Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

EPP Event 4 brought the anglers up to Dumfries (Scotland) to fish on the River Annan. Harry Fox was unable to make the event and was replaced by Peter Clark.

The river was low but holding a little colour, as is often the case with freestone rivers. Good numbers of fish were caught from the off, with Del Spry taking an early lead catching 17 fish across his four morning session pegs. The fishing was trickier in the afternoon, Gillaum Vermeulen being the only angler to catch in every one of his sessions.

The fishing was expected to get increasingly tougher on Day 2, however Howard Croston and Scott Nellins both caught good numbers of fish from pegs 2 and 6 early in the day to keep themselves in contention.

It was over to the afternoon anglers, with those now acting as controllers trying to figure out where they’d finished and if they’d done enough to make one of the teams. Del Spry continued his Day 1 form to win Group A, just ahead of Mark Withyman who was the only angler to catch on every peg. Howard Croston had done enough to win Group B and take the overall Event 4 victory.

The fishing went right down to the wire, and one more fish caught in the last few seconds of the match would have changed the anglers qualifying in both the World and European teams.

177 fish were caught and released by the anglers over the two days. Tactics largely focused on nymph fishing and dry fly.

The results from Event 4 are below:

2021 EPP League – Final Positions

Event 4 brought the 2021 EPP to a close, the final league positions are as below. As you can see, the results were incredibly close, with only 1 point separating anglers from 4th to 8th. The fishing really did go down to the wire for qualification places.

The anglers finishing in positions 1-5 are eligible to fish in the World Fly Fishing Championships in Spain 2022. The anglers finishing in positions 6-10 are eligible to represent England at the 2023 European Fly Fishing Championships (Venue TBC).

Congratulations to James Atkinson on becoming the 2021 EPP champion, winning the event at his first attempt with solid performances across each of the venues.

The 2022 EPP is currently being scoped, full details to follow. Due to Covid forcing the European Championships to be pushed back an additional year, there is currently a misalignment in the Team England qualification process. Therefore, it is expected that the 2022 EPP will be used as a vehicle to select only one team which will represent England at the 2023 World Fly Fishing Championships.

Report: Terry Phillips

Images: Terry Phillips & AT TEFF Press Officer

EPP Event 3 saw the anglers head to Teesdale to fish on the spectacular River Tees. Harry Fox was unable to make the event and was replaced by Tom Gott.

The River Tees is one of the hardest rivers to wade in the UK, the boulder-ridden riverbed resulting in several of the anglers getting wetter than they had expected. It is the rocky nature of this river which makes it such a prolific breeding ground for predatory wild trout.

Scott Nellins took an early lead in the match, picking up good numbers of fish on a Duo set-up, with James Atkinson and Gillaum Vermeulen using dries and nymphs to also catch good numbers of fish.

In the afternoon session Terry Phillips caught steadily on all his pegs to challenge for the overall lead. Terry continued in the same vein on Day 2, catching throughout the morning session, and one of the afternoon anglers would need to catch on every peg if they were to take the victory.

As the day drew on, the fishing pressure took its toll and more and more blank sessions were being recorded. Terry Phillips finished as the only angler to catch on all the pegs and took the event victory.

The results from Event 3 are below:

EPP league standings (after three events):

Report: Scott Nellins

Images: Terry Phillips & AT TEFF Press Officer

£700 prize money was awarded during the 2021 River Fundraiser and raised £385 towards the 2022 England River International Team’s personal costs. Entries for the Championship were significantly lower than organiser Peter Scholes had expected and, in the end, only 2 heats and a final were ran.

Many thanks go to Peter and the 15 individuals who supported the Fundraiser.

The first heat on the River Dee at Llangollen on the 16th May was a trout-only competition and proved tricky for all 10 anglers, with only 9 trout being measured. David Bradley took the morning prize and Richard Baxendale the afternoon.

The second heat on the River Ure at Wensley on the 27th June was fished for both trout and grayling, and proved far more productive for all 9 anglers with 20 trout and 35 grayling being measured. The largest trout being 36.2cms and a grayling of 39.8cms by Richard Baxendale. Brian Lillie took the morning prize and Chris Richardson the afternoon.

The Final on the River Dee at Llangollen on 29th August was again both trout and grayling and greatly exceeded the previous Dee heat’s totals. The 12 finalists measured 77 trout and grayling. Daniel Williams caught the largest fish of the Championship with a magnificent grayling of 42.5cms. The morning prize monies went to the am winner Gavin Walsh and Paul Baker as the runner up, and the afternoon prize monies went to the pm winner Bernie Maher and James Rice as the runner up.

Results

Account

Prize winners

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 – Entry via the Angling Trust website here>> – Note: Anyone who wishes to practise for this event on days before our Official Practice Day on Saturday 9^th October should know that the grayling fishing does not officially start on the Lower Itchen until 8th October. Practice Tickets £37 – You can book practise tickets by contacting the Lower Itchen Fishery by email: info@itchen-fishing.net, tel/fax: 02380 814389 or mobile: 07885 175540. Mention that you’re practising for the SEFFF Qualifier, and you’ll get the SEFFF discounted rate of £37 – Entry Fee: £27.50 – Fishing Fee: £21 payable on the morning directly to the organiser – Min Entries: 12 – Max Entries: 26 – Briefing bu 07.15-0.7.40am – Briefing Letter:

November 2021

Sunday 28th November – River Wear

January 2022

Sunday 23rd January –  River Avon

February 2022

Sunday 20th February – River Dee

March 2022

Sunday 27th March – River Dee

April 2022

Sunday 10th April  – River Ure

Final – tbc

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

May 2022

Sunday 8th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Carsington
Sunday 15th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Bewl
Sunday 15th May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Draycote
Sunday 22nd May – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Rutland

June 2022

Friday 3rd June – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Blithfield
Sunday 19th June – AT TEFF Loch-style Qualifier, Chew

July 2022

Saturday 9th July – AT TEFF Official Loch-style Repechage Practice, Draycote
Saturday 10th July – AT TEFF Loch-style Repechage, Draycote

September 2022

Thursday 8th – Friday 9th September – AT TEFF Official Loch-style National Practice, Draycote
Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th September – AT TEFF Loch-style National, Draycote

Angling Trust CEO Jamie Cook added:

“The Angling Trust are committed to enhancing our support of Team England in all disciplines and delivering success in the form of medals. As a not for profit organisation we commit to re-investing revenues generated from TEFF events directly into the England fly fishing teams – as an amateur sport who do not receive elite UK Sport funding by making this commitment we can reduce the burden on anglers self-funding their own participation and aspire to ensure that cost is never a barrier to participation at the highest level. I hope this will provide confidence and transparency to our members that the money they put in to Team England Fly Fishing is going directly to support the teams’ success.”

After discussions today with the fishery a decision has been made not to use Chigborough for the National Final.

We will be returning to Chigborough for a heat in the winter for the 2021/2022 season. 

The National final will be fished at Elinor on Sunday 24th October 2021.

Book tickets on the Angling Trust website here>>

Organiser: Lee Cartmail

Session 1

AT TEFF England ended the first session 10th out of 13 teams, with Terry Phillips coming 5th on the lower Kitkajoki, Scott Nellins 7th on the Kuusinki, and Davey Parker 10th on the upper Kitkajoki. On the lakes, Howard Croston saved a blank on Koverrusjarvi to come 7th, while Harry Fox was one of five competitors to end up fishless on Kylmaluoma. Finland are currently leading the team rankings with 16 placing points, ahead of Italy on 20 and France on 23.

Session 2

After a better performance in Session 2 AT TEFF England moved up to 5th place overall, thanks to a 1st place by Howard Croston with 31 fish on the Kuusinki river, and a 2nd by Harry Fox on the lower Kitkajoki. Terry Phillips scored an 8th place on the upper Kitkajoki, while on the lakes Scott Nellins landed 2 fish for 5th place on Kylmaluoma, with Davey Parker one of 8 competitors to blank on Koverrusjarvi. Individually, Valdimir Linda of Slovakia, Pierre Kuntz of France and Mikki Rasanen of Finland are the top three, all with 3 points, while Howard Croston is currently 9th.

Session 3

Harry Fox followed his 2nd on the lower Kitkajoki in the previous session with another 2nd on the upper Kitkajoki with 24 fish. Davey Parker came 7th on the Kuusinki river, while Terry Phillips saved a blank on the Koverrusjarvi lake to also finish 7th. Scott Nellins came 13th on the lower Kitkajoki river, while Howard Croston was one of 11 blanks on the Kylmaluona lake where only 2 competitors caught one fish each, concerning as there are still two sessions to go. AT TEFF England are currently in 7th place, with Finland, France and Slovakia still in the top three places. Heikki Kurtti of Finland currently leads the Individual rankings with 5 points, followed by Pierre Kuntz, France, on 8, and Pablo Castro, Spain, and Kristian Sveda, Slovakia on 9 points. However, anyone who has already fished both lake sectors and avoided a blank, like Sebastien Delcor of France, must be in a strong position.

Session 4

AT TEFF England held on to 7th place overall, with Terry Phillips getting a 6th place on the Kuusinki river, Howard Croston 8th on the lower Kitkajoki, and Scott Nellins 13th on the upper Kitkajoki. On the lake sectors, Harry Fox was one of the 7 competitors who failed to catch on the Koverrusjarvi, while despite an improvement in returns on lake Kylmaluoma, with 8 competitors scoring, Davey Parker was one of the 5 who failed to catch. Finland have consolidated their position in 1st place, 23 points ahead of France in 2nd, while Spain have overtaken Italy and Slovakia to move into 3rd. Individually, Heikki Kurtti of Finland retained his lead with 7 points, 3 points ahead of Jari Heikkinen of Finland and Pablo Castro of Spain.

Final Session

A good performance by the Czech Republic in the final session saw them overtake AT TEFF England to leave England in 8th place. Harry Fox continued his good run on the river sectors to score a 3rd place on the Kuusinki with 21 fish, while Howard Croston was 7th on the upper Kitkajoki, and Dave Parker 12th= on the lower Kitkajoki. On the lake sectors Scott Nellins landed 2 fish on the Koverrusjarvi to come 6th, while Terry Phillips was one of 7 anglers to blank on the Kylmaluoma. With 4 of their team members in the top 5, Finland were the top team by a convincing margin, with 80 points, ahead of France on 127 points, and Spain with 141 points. Heikki Kurtti of Finland took the top Individual spot, with 8 placing points, with Jari Heikkinen of Finland 2nd with 13 points, and David Arcay of Spain 3rd with 15 points, ahead of Santeri Kinnunen of Finland, also on 15 points. Harry Fox was England’s top performer, finishing 22nd, with Howard Croston 28th, and Terry Phillips 31st.

The AT TEFF England World team is sponsored by Envirofil Ltd – Contamination Control

The 40th FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship will be held in the Kuusamo and Taivalkoski regions, Finland from August 12th to 16th, 2021.

The Championship will be held over 5 sessions fished at 5 venues; rivers Kitkajoki and Kuusinkijoki, as well as lakes Kylmäluoma and Koverrusjärvi. Following the easing of COVID-related travel restrictions, the AT TEFF World squad will be flying out to Finland before the Championship for venue practices and tactical development.

The squad will be led by the 2019 World Champion Howard Croston as Captain and Manager with team members Harry Fox, Scott Nellins, Davey Parker and Terry Phillips.

This will be Howard’s 12th World cap, while the rest of the team also has numerous World team and European team caps between them. Finland has been a challenge for both Team and Individuals in the past.

World Team Captain and Manager Howard Croston said: – “The team has been carefully selected to deliver the best chance of success in Finland, with a combination of new talent but also a heavy bias towards experience. There are a number of unknowns in this championship, including the use of whitefish lakes that we have little experience in fishing; however, an early practice has already been completed on the venues by an advance practice squad that has given us a good base to work on in the run-up to the event.”

The AT TEFF England World team is sponsored by Envirofil Ltd – Contamination Control

COMPETING TEAMS

Belgium – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Hungary – Italy – Lithuania Montenegro – Poland – Slovak Republic – Spain – Sweden

PROGRAMME

Day 1 – Thursday 12th August
12:00 Antigen test before registration
14:00 – 16:00 Arrival of teams & registration
17:30 – 19:30 Captains’ Meeting & Draw
20:00 – 22:00 Opening Ceremony & Dinner

Day 2 – Friday 13th August
5:30 -> Breakfast
7:00-8:00 Buses to Sectors
9:00 – 12:00 Session 1
13:00 -> Bus Transfer, Lunch in Bus
16:00 – 19:00 Session 2
20:00 -> Dinner

Day 3 – Saturday 14th August
5:30 -> Breakfast
7:00-8:00 Buses to Sectors
9:00 – 12:00 Session 3
13:00 -> Bus Transfer, Lunch in Bus
16:00 – 19:00 Session 4
20:00 -> Dinner

Day 4 – Sunday 15th August
5:30 -> Breakfast
7:00-8:00 Buses to Sectors
9:00 – 12:00 Session 5
13:00 -> Buses to Hotel
13:30 -> Lunch
16:00 – 19:00 Prize Giving, Closing Ceremony
19:00 -> Dinner, Closing Banquet

SECTORS

Sector 1 – KITKAJOKI UPPER RIVER, KUUSAMO
Eligible Species Grayling (Thymallus Thymallus) 25cm and White fish (Coregonus lavaretus) 20cm. Bank fishing, wading allowed.

Sector 2 – KOVERRUSJÄRVI LAKE, KUUSAMO
Eligible Species White fish ( Coregonus lavaretus ) 20cm and Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) 25cm. Fishing from drifting boat.

Sector 3 – KUUSINKIJOKI RIVER, KUUSAMO
Eligible Species Grayling (Thymallus Thymallus) 25cm and White fish (Coregonus lavaretus) 20cm. Bank fishing, wading allowed.

Sector 4 – KYLMÄLUOMA LAKE, TAIVALKOSKI
Eligible Species White Fish (Coregonus lavaretus) 20cm and Brown trout (Salmo trutta) 20cm and Rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus Mykis) 20cm and Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) 25cm. Fishing from drifting boat.

Sector 5 – KITKAJOKI LOWER RIVER, KUUSAMO
Eligible Species Grayling (Thymallus Thymallus) 25cm and White fish (Coregonus lavaretus) 20cm. Bank fishing, wading allowed.

For more information go to the competition website here>>