Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

Country: ENGLAND
Venue: River Tees (upper)
Dates: 19th to 22nd June (incl.)
Match date: Friday 21st June
Accommodation: The George Inn, Piercebridge

AT TEFF is represented by: Brian Lillie (captain), Peter Buckey, Paul Fairhurst, Tom Hunt, Kevin Moran, Gavin Walsh (reserve), and Paul Page (manager).

The England River International Team, comprising Brian Lillie as Captain, Paul Fairhurst, Pete Buckey, Kevin Moran, Tom Hunt, Gavin Walsh, and Paul Page as Team Manager, settled in on Sunday at their practice digs in Middleton-in-Teesdale.
On Monday the River Tees was high and pushing hard. However, the team commenced their final few days’ practice on non-competition beats to reduce the pressure. Tactics learned from previous training visits to the river continued to work, so it was back to the digs for some further fly tying.
Today, Tuesday, the river had dropped and eased off, although not back to normal June levels. The team practiced on a competition beat to get used to match day timings, finishing today’s practice again on a non-competition beat. Tonight it’s a private dinner and England Team cap and medal presentations.
Tomorrow the team leave for the Official Hotel at The George at Piercebridge.
Paul Page, Team Manager

Yesterday the team moved into the International Hotel, The George at Piercebridge.
Having settled in, the team had their photos taken in their England blazers.
Good news, the river continued to drop and the weather is set to be fine for the last two days.
This morning it was the official IFFA photocall for all four Home Nation Teams with the backdrop of the Piercebridge Roman Bridge. Followed by the traditional “Walking of the Beats” where competitors, now knowing what beat and where they were to start fishing on match day, could finalise their tactics for tomorrow, match day.
Tomorrow, all the team training sessions and individual practices on the River Tees between Cauldron Snout and High Force Waterfall will be put to the test.
Paul Page, Team Manager

England take Silver

Results

1. (Gold) Scotland 109-6-0
2. (Silver) England 57-13-0
3. (Bronze) Wales 40-10-0
4. Ireland 28-15-0

Country: ENGLAND
Venue: River Tees (upper)
Dates: 19th to 22nd June (incl.)
Match date: Friday 21st June
Accommodation: The George Inn, Piercebridge

AT TEFF will be represented by: Brian Lillie (captain), Peter Buckey, Paul Fairhurst, Tom Hunt, Kevin Moran, Gavin Walsh (reserve), and Paul Page (manager).

The event is being organised by Peter Scholes (AT TEFF River International Event Organiser), with the International Fly Fishing Association (IFFA).

The best of luck to everyone taking part.

WELCOME TO RIVER TEES
Raby and Strathmore Estates, High Force, Teesdale, County Durham

Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing (AT TEFF) welcomes all officials, controllers, competitors and their guests to the 2024 International River Fly Fishing Championship.
Teesdale is world famous as a particularly scenic and interesting part of Northern England with many historic attractions to see and country pursuits to participate in.
The River Tees is one of the highlights of the valley with magnificent falls and river views. There has been a large improvement in the wild brown trout in the river over the past few years and Raby Estate continues to make improvements to ensure this trend continues to the benefit of all.
We hope your stay in County Durham is a pleasant one and we wish all teams the very best of luck.

Programme

Wednesday 19th June 2024
09:00 onwards – River Tees: Official practice competition beats.
19:30 – Dinner
21:30 – Officials & Captains meeting / peg draw.

Thursday 20th June 2024
09:15 – Official Photographs at the George Hotel
Rest the river / walk the beats
19:30 – Dinner

Friday 21st June 2024 – Championship Day
09:45-11:15 Session 1
11:15-12:45 Session 2
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:45-16:15 Session 3
16:15-17:45 Session 4
20:45 – International Dinner

Saturday 22nd June 2024
Depart

International Fly Fishing Association – Acknowledgements

To Lord Barnard of Raby Estates and Strathmore Estates who have kindly allowed us to compete on their estate waters of the River Tees for our International Championship.
To the staff at the High Force Hotel who oversee the fishery on behalf of the Raby Estate, and their staff for their invaluable assistance.
To Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing, Pete Scholes, and all their principal controllers for their help and assistance in the planning and organising of the International.
To each Controller for giving their time on match day to enable the competition to take place.
To the Management and Staff of The George Hotel, Piercebridge for their friendly assistance throughout the Championship.
To Paul Baker Photography for their photographic coverage of the Championship.
Our sincere thanks go out to everyone who helped in the preparation & running of the 2024 River International in any way.

Sponsors

Established in 2014 Hunt’s set out to produce the UK’s first comprehensive range of fly treatments. Hunt’s mission was not only to produce the best, but to be environmentally conscious as well.
Fast forward to today and Hunt’s products are enjoyed worldwide, with an ever-growing base of loyal customers.
Hunt’s are proud sponsors of the 2024 Rivers International and wish all competitors the best of luck. Tight Lines from everyone at Hunt’s.

Blithfield – 10th May 2024

Pitsford – 12th May 2024

Sweethope – 19th May 2024

Wimbleball – 19th May 2024

Report: A bright sun and a blustery North Easterly wind made fishing conditions tough… despite that there were some good bags of fish, Oliver Smith won with 27lb 7ozs Alex Venn second with 23lb 8oz Mike Cocks third with 22lb 7oz and Paul Lee fourth with 20lb 4oz Toby Merrigan fifth 20lb 3oz Sam Al-mukntar sixth 11lb 5oz Nigel Evans seventh 9lb 5oz Alex Jackson eighth 5lb 8ozs

Chew – 26th May 2024

Country: IRELAND
Venue: Lough Ennell
Dates: 21st to 25th May (incl.)
Match date: Friday 24th May
Accommodation: Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar

RESULTS

1. Scotland 13 fish 587.9cms 851pts
2. Ireland 8 fish 342.2cms 505pts
3. Wales 4 fish 172.0cms 253pts
4. England 3 fish 130.1cms 191pts

The Brown Bowl (Best Basket): Seamus O’Loughlin (Ireland) & Martin McCafferty (Scotland) – both 2 fish for 93.5cms 134pts
H. Emyr Lewis Trophy (Largest Trout): Seamus O’Loughlin (Ireland) 55.5cms

AT TEFF was represented by: Nick Dunn (captain), Lee Cartmail, Andy Cottam, Peter Eville, Ian Gaskell, Sean Gaskell, Stanley Moore, Gary Morris, John Piper, Jim Rigby, Philip Shaw-Brown, Philip Thompson, Ben Watson, Jake Wenman & Paul Angell (manager).

Keith Wallace reports: The Loch Style International was held on Friday the 24th of May in Ireland on Lough Ennell. England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales fished for the Champions place on this well known Lough. Lough Ennell is a hard place to fish if the fish are not totally switched on and unfortunately this was the case on the day. Our congratulations go out to Scotland who won the competition and all the other teams that took part.

Rožmberk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic – 19th-25th May

The 9th FIPS-Mouche Masters World Fly Fishing Championships (for competitors aged over 50) and the 3rd FIPS-Mouche Ladies World Fly Fishing Championships took place in Rožmberk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, from 19th-25th May 2024.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

LADIES

Australia – Czech Republic – Finland ­– France – Netherlands – Norway – South Africa – Sweden – USA

MASTERS

Australia – Belgium – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Ireland – Italy – Luxembourg + Sweden – Netherlands – New Zealand – Romania – Slovakia – Spain – USA

AT Team England FF was represented by: Jay Curry, Tony Fox, Bernie Maher, Baz Reece & Mark Withyman.

RESULTS

SESSION 1

Mark Withyman won his boat session on Lipno Lake with 29 fish, while Tony Fox gained a 4th place on the Vltava Vyssi Brod with 14. Elsewhere, Baz Reece was 14th fishing from the bank at Kvetonov Lake, while Bernie Maher was 15th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, and Jay Curry was 15th on the Vltava Rozmberk. England finished the session in 11th place, with Ireland 8th. The Netherlands were leading the team rankings with 20 placing points, with the USA 2nd with 26pts and the Czech Republic 3rd with 29pts.
In the Ladies Championship the Czech Republic got off to a good start with 12 placing points, ahead of Australia in 2nd with 21pts, and Finland 3rd, also with 21pts.

SESSION 2

In the second session Mark Withyman came 10th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, with Baz Reece 11th in the boat session on Lipno Lake. Tony Fox came 11th on the Vltava Rozmberk, Jay Curry 12th on the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, and Bernie Maher 15th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod. England dropped to 13th place overall, the same number of placing points as Finland in 14th place, but with more fish points. The USA overtook the Netherlands to currently lead the team rankings with 46 placing points to 47pts, with Italy 3rd on 53pts. Individually, Glade Gunther of the USA was in the top spot with 3 placing points, with Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) 2nd on 4pts, and Robert Van T Voort (Netherlands) 3rd with 6pts.
In the Ladies event Australia narrowed the gap between them and the Czech Republic. They had 36 placing points, just 4pts behind the Czechs, who remained in 1st place on 32pts, with the USA moving into 3rd place with 46pts. Maria Tuominen of Finland was the Individual leader with 3 placing points.

SESSION 3

The third session saw another good performance in the boat session on Lipno Lake, this time by Jay Curry, who landed 12 fish to come 2nd. In the bank session on Kvetonov Lake Tony Fox came 8th, while on the river sections Baz Reece came 13th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, Mark Withyman was 13th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod, with Bernie Maher also in 13th place on the Vltava Rozmberk. England moved up one place to 12th overall, while Ireland remained in 8th place. Some strong individual performances saw Italy move into 1st place, with 63 placing points, ahead of the Netherlands 2nd with 82pts and the Czech Republic 3rd and the USA 4th, both with 88pts. Individually, Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) overtook Glade Gunther (USA) to move into 1st on 6 placing points, with Glade 2nd on 9pts, and Francois Deloup (France) 3rd with 10pts.
There was no change in the top three teams in the Ladies event, with the Czech Republic remaining in 1st with 42 placing points, Australia 2nd with 55pts, and the USA 3rd with 64pts. A second place in her session saw Maria Tuominen (Finland) remain top Individual with 5 placing points.

SESSION 4

In the boat session on Lipno Lake Tony Fox followed Jay Curry’s good performance in the previous session with eight fish for 3rd place. Jay himself gained an 8th place on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, while Mark Withyman also came 8th on the Vltava Rozmberk. Bernie Maher came 9th in the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, with Baz Reece 12th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod. England moved up another place to 11th overall, with Ireland remaining in 8th. Italy managed to stay well ahead of the field with 87 placing points, with the Czech Republic moving up into 2nd with 112pts, and Spain now 3rd with 113pts, six ahead of France in 4th place. Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) managed to hang onto the top spot individually, thanks to another 2nd place in his session, with Francois Deloup (France) now 2nd with 11pts and Borek Kopecky (Czech Republic) in 3rd place, one of three competitors all on 13pts.
The Ladies event saw the Czech Republic consolidate their 1st position with 55 placing points, with Australia remaining 2nd with 76pts, and the USA 3rd on 89pts. The Czech ladies also did well individually, with Katerina Svagrova moving into 1st with 7 placing points, and Markova Simunkova 2nd on 8pts, ahead of Julie Quillard (France) with 10pts.

SESSION 5

In the fifth and final session Tony Fox came 10th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, with Baz Reece also getting 10th place on the Vltava Rozmberk. Mark Withyman came 11th in the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, while Jay Curry was 15th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod, and Bernie Maher was one of six anglers to blank in the boat session on Lipno Lake. England finished the competition in 12th place, with Ireland remaining 8th. Italy held onto their lead to become the 2024 Masters Champions with 112 placing points, with Spain moving up into silver medal position with 134pts, and the Czech Republic in bronze with 140pts. Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) added a 5th place on Kvetonov Lake to his tally of four 2nd place session performances to take the Individual gold with 13 placing points. Borek Kopecky (Czech Republic) moved up into 2nd with 16pts, with another Czech, Marek Macka, in 3rd, also with 16pts.
The Ladies Championship saw the Czech Republic take the gold medal by a convincing margin, with 69 placing points, over the 102pts scored by France in silver, and Australia in bronze. The Individual positions were a lot closer, with Markova Simunkova (Czech Republic) the Ladies Individual Champion with 10 placing points, just one point in front of Julie Quillard (France) on 11pts, with Katerina Svagrova (Czech Republic) 3rd with 12pts.

Keith Wallace, AT TEFF Marketing, Participation & Sponsorship officer, reports: Breaking News: Normanton Park Hotel is supporting Team England Fly Fishing.

After lengthy negotiations, AT TEFF can announce a new Supporter for AT Team England (see right for full Supporters list).

Located on the banks of Rutland Water, Normanton Park Hotel has agreed to offer all Team England FF teams, and anglers trying to qualify for England, a great deal on their Bed & Breakfast rates.

To obtain this deal it is necessary to book in at the hotel (https://www.normantonpark.co.uk/) with a code.

For more information on this deal, and to obtain the code, contact myself, Keith Wallace (07788 446681, via Facebook, or email kwallace.atteff@gmail.com) or Paul Angell, AT TEFF Loch-style officer, (email paul.angell1805@gmail.com).

Lee Cartmail reports: The Stillwater National Final results and a brief match report
Venue Ellerdine Lakes.
The weather is sunny & hot.
28 anglers fished today for the honour of representing Team England.
The weather conditions were far from perfect today and the lakes had been heavily fished the last 4 days
Floating lines were the best method on Meadow Lake, shuttlecock dries, buzzer and nymphs & the usual junk fished under the bung, Marsh lake has similar tactics.
99 fish caught (to be verified) giving a rod average of 3-ish, sadly two lads failed to score (full results to follow).

National Champion: Mickey Bell 8 fish 14 points
Runner up & 2024 Captain: James Stevo 7 fish 12 points
3rd: Jim Burtle 6 fish 12 points
4th: Gary Morris 7 fish 11 points
5th: Bruce Blackshaw 6 fish 11 points
6th: Tony Smith 6 fish 9 points
7th (Travelling Reserve): Tony Fox 5 fish 9 points

Congratulations lads.
Lee Cartmail