Rivers: 3 x 2-day events
Lake: 1 x 1-day event

For more information, open the document below