Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

The 42nd FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship was held in the High and Low Tatras, Slovakia, from the 12th-18th September 2023.

AT TEFF was represented by: Howard Croston (Team Captain/Competitor), Mark Withyman (Manager/Reserve), Scott Nellins, James Atkinson, Del Spry and Sean Brooks.

The team was sponsored by:

NIS Group Services Ltd
Insulation Contractors
A1 Fire Stopping and Drilling Services
Hardy Fly Fishing
Chatton Trout Fishery
Envirofil Ltd

DAY 1 – SESSION 1

The first championship session saw Scott Nellins come 12th on the River Orava, with Del Spry 13th on the River Hron, James Atkinson 18th on the Lower River Vah, and Howard Croston 22nd on the Upper Vah. On Lake Dedinky, the boat fishing sector, where half the field blanked, Sean Brooks was one of eight anglers to catch a single fish, which put him 11th, while five anglers managed to catch a brace. France got off to a good start, with three first places, to start the championship in 1st place with 15 placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 29 points, and Spain 3rd with 32. England are currently 12th with 76 placing points, with Ireland 15th and Scotland 19th.

DAY 2 – SESSION 2

Day 2 saw James Atkinson come 5th on the Upper River Vah, with Scott Nellins also coming 5th on the Lower Vah. Howard Croston was 17th on the River Hron, and Sean Brooks 19th on the River Orava. Lake Dedinky, the boat fishing sector, saw some better catches than the previous day, with Del Spry getting 3 fish to come 4th, behind Ireland’s Sean Dempsey 2nd with 5 fish, and Mike Cordiner of Scotland 1st with 6 fish. This helped Scotland move up into 9th place overall, while England remained at 12th, and Ireland dropped a place to 16th. Spain overhauled France to lead the competition with 61 placing points, with France 2nd on 82 points, and Finland moving up into 3rd place with 88 points. With two first places Pierre Kuntz (France) leads the Individual rankings, with Gregoire Juglaret (France) 2nd with 3 placing points, and David Arcay (Spain) 3rd with 4 points.

DAY 3 – SESSION 3

In Session 3 on Day 3 Sean Brooks scored a 8th place on the Lower River Vah, Del Spry came 9th on the River Orava, Scott Nellins 17th on the Upper Vah, with James Atkinson 26th= on the River Hron. On Lake Dedinky, the boat fishing sector, Howard Croston landed 4 fish to finish in 3rd place, one fish behind the two top places, which included Pierre Kuntz (France) who added another 1st place to his championship tally. England moved up one place to 11th, with Scotland in 13th place and Ireland 18th. It was all change once again in the top three team places, with France back in 1st place with 95 placing points, ahead of Spain 2nd with 107 points, and the Czech Republic 3rd with 121 points. Thanks to his win on the lake sector, Pierre Kuntz (France) held onto his top spot in the Individual rankings with 3 placing points, with Gregoire Juglaret (France) 2nd with 4 points, and David Arcay (Spain) 3rd with 5 points.

DAY 4 – SESSION 4

Session 4 saw James Atkinson win a convincing 1st place on Lake Dedinky, the boat fishing sector, with 15 fish, 7 more than his nearest competitor. On the river sectors, Howard Croston came 2nd on the River Orava, with Sean Brooks 12th on the Upper River Vah, Scott Nellins 12th on the River Hron, and Del Spry 19th on the Lower Vah. Overall, England moved up one place to 10th, with Ireland 14th and Scotland 15th. The top three teams did not change, with France holding on to 1st place with 125 placing points, Spain in 2nd with 148 points, and the Czech Republic 3rd with 171 points. Individually, Pierre Kuntz (France) hung onto his 1st place with 6 placing points, with Gregoire Juglaret (France) 2nd with 7 points, ahead of David Arcay (Spain) 3rd with 8 points, and Tom Jarman (Australia) 4th, also with 8 points.

DAY 5 – SESSION 5

The final Session saw Sean Brooks come 12th on the River Hron, with James Atkinson 15th on the River Orava, Del Spry 18th on the Upper River Vah, and Howard Croston 22nd on the Lower Vah. On Lake Dedinky, the boat fishing sector, which was won with 3 fish, Scott Nellins was one of ten competitors who failed to catch. England remained in 10th place, with 330 placing points, with Scotland 13th and Ireland 18th. France held on to their top spot to become the 2023 World Team Champions, with 153 points, with the Czech Republic overtaking Spain into 2nd place with 196 points, and Spain dropping to 3rd with 199 points. Individually, after coming 3rd in his previous session, Pierre Kuntz (France) stormed back with another 1st place to become the 2023 Individual World Champion (4 1st places and a 3rd) for 7 placing points. David Arcay (Spain) was 2nd with 9 points, with Gregoire Juglaret (France) 3rd on 10 points.

Country: SCOTLAND
Venue: Lake of Menteith
Dates: 12th to 16th September (incl.)
Match date: Friday 15th September
Accommodation: King Robert Hotel, Bannockburn

RESULTS

1st Scotland 158 fish 336lbs 2.7ozs
2nd England 104 fish 225lbs 3.4ozs
3rd Ireland 100 fish 215lbs 1.10zs
4th Wales 72 fish 158lbs 15.4ozs

Best Basket: Ronnie Gilbert (Scotland) 20 fish 40lbs 4.5ozs

Heaviest Trout: Brian Mackenzie (Scotland) 4lbs 14.7ozs

AT TEFF was represented by: Martin Burgess (captain), Graeme Bell, Dale Burgess, Andy Cottam, David Currie, Tony Curtis, Richard Denney, Tony Fox, David Johns, Alex Johnstone, Mark Macleod, Ben Race, Philip Thompson, Daniel Tranter & Ian Colclough (manager).

Congratulations to Scotland for a convincing victory.

The Angling Trust reports: Today is match day, with teams from Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales practicing for most of the week. We are waiting on the lake shore to see which methods and tactics have worked best.
It’s not fished as well as envisaged due to unseasonal water temperatures. However, with anglers of this high standard fishing they’re sure to winkle out a trout, one of our Irish officials has predicted 10 fish to be a great catch.

The Angling Trust reports: Just under an hour to go and despite the unseasonably warm water and lack of wind, making solid drifting impractical.
The fishing may be a little better than first predicted, after talking to one of the lakes local stalwarts who believes we have an angler with sixteen trout and several chasing tight behind.
There’s a really tight match forming, we popped afloat on the guidance of the Fisheries Manager and witnessed half a dozen fish landed.
Boat 4 containing Scotland’s Derek Hassett & England’s Daniel Tranter was one of these. Then on boat 21 Ireland’s John Mulvanny & Wales’s Chris McAllister were also seen netting fish.
With such a low breeze, it’s only courteous to keep at least 50 metres from the boats. They are also well spread out, so it was quite fortuitous we got these action shots.
The boats are in at 18:00, and we aim to post the results shortly after.

The Angling Trust reports: The boats returned to the lodge at 18:00 last night with the race to decamp boat seats and tackle to the coaches and cars in readiness for the weigh-in.
For our competing anglers to return to the King Robert Hotel for the Gala Dinner and Presentation. This is where the teams and individual anglers celebrate the brotherhood of the sport and proceedings of the day.
Business began with a toast to the monarch and results of the day, teams are first up in order of position, followed by the individuals of the match and top rods of each team.
Scotland showed their intimate knowledge of the venue with a worthy performance to catch the Gold spot, and a creditable Individual performance with top bag of twenty trout.

AT TEFF Team England at Menteith. With thanks to Craghoppers for their support

TEFF Loch Style International – Lake of Menteith, Scotland, 15th September 2023

The International is fished between teams of 14 from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each county hosts an international every other year, one in the spring and one in the autumn.

Team members began to gather for this important Autumn International on 9th September at the team hotel in Bannockburn. Practice took place over the following five days. Conditions were unseasonal with very light or no breezes making covering water difficult. Water temperatures were high following a sustained spell of hot weather. This usually deters the fish from feeding, however the trout at Menteith had not read the script with many fish taking up residency in only 2 or 3 feet of water. Fish were to be seen and caught over open water on pulling tactics but the majority, it was felt, were tucked well into the bank and reed beds. Menteith holds a good head of large fish and several of over 5lb were caught on practice.

After the last day of practice the team had identified several areas that they felt held a good head of trout with one of two areas holding some larger fish. A dozen or so ‘top’ flies were also found to be working and all team members were equipped with these ready for match day. Floating lines with small boobies and nymphs seemed to be working best.

Match day loomed with a flat calm and some brightness – not ideal fly fishing conditions. Most boats headed to either International Bay or Loch End with the rest going out towards the cages or Herons Bay.

Boats arrived back at 6pm and a very quick tot up of the teams catch indicated a total of 104 trout caught. It was apparent that the hosts, Scotland, had caught substantially more that this! The final results were announced at the fishery. Scotland did have a substantial catch – an impressive 158 trout for 336lb. It was nail biting to see if England had secured a second, silver, spot. Ireland weighed in with 100 fish for 215lb and Wales with 72 fish for 159lb. England pipped the Irish by just 10lb with their 104 fish for 225lb giving them second place and a silver medal.

Top English angler was Phil Thompson with an impressive 12 fish for 26lb 5oz – well done Phil.
Phil gets to keep the Grafham Trophy for the year.
Top overall bag went to well known Scottish angler Ronnie Gilbert with a magnificent catch of 20 trout for 40lb 5oz.

Overall the England Team performed very well – it was always a big ask to beat the hosts on a water they know so well. As manager I could not have asked more from them. A great team that gelled really well. A special thank you to Martin Burgess the team captain, his dedication and team management was second to none. Also a huge thank you to all the staff at Menteith fishery and all the people involved in organising this event.

Special thanks to Dan Tranter and Dave Currie of the England team for all the fundraising they did prior to the event to help the team with their financial costs – great work!

The team comprised, Martin Burgess (Captain), Phil Thompson, Dave Johns, Tony Curtis, Ben Race, Alex Johnstone, Dale Burgess, Tony Fox, Mark Macleod, Andy Cottam, Dave Currie, Richard Denny, Dan Tranter, Graeme Bell. Thanks also to travelling reserve Alan Clark for his help with the admin (and fishing so well in support of the team).

Full results are on the IFFA website http://www.iffa.net/

Ian Colclough – Team Manager

The 42nd FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship is being held in the High and Low Tatras, Slovakia, from the 12th-18th September 2023.

AT TEFF is represented by: Howard Croston (Team Captain/Competitor), Mark Withyman (Manager/Reserve), Scott Nellins, James Atkinson, Del Spry and Sean Brooks.

The team is sponsored by:

NIS Group Services Ltd
Insulation Contractors
A1 Fire Stopping and Drilling Services
Hardy Fly Fishing
Chatton Trout Fishery
Envirofil Ltd

COMPETING TEAMS

Australia – Belgium – Bosnia-Herzegovina – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Hungary – Ireland – Italy – Japan – Latvia – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Mongolia – Montenegro – Nederlands – New Zealand – Poland – Romania – Scotland – Serbia – Slovakia – Slovenia – South Africa – Spain – Sweden – USA

PROGRAMME

Tuesday 12th September
12:00-14:00 Registration of Teams and Check-in
14:00 Captains’ Meeting
18:00-19:30 Opening Ceremony
20:00 Opening Dinner

Wednesday 13th September: First competition session
09:00-12:00 Session 1 (on Dedinky Lake Session lasts from 9:00 till 13:00)
12:00-14:00 Lunch
19:00 Dinner at Hotel

Thursday 14th September: Second competition session
09:00-12:00 Session 2 (on Dedinky Lake Session lasts from 9:00 till 13:00)
12:00-14:00 Lunch
19:00 Dinner at Hotel

Friday 15th September: Third competition session
09:00-12:00 Session 3 (on Dedinky Lake Session lasts from 9:00 till 13:00)
12:00-14:00 Lunch
19:00 Dinner at Hotel

Saturday 16th September: Fourth competition session
09:00-12:00 Session 4 (on Dedinky Lake Session lasts from 9:00 till 13:00)
12:00-14:00 Lunch
19:00 Dinner at Hotel

Sunday 17th September: Fifth competition session
09:00-12:00 Session 5 (on Dedinky Lake Session lasts from 9:00 till 13:00)
12:00-14:00 Lunch
18:00 Medals and Closing Ceremony
20:00 Closing Banquet at Permon

Monday 18th September
06:00 Breakfast – Travel home

SECTORS

Sector 1 RIVER ORAVA
Sector starts at the road bridge in Tvrdosin town downstream till the road bridge over River Orava in Kriva village. Big size river, width from 30 to 50m, average depth 60-120cm, occasionally deep pools 2-3m. River banks highly covered with bushes and trees. Averaged water flow in September is around 15m3/s.
Eligible fish: Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Brook trout, Lake trout, Grayling, Danubian Salmon, White fish

Sector 2 LOWER RIVER VAH (LM)
Competition sector begins at the confluence of River Bela and River Vah and runs downstream till the confluence of Demanovka creek in Liptovsky Mikulas city. Due to the existence of hydro power stations some parts will be excluded. Averaged water flow in September is around 8 m3/s.
Eligible fish: Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Brook trout, Lake trout, Grayling, Danubian Salmon

Sector 3 UPPER RIVER VAH (LH)
Competition sector starts at the confluence of the Rivers Biely Vah and Cierny Vah above Liptovsky Hradok till the road bridge in Liptovska Porubka village. Middle sized river, width from 12 to 20m, average depth 50-100cm, occasionally deep pools up to 2m. Averaged water flow in September is around 6 m3/s. River banks highly covered with bushes and trees. Recommended fly fishing methods are nymphing, dries, wet and streamers too.
Eligible fish: Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Brook trout, Lake trout, Grayling, Danubian Salmon

Sector 4 RIVER HRON
Competition sector starts at the road bridge close to Motorest Grajciar (close to junction to Lubietova) downstream and ends at the road bridge in Salkova (close to Banska Bystrica). Middle size river, width from 15 to 20m, usual depth 50-140cm, occasionally deep pools up to 2m. River banks highly covered with bushes and trees.
Eligible fish: Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Brook trout, Grayling, Danubian Salmon, White fish.

Sector 5 LAKE DEDINKY (boat fishing)
Water dam middle size 86 Ha, depth varies from 3 to 28 m, in average 12 m. Dam has regulated banks and the sector itself will be limited with buoyancy line in south close to dam wall and by the first railway bridge over inletting River Hnilec. The provided boats have a capacity of 3 persons and will be equipped with the normalized drogues.
Eligible fish: Rainbow trout, Brook trout, Brown trout, Lake trout.

You will find more information on the Championship website here>>

Upper River Tees, Co Durham
Saturday 2nd September – Sunday 3rd September

Peter Scholes reports: This year’s Rivers National Final was held on the Raby Estate waters of the Upper Tees. With all the dry weather preceding the final, it meant the river was very low, and with a hot sunny weekend forecast the talk was of a tough weekend’s fishing.
All 30 anglers assembled at 8:00am on the Saturday morning for the competition briefing, and were handed their scorecards and rules, and set off for their beats.
As expected, Beat A produced the most fish, and Beats C and D proved tricky. It was clear after the first day’s fishing that most methods were working, and it was a matter of chopping and changing methods as conditions changed, and a catch rate of 6 fish per session would put you near the top of the table.
At the end of Day One there were still a lot of anglers in the mix, with mixed results from the sessions and sectors.
Day 2 was a tougher day, with stronger winds making the presentation of flies much tougher, but the fish were there to be caught, and at the end of the competition Northern angler Paul Fairhurst had taken top spot, and became National Champion with a very consistent 6 points, with last year’s champion Carl Nixon close behind with 9 points, and in third place Kevin Moran. With Brian Lillie and Tom Hunt taking the last two places, and Pete Buckey taking the reserve spot.
Tom Hunt also caught the biggest fish of the competition, a stunning 42cms grayling. Good luck to all six anglers on next year’s Rivers Home International, to be fished on the Tees.

AT TEFF England Senior World Fly Fishing Team have announced a series of sponsorship agreements for the 2023 squad for the upcoming World Championships in Slovakia.

The agreements with three non-fishing related companies represent the first sponsorships in several years of their type, as the team look to help advertise company branding on clothing and videos throughout the championships.

Team Captain Howard Croston: “The 2023 England World team is set to compete in Slovakia’s Tatra mountains for the 42nd FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships, this September. This challenging and rigorous event will be contested across five venues over five days of competition by teams from 30 countries.
Team England is greatly indebted to its generous supporters & sponsors, without whom attendance would be impossible.
Consisting of former team & individual world champion Howard Croston (Team Captain/Competitor), Mark Withyman (Manager/Reserve), Scott Nellins, James Atkinson, Del Spry and Sean Brooks, Team England would like to offer particular thanks to –

NIS Group Services Ltd (www.nislimited.com)
Insulation Contractors (www.nislimited.com/icl/)
A1 Fire Stopping and Drilling Services (www.elitefirestop.co.uk)
Hardy Fly Fishing (www.hardyfishing.com)
Chatton Trout Fishery (www.chattontroutflyfishery.co.uk)
Envirofil Ltd (www.envirofil.co.uk)

For their invaluable support on the largest stage in competitive fly fishing.’’

The team depart for Slovakia on September 4th, with the competition week being held from the 11th September across five sessions across the Rivers Vah, Orava and Hron; with Lake Dehdinky as the solo lake session.

As there is believed to be increased interest from new and returning competitors in the Elite Performance Programme (EPP) for 2024, it is proposed to set up an EPP Division 2, in the hope that having two leagues, with promotion and relegation between the two, will improve the abilities of all involved.
Accordingly, AT TEFF are seeking a Co-ordinator for this EPP Division 2 (see job description below)

Sunday 23rd April – Blagdon

Qualifiers: 1. Martin Burgess 2. Mark Miles 3. Dale Burgess 4. Gary Haskins 5. Lee Bartlett 6. John Bowen 7. Alan Clark 8. Tim Wellman 9. Andrew Stones 10. Jim Rigby 11. John Braithwaite 12. John Piper 13. Paul Golding 14. Dave Reynolds 15. Julian Weddle 16. Gary Morris

Sunday 30th April – Bewl Water

Qualifiers: 1. Phil Thompson 2. Sean Brooks 3. John Benford

Sunday 7th May – Draycote Water

Qualifiers: 1. Stephen Smalley 2. Michael Laycock 3. Pete Eville 4. Robert Middleton 5. Rob Allan 6. Graham Currie 7. Richard Hood 8. Martin Griffiths 9. Ben Watson 10.Paul Tweddle 11.Bruce Blackshaw 12.Nick Donald 13.John Hood 14.Sam Smith 15.Frank Sumnall

Sunday 28th May – Chew Valley Lake

Qualifiers: 1. Alex Johnstone 2. Andrew Weeks 3. Paul Sweatman 4. Martin Barrett 5. Andy Cottam 6. Richard Walker 7. Luke Smith 8. Dave Minall 9. Alan Williams

Sunday 28th May – Sweethope Lough

Qualifiers: 1. Stan Moore 2. Brian Blackett 3. Peter Crowe 4. Steven Fish 5. Andy Campbell 6. Ant Meadows 7. Simon Gaines

Sunday 3rd June – Grafham Water

Qualifiers: 1. Paul Runec 2. Ben Race 3. Philip Shaw-Browne 4. Sean Hanlon 5. Neil Squires 6. Richard Slater 7. Anthony Fox 8. Paul Calvert 9. John Pearn 10.Ryan Bull 11.Paul Cramp 12.Mark Tremain-Coker 13.Peter Hartley 14.Jake Wenman 15.Daniel Wilkinson 16.Mark MacLeod 17.Matt Nuttall 18.Christopher Guthrie 19.Peter Webb 20.Anthony McKenna 21.David Franklin

Friday 9th June – Blithfield

Qualifiers: 1. Lee Cartmail 2. Ian Gaskell 3. Shaun Gaskell 4. Ryan Feber 5. Jake Clowes 6. Stephen Pattinson 7. Rob Wheeldon 8. Riccardo Saccone

Block B
Sunday 2nd July – Rutland

Qualifiers: 1. Dom Sheratte 2. Leigh Pond 3. William McHarrg 4. Andrew Haskins 5. Tim Joyce 6. James Pickford 7. Peter Baker 8. Paul Roach 9. Nicholas Tompkins 10.Nick Dunn 11.Craig Middleton 12.Mark Thomas 13.David Johns 14.Simon Bird 15.Mark Howard 16.Richard Denney 17.Paul Wild 18.John Brown 19.Andrew Axon 20.David Eames 21. Sean Porter

Country: WALES

Venue: River Ebbw

Dates: 21st to 24th June (incl.)

Match date: Friday 23rd June

Accommodation: Bryn Meadows Golf Hotel & Spa, Ystrad Mynach

RESULTS

1. Wales 118 fish 5335 points 37 placings
2. Ireland 81 fish 3728 points 47 placings
3. Scotland 82 fish 3641 points 52 placings
4. England 44 fish 1992 points 65 placings

Winning Team: Geoff Clarkson Trophy: Wales

Individual Winner: Moc Morgan Trophy: Simon Barton (Wales) Placings 5

Largest Fish: Mike Childs Trophy: Mark Sloan (Ireland) Length 45.7cms

AT Team England Fly Fishing was represented by: Carl Nixon (captain), Cameron Craigs, Stan Moore, Dan Scott-Paul, Gavin Walsh, Brian Lillie (reserve) & Peter Scholes (manager).

Congratulations to Wales on a convincing victory.

Full Results: