Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/man-to-lead-england-fly-fishing-team-set-to-make-first-trip-back-to-country-he-served-in/164gnwm

The BBC also has coverage of Del here>>

Veteran heads back to Bosnia for fishing champs

Del Spry completed three tours of the Balkans in the 1990s and early 2000s

Mark McAlindon and Hannah Mitchell, North East and Cumbria

An army veteran who served in the Bosnian war is to return to the country to compete in the European Fly Fishing Championship.

Derek Spry, known as Del, is the captain of the England team.

The former soldier, from Carlisle, served with the UN Forces during the Bosnian war, and his return for the competition in June will be the first time he has visited the country since then.

“I said I never wanted to go back,” Spry said. “The destruction throughout the country was eye-opening.”

He completed three tours of the Balkans in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“The difference I saw was quite dramatic in terms of the country’s recovery,” he said.

“I initially wasn’t going to go back, but I know some of the Bosnian fishing team and they say it’s a nice place these days.

“Twenty-five years later, I think it’s going to be a nice experience.”

Spry said the competition would be “tough”

Spry also served in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, where he was injured by an improvised explosive device.

The veteran first started fly-fishing when he was 12 and found returning to the sport after serving in the army to be “very relaxing”.

“Getting in the river, three hours can fly by,” he said. “It’s almost like meditation – the focus on everything, making a nice cast, tying flies, changing flies and trying to trick a wild fish into taking it.”

The 30th European Fly Fishing Championship will be held in Mostar and Livno regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with teams competing on the Buna River and Mostar Lake in Mostar, and the Sturba River in Livno.

“It’s going to be tough,” Spry said. “A lot of the other teams have easier access to fishing in those kinds of rivers than we have. They have a lot of skills, a lot of experience, a lot of funding.

“But we’ve got a pretty good team and we’ll do our best.”

This competition consists initially of 4 Qualifying events around the country. These Qualifiers are in Block A.
There will then be a further group of 4 Heats in Block B.
Finally, there will be a single further ‘Catch All’ Qualifier in Block C.
From these three blocks anglers will qualify for the National Loch-style Final at Chew Valley Lake on 26th & 27th September 2026.
Maximum number of entries per angler is 3, one in Block A, one in Block B, or one in Block C. Or you can just enter Block B and C, or C only. (Note: Anglers may only fish one heat from each Block.)
Entries to Block A heats open at 7pm on Monday 19th January and close at midnight on 12th April.
Please only enter one heat at a time in any one Block. You may enter into Block B and/or Block C if you are unsuccessful in Block A.
Block B entries open on 12th May and close on 22nd May.
Block C entries open 16th June and close on 22nd June.

Please note: To compete in the Loch-style Heats and National Final you must be a valid member of Angling Trust, you can join here>>

Cancellation/Refunds: Please note: If you wish to cancel a ticket, you are able to do this from your member account by navigating to “Your Dashboard” in the top right of the website and selecting the “Your Competitions” tab. Alternatively, please inform refunds@anglingtrust.net by email, and include your name, the name of the qualifier you would like to cancel, your membership number & post code. We require 3 days’ notice prior to the qualifier in order to process a refund. Any notification outside of this time scale will not be entitled to receive a refund. Please note: There is no secondary market for the sale or transfer of any tickets.

Competition Rules are here>>

Risk Assessment is here>>

Block A Qualifiers

Grafham Water – Sunday 19th April – enter here>>
Blagdon Lake – Sunday 26th April – enter here>>
Sweethope Loughs – Sunday 3rd May – enter here>>
Ladybower Fisheries – Sunday 10th May – enter here>>

Block B Qualifiers

Blithfield Reservoir – Friday 29th May – enter here>>
Wimbleball – Sunday 31st May – enter here>>
Chew Valley Lake – Sunday 7th June – enter here>>
Rutland Water – Sunday 7th June – enter here>>

Block C ‘Catch All’ Qualifier

Draycote Water – Sunday 28th June – enter here>>

National Final

Chew Valley Lake – 26th-27th September 2026

Links

Pre-register for the Semperfli Yorkshire Fy Fishing and Fly Tying Roadshow here>>

See the massive range of Semperfli materials, available directly online, and at stores across the UK here>>

The Essential Fly, your dedicated online retailer for the fly angler and fly tyer. Browse their range of top brands here>>

October 2025

Sunday 12th October – Lower Itchen – Organiser: Tony Fox

Overall Results: 1. Julian Erbsloeh 2. Jay Curry 3. Tim Pottage 4. Alex Adams 5. Alex Tipping 6. Andrew Smith 7. Vinnie King 8. M Cave 9. Baz Reece 10. S Crowder 11. Mike Heritage 12. Harry Chance 13. Gavin Walsh 14. John Bowen 15. Jim Dillon 16. O Palmer 17. Alan Williams 18. John Waters

June 2026

Sunday 28th June – River Ure, Wensley – Organiser: Paul Page

The Qualifier will be fished to IFFA Section A – Fishing rules and AT TEFF River Qualifier scoring system, on a Catch, Measure & Release basis. Both Trout and Grayling 20cms and above will be eligible for measuring, scoring & the awarding of fish points.

Entrants will be split into 2 groups:
Morning Group – fishing am & controlling pm.
Afternoon Group – fishing pm & controlling am.

HQ: Three Horseshoes, Wensley, Leyburn, N Yorkshire DL8 4HJ.
am fishing Wensley Beat, pm fishing Bolton Hall Beat
Both Wensley and Bolton Hall beats are closed for practice Saturday 27th June 2026
Fishing Times: Morning group 09:00am – 12:30pm. Afternoon group 14:00pm – 17:30pm
Briefing: 08:00am
Entry Fee: £30.00
Fishing Fee: £25.00 payable on the morning directly to the organiser unless you are a Bolton Estate Season ticket holder or have purchased a Special Limited Season Ticket, from the organiser below.
Min entries: 12 / Max entries: 24
A limited number of day tickets are available from the Estate Office tele.01969 621182
A Special Limited Season Ticket covering 16th – 26th and 28th June inc. can be purchased for £60 in advance from Paul Page. Contact 07768 854849, ventonpage@gmail.com
Please ensure that your membership is valid and up to date at the time of applying and for your qualifier/s you are fishing and if you are successful to fish the final, otherwise the Angling Trust reserve the right to refuse entry to fish the event.
AT TEFF matches now have an AT membership requirement. If you need to renew or sign up, please visit the Angling Trust website here>> or call 0343 5077 006 (option 1).

Cancellation/Refunds: Please note: If you wish to cancel a ticket, please inform refunds@anglingtrust.net by email, and include your name, the name of the qualifier you would like to cancel, your membership number & postcode. We require 3 days’ notice prior to the qualifier in order to process a refund. Any notification outside of this time scale will not be entitled to receive a refund. Please note: There is no secondary market for the sale or transfer of any tickets.

How to enter
Sorry but only members of Angling Trust can purchase tickets for this event.
Entry details here>>

Entries & Results Spreadsheet

The 29th FIPS-Mouche European Fly Fishing Championships was held in Sondrio, Italy, from the 19th-25th October 2025.

AT TEFF was represented by: Simon Clarke (Manager), Stan Moore, Chris Richardson, Del Spry (Captain) & Andy Taylor.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

Belgium – Bulgaria – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Ireland – Italy – Montenegro – Netherlands – Poland – Romania – Serbia – Slovakia – Spain – Sweden

RESULTS

Session 1

The opening session saw Chris Richardson score 36 fish on the River Mallero, Chiesa, to come 7th in his group. Elsewhere, Del Spry came 10th on the River Adda, Morbegno with 8 fish, with Andy Taylor also coming 10th on the River Mera, Chiavenna with 14. On Palu Lake, the lake venue, Stan Moore came 15th with 15 fish, while Simon Clarke was 16th with 7 fish on the River Adda, Sondalo. England ended the session in 16th place, with 58 placing points, while Ireland were 12th with 47pts. Italy led the team rankings with 23pts, ahead of France on 31pts, and Slovakia 3rd with 32pts.

Session 2

A better session for England saw Del Spry come 6th on the River Mera, Chiavenna, with a 6th place also for Andy Taylor on Palu Lake, the lake venue. On the other river sectors Stan Moore came 8th on the River Adda, Sondalo, with a 9th place for Chris Richardson on the River Adda, Morbegno, while Simon Clarke finished 16th on the River Mallero, Chiesa. England rose to 13th with 104 placing points, one ahead of Ireland, who dropped to 14th with 110pts. At the top of the table France overtook Italy for 1st place with 44pts, with Italy 2nd on 59pts and Slovakia 3rd with 61pts. Jordan Gregoire (France) led the Individual rankings with 3 placing points, with Peter Tomko (Slovakia) 2nd with 4pts and Semih Egemen (Netherlands) 3rd with 5pts.

Session 3

In the 3rd session Chris Richardson scored an 8th place on the River Mera, Chiavenna, while Andy Taylor came 10th on the River Adda, Sondalo, with Simon Clarke 12th on the River Adda, Morbegno. On Lake Palu, the lake venue, Del Spry came 14th, while Stan Moore also came 14th on the River Mallero, Chiesa. England dropped to 15th place with 162 placing points, with Ireland 14th on 157pts. France hung on to the top spot with 53 placing points, ahead of the Czech Republic 2nd with 88pts, and Slovakia 3rd with 96pts. Another 1st place for Jordan Gregoire (France) kept him top of the Individual rankings with 4 placing points, with Daniel Muniz Llana (Spain) 2nd, and Peter Tomko 3rd, both on 8pts.

Session 4

The penultimate session saw an 11th place for Stan Moore on the River Adda, Morbegno, with 6 fish, while Andy Taylor came 14th on the River Mallero, Chiesa, and Chris Richardson came 15th on Lake Palu, the lake sector. Elsewhere, Del Spry and Simon Clarke both came 16th on the River Adda, Sondalo, and the River Mera, Chiavenna, respectively. England remained in 15th place with 234 placing points, one position below Ireland on 218pts. France maintained their 1st place with 86 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 111pts, and Spain overtaking Slovakia to move into 3rd place with 117pts. Individually, Daniel Muniz Llana (Spain) moved into 1st place with 11 placing points, with Frantisek Kouba (Czech Republic) 2nd with 12pts, and Emilio Jose Gonzalez Berjaga (Spain) 3rd on 13pts.

Session 5

In the final session Simon Clarke came 9th on Lake Palu, the lake sector, with 4 fish. On the river sectors Stan Moore came 6th on the River Mera, Chiavenna, with 5 fish, while Del Spry finished 7th on the River Mallero, Chiesa, with 9 fish, with Andy Taylor 9th on the River Adda, Morbegno, and Chris Richardson 12th on the River Adda, Sondalo. Despite a better performance in this session England remained in 15th place with 277 placing points, four behind Ireland in 14th place. France held on to their lead in the team rankings to become the 2025 World Champions with 100 placing points, with Spain 2nd with 142pts, just one ahead of Italy 3rd with 143pts. Individually, a 1st place in his session saw Daniel Muniz Llana (Spain) become the 2025 World Individual Champion with 11 placing points, with Emilio Jose Gonzalez Berjaga (Spain) in 2nd with 14pts, and Frantisek Kouba (Czech Republic) 3rd, also on 14pts.

Media Credit – Courtesy of: A.Belluscio/UPS

For more YouTube videos, including stunning aerial footage of the Championship Sectors, go to the UPS YouTube page here>>