Mark Miles (captain), Tony Baldwin, John Bowen, Martin Burgess, Phil Burgess, Lee Cartmail, David Eames, Martin Griffiths, Mike Laycock, Mike Lightfoot, Paddy Mounter, Paul Roach, Michael Walker, Jonathan Wood & Paul Angell (manager).
The AT TEFF 2019-20 Bank National Qualifiers are live now!
12 qualifying events will be held around the country between October and March. A maximum of 24 rods are available for each event and a minimum of 8 rods are required to constitute a heat.
Fishing fees for each heat will be £17 and are additional to your entry fee. Fishing fees are payable direct to the fishery on the day of the event.
See each individual event on the booking site for event specific details: www.anglingtrustevents.net/game
Rules, briefing & maps available on each event page.
Bank National Coordinator is Lee Cartmail, so please contact Lee for any queries about matches & the AT office for any queries about booking your ticket.
Qualifiers 13th Oct 2019 – Maran Lakes (North) 27th Oct 2019 – Chigborough Fishery (South)
3rd Nov 2019 – Siblyback (South) 17th Nov 2019 – West House (North) 24th Nov 2019 – Barnsfold Fishery (North)
1st Dec 2019 – Bessy Beck (North) 8th Dec 2019 – Ellerdine Lakes (South)
19th Jan 2020 – Bank House (North)
2nd Feb 2020 – Westlow Mere (South) 16th Feb 2020 – Blackdyke (South) 23rd Feb 2020 – Press Manor (North)
1st March 2020 – Woolaston Trout Fishery (South)
Eliminators 15th March 2020 – Toft Newton (North Eliminator) 29th March 2020 – Elinor (South Eliminator)
National Final 3rd May 2020 – Chigborough Fishery
36 anglers will compete for the title of National Bank Champion and a place in the 2020 Team England Bank squad.
Experienced England International angler Carl Nixon has joined Team England Fly Fishing Committee and will take the lead role in co-ordinating the English Rivers National Championship.
Carl will take up the role with immediate effect and his first task will be to plan and co-ordinate the Qualifiers and Final for the 2019/20 Rivers National Championship.
Carl Nixon said “I’m passionate about competitive river angling and I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead on such a prestigious competition. The National is close to my heart and as a regular competitor over a number of years and more recently organiser of qualifying events, I believe the experience and knowledge I have gained will allow me to make a positive contribution, I can’t wait to get started.”
Ben Thompson, Angling Trust said “We are delighted to have Carl on board, as a current competitor he has his finger on the pulse and his knowledge of the circuit, experience as an organiser and angler at national and international level is invaluable. We are confident Carl will bring fresh ideas and solutions that will enable to us to achieve our goal of improving the experience for participants and increasing participation in the Rivers National.”
Planning for the 2019/20 competition is underway and full details are expected to be published around 20th September on the Angling Trust online booking system at www.anglingtrustevents.net. The process for entering the Rivers National qualifiers will change for 2019/20, entry will be through the online booking system. A change that means the same process is used for entry to all AT TEFF events.
After 15 years of leading Team England Fly Fishing into FIPS Mouche competitions, AT TEFF has announced that Paul Page will stand down from his role as Team Manager with immediate effect.
Paul’s role as Manager began in 2004 at the 24th FIPS Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships in Slovenia and he has overseen Team England’s participation in FIPS Mouche competitions in the years that have followed. His most notable successes came in 2007 at the European Championship in Norway and in 2017 at the World Championship in Czech Republic where he led England to a Silver and Bronze medal respectively.
Paul Page said “I have been an England Fly Fishing Team Manager for the past 26 years, with the last 15 years as European and World Team Manager. It took a number of years to develop and build a stable England squad, exposing them to the differences and pressures of competing at European and World competition level, whilst also developing and improving their abilities so that we could expect to be challenging the top European and World Teams in an ever evolving environment where all teams were seriously upping their game.”
“I have enjoyed my time as European and World Team Manager but feel the time is now right for me to stand down and for others to take the teams forward. I wish my successors and future England European and World Team members the best of luck.”
“For myself, I’m now looking forward to continuing my Team Manager role by taking over the Management of the England Bank International Team, who are already preparing to compete in Ireland in October this year.”
Ben Thompson, Senior Competitions and Performance Managerat Angling Trust said “Paul’s contribution to competitive fly fishing and Team England Fly Fishing in particular, is nothing short of remarkable. His commitment, dedication and passion for the role has afforded many anglers with the opportunity to compete at the highest level.”
“We are delighted that Paul will remain on the AT TEFF committee and that his vast knowledge and experience will be used to benefit competitive fly fishing at the elite level. On behalf of Angling Trust, AT TEFF and everyone who has benefitted from his endeavours, I would like to thank him for his immense contribution, and I look forward to working with him in the years to come.”
AT TEFF will begin the search for a new European Team Manager immediately, anyone interested in getting involved or finding out further information should contact Andy Taylor, Angling Trust’s Competitions Support Officer at andy.taylor@anglingtrust.net
Chris Micallef nets a grayling at the top of Beat A, Llangollen
The weekend of the 20th & 21st July saw the top 32 anglers from the regional river qualifiers head to the River Dee at Llangollen to fish for a place in the rivers international team for 2020.
With no practice after the 7th July, the anglers who practiced up to the cut-off date found the fishing to be tricky; the resident brownies were willing to feed whilst the grayling were not as cooperative. Heavy rain the day before the match weekend also saw the river rise and colour slightly, forcing many of the competitors to have a late rethink on their tactics.
After the first day briefing the morning sessions were fished on Beat A, top of Llangollen, and Beat C “Dollies”. As predicted the fishing was challenging. Harry Fox won his section at Llangollen and Cameron Craigs his at “Dollies”. The afternoon session saw anglers fish Beat B, the Golf Course, and Beat D, the Country Park. With the river dropping and starting to clear, those fishing the afternoon found the fish willing to feed with James Atkinson taking top spot in the Country Park section, and current rivers champion Mark Lynch winning the Golf Course section. At the end of day one things were very close with at least half the field still in contention for a top six spot.
Day two saw the river drop further and clear. Hopes were high that dries might come into play as the river clarity improved. The first session saw anglers head to the Country Park and Golf Course. James Atkinson found fish again catching seven and one in his two 1.5hr sessions at the Golf Course, whilst at the Country Park there was a mixed bag of results with some anglers faring well whilst others struggled. The final sessions took place at Llangollen and Dollies. Dries were now starting to work as the grayling looked up for food. Chris Micallef took his final three fish on dries as he covered rising fish in the Fridge and Top Pools. As the anglers returned to the Hand Hotel in Llangollen with their score cards it looked like the match was going to be a close-run affair.
After a superb buffet at the hotel the results were announced. It was close with just four place points separating the top ten anglers. In first position was James Atkinson who caught 17 fish for 10 place points and was crowned the England National Rivers Champion for 2019. Second was Chris Micallef with 10 fish for 11 place points and third was Cameron Craigs with 12 fish for 12 place points. Harry Fox was fourth and Carl Nixon fifth with Mike Dixon finishing sixth taking the reserve spot. These six anglers will now form the England team for the Rivers International in June 2020.
2019 National Rivers Champion James Atkinson receiving his trophy (Photo: From left to right; Carl Nixon, Andy Taylor & James Atkinson)
Runner up – Chris Micallef (Photo: From left to right; Andy Taylor & Chris Micallef)
Third place – Cameron Craigs (Photo: From left to right; Andy Taylor & Cameron Craigs)
2019 National Rivers Champion James Atkinson
Top six anglers along with AT Competition Support Officer Andy Taylor
James Atkinson said, “This year’s national final was always going to be tough. The river was not giving up large numbers of fish in the weeks leading up to the competition and coupled with a field of strong anglers, it was going to be a tight finish. I had been practicing leading up to the final, fishing the river on several occasions locating the best pools and flies. It became clear that a lot of fish were held up in the fast water at the heads of the pools with a long French leader and two tungsten nymphs either black or hare’s ear working well for me.
I drew the Country Park in the first session and had preference three. From practice I knew there were a lot of fish below the Aqueduct and started there. Armed with my French leader I managed six fish quite quickly, knowing this would be enough fish to do well in the session I opted to stop fishing for 15 minutes to save the water for my second session. This paid off by allowing me to get another five out of the same water.
Session 2 on the Golf Course was going to be tough with only a few fish been caught the previous afternoon. With a low start number, I let the rest of angler’s head to their sections. With no angler’s going to the very top pool, so I opted to start there. Fishing the same way as the previous day with a long leader and two heavy but small nymphets (size 14 with 4mm and 3.5mm beads) I fished the head of the top pool for five fish. I then decided to leave the rest for later and head to the riffle above the sewage works. I quickly got another two and decided to leave what I thought was the best pool for the second session, so I again stopped fishing. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no more fish in this pool, much to my surprise, so I headed back to my starting position and managed one more fish. Thankfully this was enough for me!
I would like to thank Carl Nixon for organising the event and the Angling Trust for their continued work to allow these competitions to happen. Also, a massive well done to the other qualifiers and anglers. Bring on the River Don!”
Andy Taylor Competitions Support Officer, Angling Trust said, “This was a great two-day final on a superb piece of river. We would like to thank Llangollen and Maelor Angling Association for allowing us to use their waters. Congratulations to James Atkinson, the new National Rivers Champion, and to the other anglers who finished in the top six. This was a great performance from James over the two days. We wish the team well in their search for gold in the 2020 International in Scotland.
The AT TEFF would also like to thank Carl Nixon for organising this year’s final and two qualifiers, Mike Dixon for compiling the results, the volunteers who organised and ran the river qualifiers, and Kirsty Marshall for her work behind the scenes at the Angling Trust. The Hand Hotel was the perfect base for the event. Finally, a big thank you to all those anglers who entered the rivers qualifiers this year and to the 32 who competed in the final. The camaraderie and banter make this event a must for any river angler. It really is a great competition where you can learn so much.”
Stocks – 21st April – Results: 1. Ben Race 2. Neil Hodgson 3. Andy Campbell 4. Mark Howard 5. Ian Gaskell 6. Derek Moore 7. Peter Crowe (through to National Final) 8. John Brown 9. Stan Moore 10. Matt Nuttall 11. Paul Runec 12. Ben Fox 13. Robert Shaw 14. Stephen Smalley (invited to Repechage) 28 competed 291 fish 10.39 average
Blagdon – 21st April – Results: 1. Gary Morris 2. Dave Reynolds 3. Mark Miles 4. Tony Baldwin 5. Mark Haycock 6. David Bromley 7. Niki Long 8. Nicholas Tompkins 9. Terry Phillips 10. John Pearn 11. Martin Barrett 12. Paul Sweatman (through to National Final) 13. Andrew Haskins 14. Gary Haskins 15. Mark Withyman 16. Paul Roach 17. Julian Curry 18. Malcom Hunt 19. Paddy Mounter 20. Mark Stevens 21. Yousef Dar 22. David Minall 23. Julian Weddle 24. Vince Howley (invited to Repechage)
Grafham – 3rd May – Results: 1. Mark Thomas 2. Kim Green 3. Pablo Mullings 4. Tony Curtis 5. Lloyd Thompson 6. Tim Joyce 7. Frank Sumnall 8. Peter Elliott 9. Edward Foster 10. Mark Rose 11. Anthony Meadows 12. Richard Slater 13. Sean Hanlon (through to National Final) 14. Eric Caisley 15. David Eames 16. Gary How 17. Thomas Davis 18. Paul Tweddle 19. Leigh Pond 20. Richard Denney 21. Ryan Feber 22. Sam Bailey 23. John Hardy 24. Graham Willis 25. John Hancock 26. Andrew Taylor (invited to Repechage)
Eyebrook – 19th May – Results: 1. Ed Smith 2. Steven Cullen 3. Martin Introna (through to National Final) 4. Charlie Abrahams 5. Jonathan Wood 6. Alexander Urquhart (invited to Repechage)
Chew – 19th May – Results: 1. John Horsey 2. Tim Wellman 3. Malcom Hunt 4. Paul Roach 5. Andrew Haskins 6. Gary Haskins 7. Rob Allen (through to National Final) 8. Graham Currie 9. Mark Withyman 10. Martin Burgess 11. Matt Kingdon 12. Alan Williams 13. Mark Stevens 14. John Gumbleton (invited to Repechage)
Blithfield – 24th May – Results: 1. Craig Barr 2. Jay Curry 3. Andy G Taylor 4. David Currie 5. Alexander Johnstone 6. David Johns 7. Robert Wheeldon 8. Paul Angell 9. John Piper (through to National Final) 10. Gary Wright 11. Tony Smith 12. Simon Caddy 13. Tim Gilchrist 14. Sam Bailey 15. Ian Colclough 16. Bill Rankin 17. Nicholas Tompkins 18. John Hood (invited to Repechage)
Bewl – 9th June – Results: 1. John Hancock 2. Philip Thompson 3. Ian Watts 4. Joel Beeney (through to National Final) 5. Baz Reece 6. Michael Heritage 7. Paul Canning 8. Simon Bosher (invited to Repechage)
Carsington – 23rd June – Results: 1. Dom Sheratte 2. Sam Bailey 3. Iain Barr 4. Andy Axon 5. Phil Shaw-Browne 6. Martin Burgess 7. Martin Griffiths 8. Leigh Pond (through to National Final) 9. Paul Runec 10. Andrew Esplin 11. Richard Hood 12. Chris Guthrie 13. Gareth Tilley 14. John Humphrey 15. Nick Donald 16. Tim Gilchrist (invited to Repechage) Full Results: IMG_20190624_121233 Match Report: Carsington Qualifier Report
Stocks – 30th June – Results: 1. Ryan Feber 2. Ben Dobson 3. Shaun Gaskell 4. Simon Gaines (through to National Final) 5. Warren Langridge 6. Bruce Blackshaw 7. Stephen Griffith 8. Neil Heath (invited to Repechage) 18 competed 114 fish 6.33 average Full Results: 64304013_905056739848454_9040567688887271424_n Match Report: Stocks Qualifier Report
Rutland – 7th July – Results: 1. John Humphry 2. Ashley Davies 3. Eamonn Mounter 4. Andy Cottam 5. Ben Watson 6. Michael Heritage 7. Thomas Finney 8. Charlie Abrahams 9. Yousef Dar 10. Graham Willis (through to National Final) 11. Norman Rushton 12. Dave Porter 13. David Newing 14. Lee Patten 15. Mark Macleod 16. Paul Calvert 17. Daniel Tranter 18. Tez Livin 19. Bart Farmer 20. Eric Caisley (invited to Repechage) 42 competed 175 fish 4.2 average Full Results: TEFF Loch Style 2019 – Rutland Heat Results Match Report: Rutland Qualifier Report
Draycote (repechage) – 21st July – Results: 1. Gary Wright 2. John Hardy 3. Gareth Tilley 4. Paul Calvert 5. John Brown 6. John Hood 7. Antony Smith 8. Paul Runec 9. Bill Rankin 10. Dave Porter 11. Graham Currie 12. Baz Reece 13. Richard Denney 14. Dave Eames 15. Alan Williams 16. Paul Canning 17. Robert Shaw 18. Lee Patten 19. Alex Urquhart 20. Bruce Blackshaw 21. Norman Rushton 22. Daniel Tranter 23. David Newing (through to National Final) Match Report: Repechage Report
The draw splits the 32 Finalists into 4 groups A,B,C,D. These groups then fish or control as per the draw done Thursday evening.
NATIONAL FINAL ARRANGEMENTS
Date: Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st July 2019
Venue: River Dee, Llangollen Maelor AA Water
Rods: 32
SUNDAY 7th July
Final Practice day. No further fishing on Championship beats by Finalists
THURSDAY 18TH JULY
19.00 draw for Groups and Priority Number at Hand Hotel, Llangollen – all welcome
FRIDAY 19TH JULY
Anglers free to walk the beats
SATURDAY 20TH JULY
07.30-07.45: registration at the Hand Hotel, Bridge Street, Llangollen. LL20 8PL
07.45: briefing
08.00: depart for am sessions
09.45-12.45: fishing sessions 1 & 2
13.00-13.30: return to Hand Hotel. Submit score cards & Change over
13.30: depart for pm sessions
15.00-18.00: fishing sessions 3 & 4
18.30-19.30: return to Hand Hotel. Submit score cards
19.45- : Day 1 results available Hand Hotel
SUNDAY 21ST JULY
07.30-07.45: registration at the Hand Hotel, Bridge Street, Llangollen. LL20 8PL
07.45: briefing
08.00: depart for am sessions
09.45-12.45: fishing sessions 5 & 6
13.00-13.30: return to Hand Hotel. Submit score cards & Change over
13.30: depart for pm sessions
15.00-18.00: fishing sessions 7 & 8
18.30-19.30: return to Hand Hotel. Submit score cards
19.45- : Supper at Hand Hotel
19.45- : Day 2 & Final Results
Qualification: top 5 to gain place in team for 2020 & 6th place reserve
Tickets Open: 10.00 on 24th June
Tickets Close: 16:00 on 4th July
Cost: Entry fee £91.00 non-members of LMAA / £55.00 members of LMAA (you will be asked to present your card to Andy Taylor before the match)
Practice: Final day is Sunday 7th July (inclusive)
Permits for Practice can be purchased at Watkins & Williams, Llangollen. L&M AA members are not required to purchase permits for practice.
Address is Watkins & Williams. 6 Berwyn Street, Llangollen, LL20 8ND. Practice Tickets can also be purchased in advance online direct. https://www.llangollen-maelor-angling.com/tariff-booking.html
Notes: 1. entries after the closing date will not be accepted and your place will be allocated to a reserve
2. You must be an individual member of AT you will not be allowed to compete
Booking Process: You must be a valid, in date member of the AT to receive an invite & purchase a ticket.
Log into the system before you try to purchase your ticket*
Select purchase ticket
Complete purchase
*If you have not logged into the system before or cannot remember your password, you can reset your password via the log in screen and you will be sent an email with instructions on how to reset your password. Please check your spam or junk folder as it may go there rather than direct to your inbox.
If you have any issues please contact Kirsty on kirsty.marshall@anglingtrust.net or 0115 822 4532.
Register at the hotel between 07:30-07:45 on the day on the 20th July. If you miss the registration, then you will miss the match. Any no show places on the 20th July will be taken by a Reserve who presents themselves at registration. If more than 1 reserve is present, then reserves will draw lots for the Final place(s). You must contact the organiser asap if you are going to be late.
Be a valid member of the Angling Trust to fish the National Final and agree to abide by the competition rules of AT-TEFF & fishery rules.
Attend the briefing that will be given at 07:45 on both days. At the conclusion of the calculation of the results on day 2, the final result will be finalised and announced shortly afterwards.
Food will be available from approx. 19:45 on Sunday 21st at the Hand Hotel.
We look forward to seeing you all in Llangollen for the final. This event will be run and administered by Andy Taylor (details on email) & Carl Nixon.
The Rivers International team flew and drove to Northern Ireland on Sunday to fish the River Agivey, in the IFFA Rivers Home International against Scotland, Wales & Ireland from 3rd – 6th July.
With a mix of overall international experience and fresh faces to the Rivers Team, the lads have put in hours of homework and time on the water – two team weekends which included an advance 3-day trip to Ireland to ensure the best possible start and outcome to their trip.
The host nation will be hard to beat on home water, but the team have given everything so far to ensure they can get the best possible result! Best of luck guys!
The Rivers team: Carl Nixon (Manager & Reserve), Del Spry (Captain), Simon Clarke, Cameron Craigs, Paul Fairhurst, Mark Lynch.
Results:
Ireland – 87 fish – 3882 fish pts – 34 placing pts
Scotland – 49 fish – 2119 fish pts – 50 placing pts
England – 41 fish – 1795 fish pts – 54 placing pts
Wales – 32 fish – 1403 fish pts – 63 placing pts
Individual Winner (winner of the ‘Moc Morgan’ Trophy): Donal Monaghan (Ireland) – 5 placing pts
Largest Fish (winner of the ‘Mike Childs’ Trophy): Glen McCrave – 35.1cms
Congratulations to Ireland. With all five of their team in the top six, this was certainly a convincing victory by the home side.
AT Team England – Bronze Medallists in the 2019 River Home International
River Agivey, Ireland
A trout about to be measured on match day
Wychwood Game supplied softshell jackets
Pure Fishing, Hunt’s Original & Albury Estates supported Team England
The Angling Trust reports: The ATTEFF Rivers Team consisting of Del Spry (Captain), Cameron Craigs, Mark Lynch, Simon Clarke, Paul Fairhurst and Carl Nixon (Manager/Reserve) headed out to the River Agivey in Ireland to compete in the recent Home International, 1st-5th July. England had several new caps in its team of six and beating the home team, and the experienced Welsh and Scottish teams, was always going to be a difficult task. Three of the team went out for a three-day trip in June to practice on the river and this proved valuable as the team prepared on the official practice days before the match.
As the week and practice progressed the team worked well to come up with working methods and to identify fish holding areas and access points. However, the big numbers and sizable fish soon made themselves scarce as match day approached. The team settled on a few successful methods, these being; the Duo, Double Nymph, a Single Plume Tip for the rising fish, and a larger Parker’s Dry in dead water slowly twitched back to get a response. The river conditions all week were ideal, however, agricultural machinery, capable of raising and dropping the level 2-4 inches in a matter of an hour or so, made the fish a little skittish at times.
On match day the Scottish and Welsh teams picked up blanks in the morning session and the Irish and English all caught. Things were close heading into the afternoon session. The afternoon sessions proved difficult and again the Scottish and Welsh teams picked up more blanks, unfortunately so too did the England team. The final scores saw Ireland win on home turf, with Scotland taking silver and England bronze.
Del Spry, Team Captain, said, “On the whole the week went very smoothly; the Irish did a fantastic job at organising everything. The team worked well together and worked hard on the water, both during practice and match day. We had an inexperienced team, but they were not lacking in effort and this showed in the results as we were only a few points behind a very experienced and disciplined Scottish team. This was a great England team and with more experience at this level I am sure we can improve on the results next year.”
Carl Nixon, Manager, said, “For an inexperienced team, we pushed a very experienced, circa 50 capped Scottish team hard for Silver. It was not the result we had hoped for but one we are all proud of considering the experience of the other teams. We would like to thank our sponsors Wychwood Game, Pure Fishing, Hunt’s Original and the Duke of Northumberland and Albury Estates for their support.”
The European Fly Fishing Championship took place in Montenegro on 1st-7th July 2019 and was based at Plav. The Championship was held over 5 sessions fished on the Lim & Ljula Rivers, and Lake Plav.
The squad was led by Paul Page as Captain and Manager with Team Members; – Ben Bangham, Harry Fox, Simon Kidd, Bernie Maher, Terry Phillips, and Gilliaum Vermeulen as reserve. The European squad flew out to Montenegro a week before the Championship for practice and tactical development.
European Team Captain and Manager Paul Page stated: “Montenegro is a newcomer to Fips Mouche Fly Fishing Championships and this is the first time they have hosted a European Championship. This is uncharted territory for most competing nations and gives the England team a great opportunity to use their varied skill sets at a new venue and to be among the medal winners”
You will find more information at the Championship website here, and on their Facebook page here
Fly fishing on the Lim River:
Programme
Monday 1 July – Arrival of teams, Registration, Captains’ Meeting for Practice, Opening Ceremony, Banquet.
Terry Phillips won his session on Sector 1 Luca River – Gusinje with 20 fish, while on the Lim River – Plav Bernie Maher was 12th with 8 fish. Ben Bangham came 14th on the Lim River – Andrijevica, with Simon Kidd 15th on the Lim River – Berane. David Porter of Ireland won the boat session on Lake Plav with 3 fish, but half the field failed to catch, including Harry Fox. A point to note is that these championships were fished to a single fly rule, which would no doubt have affected the tactics applied. Spain took the lead with 22 pts, ahead of the Czech Republic with 27 pts and Poland with 32 pts. England were in 12th place (out of 20 teams). session-1-teams-after-session
Session 2
Lake Plav continued to prove difficult with Terry Phillips one of the two thirds who failed to catch. Simon Kidd came 10th on the Luca River – Gusinje, with Harry Fox 11th on the Lim River – Plava, Bernie Maher 11th on the Lim River – Andrijevica, and Ben Bangham 12th on the Lim River – Berane. The Czech Republic moved into 1st place on 49 pts, with Spain 2nd on 57 pts. Individually, Jean-Guillaume Mathieu is currently leading with two 1st places, which helped France move into 3rd place on 60 pts. England moved up into 10th place, two places behind Ireland. session-2-teams-after-sessionsession-2-indiv-after-session
Session 3
Ireland scored another win on an increasingly tough Lake Plav, with Michael Drinan getting 3 fish. There was one other 3-fish bag, plus single fish to four others. Simon Kidd was one of the 14 others who were unable to avoid a blank. Harry Fox came 10th on the Lim River – Andrijevica, while Ben Bangham came 15th on the Luca River – Gusinje, with Terry Phillips 18th on the Lim River – Plav, and Bernie Maher 15th on the Lim River – Berane. Individually, Jean-Guillaume Mathieu (France) added a 2nd place to his two 1st places, to keep the lead with 4 pts ahead of Ander Perez (Spain) on 7 pts, and Lubos Roza (Czech Republic) on 8 pts session-3-indiv-after-session. The Czech Republic held onto their 1st place with 81 pts, while France moved into 2nd place on 89 pts, with Poland 3rd on 108 pts. A tough session for England saw them slip to 14th place session-3-teams-after-session.
Session 4
The penultimate session saw some good performances from England, with Simon Kidd winning his session on the Lim River – Plav with 19 fish, and Ben Bangham one of only 10 people to avoid a blank on Lake Plav. This lake session also saw the current individual leader Jean-Guillaume Mathieu (France) reinforce his top spot with another win, putting him 9 pts clear with one session to go session-4-indiv-after-session. On the other sectors, Terry Phillips came 12th on the Lim River – Andrijevica, Harry Fox 15th= on the Lim River – Berane, and Bernie Maher 19th= on the Luca River – Gusinje. The top three team places saw some movement, with Slovenia up to 2nd place with 134 pts, behind the Czech Republic on 114 pts, with Poland 3rd with 138 pts. England slipped one place to 15th session-4-teams-after-session.
Session 5
Lake Plav remained challenging, with half the field blanking, Bernie Maher among them. On the river sectors, Terry Phillips came 4th on the Lim – Berane, with Ben Bangham 10th on the Lim – Plav, Simon Kidd 12th on the Lim – Andrijevica, and Harry Fox 20th on the Luca – Gusinje. Individually, Jean-Guillaume Mathieu (France) rounded off an outstanding performance with yet another 1st place, to become the 2018 European Individual Champion with just 6 placing pts, (4 1sts and a 2nd), well clear of Michal Greszta (Poland) in 2nd with 16 pts, and Maciej Korzeniowski (Poland) in 3rd with 17 pts session-5-indiv-after-session. The Czech Republic held onto their lead to become the 2018 European Champions with 143 placing pts, with Slovenia 2nd on 159 pts, Bosnia-Herzegovina 3rd on 178 pts, Poland 4th 182 pts, and France 5th 184 pts. England finished the competition in 14th place, with Scotland 15th and Ireland 8th session-5-teams-after-session.
Our right to fish is under serious threat. Little by little our right is being eroded. What are you going to do when you can no longer go fishing, play Tiddlywinks?
Individual Membership is £25 per year, which is less than 50 pence a week, not a lot to protect your right to fish and ensure there are fish to catch!
Please don't be apathetic, join the fight to save your fishing.
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