Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

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>>

The Angling Trust is delighted to announce the 4th edition of this fantastic competition will be held on the 25th & 26th June 2022 at Draycote Water.
Tickets will go on sale in the spring of 2022, but get the dates in the diary. Further information will be published on their Facebook page and www.anglingtrust.net/at-loch-style-team-championships

Day two, the guys are off for the first session of the day, wind has died slightly and it’s not too bright. Looking forward to seeing the catch results at noon.

Out on the water for a boat check, looking like a good start to the day, passing several boats who’ve had half a dozen fish, we watched Renegades & England Ladies into fish, safely landed.

Cracking first session to today’s AT Loch-style Team Championships, 56 fish being boated. This is more than double yesterday’s first session. Draycote showing great mid-summer form.

Well well, we’ve real drama going into the final session of the day here at Draycote. It’s all to fish for in this year’s Angling Trust Loch-style Team Championships.
The anticipation at the jetty was palpable, with boats lining up at the boundary of the staging area for the sounding of the final hooter.
With only five fish separating the top three and the same for forth and fifth, and they’re off.
Good luck guys, may you find productive drifts.

We’re in the last hour of this year’s AT Loch-style, very shortly after 19:15 we’ll know who the winning team are. This is what it’s all about, who will be taking this wonderful Trophy home?
We’re counting the minutes down…

Angling Trust Loch Style Team Championship 2021, results.
All the boats back, result cards in and competing anglers fed, with thanks to Ifor Jones Fishery Management at Draycote.
Congratulations to the winning team, Fly Boys landed 69 fish for 3021cm. Netting them both this year’s Trophy and £1,200.
Congratulations to our runners up too, landing 59 fish for 2589cm and picked up £700.

Provisional results from Day 1 of the Loch-style Team Championship at Draycote Water.
Overcast and a little cooler than of late and the stiff breeze presented a number of challenges but the fishing improved as the day went on…
1st session produced 20 fish, 2nd session 35 and 41 fish landed in the final session of the day, 96 fish in total and a 3.2 rod average.
Great performance by the Renegades today, it’s still all to play for and best of luck to everyone fishing tomorrow
Tight lines

For this event the anglers were split into two groups, with each angler fishing the same eight pegs as everyone else over two days. All fish over 20cm in length counted. The match was fully catch & release, with each fish safely measured and returned to the water.
The river had been high in the weeks leading up to the event, but cleared and dropped just in time to allow the competition to go ahead safely.

After Session One it was clear that the fishing was going to be difficult in the cold-water temperatures. Only three out of the eight anglers fishing Session One managed to register fish on the scorecard, with Del Spry having three, current World Champion Howard Croston landing two, and Mark Withyman one. The fish quickly became aware of the anglers, and headed for the safety of deeper water and underneath structures on the riverbed. Therefore, it was inevitable that nymphs and streamers were the main methods deployed by the anglers. Each session became increasingly more difficult, as is often the case with wild trout competitions, and by the end of Day One Howard Croston was the only angler to catch in all of his sessions, and built up a commanding lead.

The overnight rest brought the fish back out from their hiding spots, with the morning session on Day Two producing twelve fish across all the match beats. Harry Fox led the way, catching seven of them, including the biggest fish of the match at 39.5cm, to put himself into contention. In the afternoon session only three anglers managed to add to their overnight tally (Mark Withyman, Howard Croston, and Andy Taylor) meaning that Howard Croston took a well-deserved victory. 

Over the two days the local anglers from Islwyn and District Anglers popped along to welcome the EPP anglers and ensure there were no issues. It was great to see these guys, who have a very well-run fishing club on their doorstep, offering some incredible value fly fishing. Thanks to everyone who helped.

The results from Event 2 are below:

Current league standings (after two events):

Report: Terry Phillips

Images: Simon Clarke & Danny Williams, Angling Trust

For this event the anglers were split into two groups, with each angler fishing the same eight pegs as every other angler in their group. Each session lasted 60 mins, with anglers moving along two pegs at the end of each session. The match was fully catch & release, with each angler controlling for the angler on the peg next to them. Some adjustments were made to accommodate Covid safety.

The 2021 EPP got off to a flying start, with fish moving on the surface fish right across the lake. Anglers targeted the rising fish with dry flies, lures, and nymphs in the early sessions with some good results. New EPP anglers James Atkinson and Andy Taylor got off to a flying start with five fish each on their 1st peg of the day, James on dries and Andy mixing tactics up regularly (a method he used to good effect throughout the day).

In session 2 the anglers started to settle into their stride, many using the first session to try out methods that had been productive during practise. Tony Baldwin followed up a solid four fish in session 1 with a further three in session 2, taking an early lead in the match. New to the EPP Sam Bailey covered the water well, switching between tactics and was also rewarded with three fish which followed his three from session 1.

Current England World team members Scott Nellins and Harry Fox dominated in session 3 as the fish started to become hook shy with four & three fish respectively. Unfortunately, Tony Baldwin’s luck took a turn for the worse on peg 3, breaking not just one but two of the rods he had set up to use, most anglers having between three to six different rods set-ups, ready to quickly switch between tactics. Quietly working away in the background, picking up fish on every peg was Phil Shaw-Browne. The key to these events is to catch fish in every session, and avoid receiving the maximum points awarded for a blank session.  

Fishing became gradually tougher during the day because of angling pressure, but the anglers were still being rewarded with chances on each peg. By the time session 7 was reached, four anglers had managed to catch in every session (Joel Beeney, Phil Shaw-Browne, Scott Nellins and Terry Phillips), and the last two sessions would decide who would come out on top. Only Phil and Joel managed to complete the set, catching in every session, and surely one of them had done enough to take the event victory. 

A late night tallying up the scores, checking and double-checking, and the results were announced on Facebook (in true Covid fashion). Phil Shaw-Browne taking the victory with a very impressive 19 session points. Four out of the top 5 spots were taken by anglers new to the EPP, fishing in their first match to FIPS-Mouche rules. Defending champion Harry Fox put in a strong start to his defence, finishing in 4th place overall.

All of the anglers were brilliantly looked after on match day and during practise sessions by Jamie and the rest of the team at Garnffrwd fishery, fish were caught on every peg around the lake. I heard so many positive comments about this venue from the anglers over the last couple of months, it’s a venue well worth a visit! Thanks from us all.

The results from Event 1 are below:

Report: Terry Phillips

Images: Danny Williams, Angling Trust

AT TEFF has decided to cancel the scheduled Fundraisers at Rutland on 12th September and Draycote on 26th September.

These will be replaced by newly formatted events at Chew on 16th / 17th October and at Draycote on 24th October – watch this space for full details.

The Angling Trust has announced the Loch Style Team Championship 2021 will be held at Draycote Water on the weekend of 24th & 25th July.

A maximum of 16 places will be available for teams from the UK and abroad to compete in the popular two-day competition fished to international rules. Angling Trust member clubs and match groups receive a £100 discount on their entry fee at just £550, while non-member clubs are also welcome with the entry fee at £650. All match day fishing fees and boat hire fees are included in the entry fee.

The Loch Style Team Championship boasts to have the biggest cash prize fund for a fly-fishing competition in the UK. The Angling Trust expect the minimum amount on offer to be £3,850 but could rise to £5,000 subject to the number of teams that enter the competition.

The competition has been added to the match calendar following recent easing of the government’s covid restrictions and consultation with the captains of those teams who have fished the competition in previous years. The Angling Trust will have additional safety protocols in place to ensure the competition is compliant with Covid-19 best practice guidelines, further information can be found HERE.

Entries are open from 30th June at 10:30am and will close on 18th July at 23:59pm. For more information and to book your place CLICK HERE.

You can also contact Daniel Williams, the Angling Trust’s Competition Development Manager, for further information on 07854 240 368 or email at daniel.williams@anglingtrust.net 

Chris Bobby, Captain of Greenwell Persuaders said: “We all really enjoyed the last AT Loch-Style Championship two years ago at Draycote.  It is the most dynamic reservoir-based event as after each 3-hour session you meet up and share info with your team. Each day you fish two sessions with one of your teammates and in the other session you are a boatman and so get the chance to see what other teams are doing. Draycote has been fishing really well recently and I am looking forward to some great top of the water sport.”  

Daniel Williams  said: “It was so reassuring speaking with prospective team captains and competitors as we began rearranging the date for this event. Everyone is so enthusiastic to get back out on the water, it has been a pleasure listening to many recollections as to why so many competitors love this event.

“We have had to scale back a little as part of our duty of care to competitors and prerequisite of keeping everything within Covid-19 guidelines. However, we are now fully up and running with the event, so good luck and tight lines to all who compete.”  

You can watch the On The Bank episode of the Loch Style Team Championships 2018 held at Eyebrook below: