Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

Country: ENGLAND
Venue: Rutland Water
Dates: 13th to 17th May (incl.)
Match date: Friday 16th May
Accommodation: Best Western Hotel, Rockingham Forest, Corby

AT TEFF was represented by: Frank Sumnall (captain), Phil Calvert, Andy Cottam, Dave Currie, Nick Dunn, Samantha Edmunds, Shaun Gaskell, Mark Macleod, Gary Morris, Paul Roach, Paul Runec, Riccardo Saccone, Phil Shaw-Browne, Rob Toptalo & Paul Angell (manager).

PRACTICE DAY

2025 Spring International Final Practice Day at Rutland Water

MATCH DAY

2025 Spring International Final at Rutland Water

RESULTS

ENGLAND TAKE THE GOLD!!!

1. England 185 fish 367lbs 9ozs
2. Scotland 177 fish 347lbs 10ozs
3. Ireland 108 fish 209lbs 14ozs
4. Wales 99 fish 193lbs 4ozs

Brown Bowl (Best Basket): Tyler Hay (Scotland) 27 fish 53lbs 5ozs
H. Emyr Lewis Trophy (Heaviest Trout): Mark Macleod (England) 3lbs 11ozs

Top 4 Individual Results:
1st Tyler Hay Scotland 27 fish for 53lb 5oz
2nd Gary Morris England 22 fish for 43lb 8oz
3rd Nick Dunn England 21 fish for 41lb 11oz
4th Ronnie Gilbert Scotland 20 fish for 39lb 6oz

England team positions:
Gary Morris 2nd
Nick Dunn 3rd
Phil Shaw-Browne 6th
Mark Macleod 8th
Phil Calvert 9th
Dave Currie 14th
Shaun Gaskell 16th=
Riccardo Saccone 18th
Frank Sumnall 19th
Paul Runec 20th
Samantha Edmunds 25th
Andy Cottam 32nd
Rob Toptalo 43rd
Paul Roach 47th

Paul Angell, Team Manager, reports: ‘Teams representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales assembled at Rutland Water on Tuesday 13th May to begin preparations for the Spring Loch-Style Fly Fishing International 2025. Three days of practice followed where a variety of tactics and flies were tried out by all teams to try to settle on a plan for match day on Friday 16th May. Key to this was also to identify areas holding fish, and more importantly to identify those areas which had few or no fish – vital in a water like Rutland which is over 3,100 acres in size.
Match day dawned with cooler temperatures and a wind which had switched to a northerly. Still bright and breezy, but with more cloud cover at times. Fishing in this competition takes place from drifting boats with two anglers, from different countries paired by ballot, fishing over the front of the boat. In each boat is also a boatman who records all fish caught. The match commenced at 10am with a rolling start from in front of the lodge. It was quickly obvious that most boats headed for the north shore of the south arm, or the end of the peninsula, where practice had found large numbers of fish, many of which had been recently stocked. A few boats also headed to Sailing Club bay.
The England team had found that good numbers of fish were to be found in the upper layers of the water and whilst brightly coloured flies were still attracting fish, more were to be taken using nymph and buzzer patterns in conjunction with coloured blobs or fab’s either straight lined or washing line tactics.
At the close of the match, with all boats inside the harbour by the finish time of 6pm, it quickly became obvious that the match would be decided with a close contest for first place between England and Scotland. At the weigh-in, the gold medal went to England who totalled 185 fish to Scotland’s 177. Ireland took 3rd place with 108 fish and Wales in 4th with 99.
It had been a great team performance with every member contributing during practice and on match day, under the excellent leadership of team captain Frank Sumnall. The team would like to thank the staff and rangers at Rutland Water for their help in running both practice and the match itself, and the staff at the event hotel – The Great Western Rockingham Forest – who went out of their way to help ensure the smooth running of the event.
The team would like to thank Fulling Mill, Guide Fly Fishing, and Snowbee for their continued support for the team, Craghoppers for help with team clothing and in particular Keith Wallace the TEFF Sponsorship and Marketing manager, and his company Envirofil for their continued support and work behind the scenes.’

RESULTS

1st Tony Baldwin (National Champion)
2nd James Stephenson
3rd Andrew Taylor
4th=Frank Daley
4th=Graham Willis
6th Jake Wenman
7th Stephen Peart (Reserve)

All matches fished to AT TEFF Bank Rules
Qualifiers scoring highest in their respective event will be invited to the final.
Fish counted per stand/peg, on a catch & release basis.

Bank Qualifiers

Thrunton Long Crag, Alnwick – Sunday 19th January – enter here>>

Farmoor Reservoir – Sunday 2nd February – enter here>>

Press Manor, Chesterfield – Sunday 16th February – enter here>>

Knitsley Mill Trout Fishery, Northumberland – Sunday 23rd February – enter here>>

Walthamstow Reservoirs, East London – Sunday 23rd February – enter here>>

Westlow Mere, Congleton – Sunday 16th March – enter here>>

Elinor Fishery, Kettering – Sunday 30th March – enter here>>

National Final

Farmoor Reservoir – Sunday 18th May 2025

AT TEFF matches now have an AT membership requirement. If you need to renew or sign up please visit http://www.anglingtrust.net/membership or call 0343 5077 006 (option 1).

Cancellation/Refunds: Please note: If you wish to cancel a ticket, you are able to do via the Angling Trust website. 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.

It is with great pleasure to welcome on board Rutland Hall Hotel & Spa. Team England Fly Fishing have managed to secure a deal to provide accommodation with breakfast and leisure facilities to Team England fly Fishing.

RUTLAND HALL HOTEL & SPA
Set on the banks of Rutland Water, relax in the timeless charm of this unique lakeside hotel. Choose a room at Rutland Hall Hotel, or indulge in a self-catering lodge or suite, sited a short walk from the Main Hall. On site you’ll find the resort’s excellent restaurant, Blossoms, plus a crazy golf course, 70 acres of parkland to enjoy and direct access to Rutland Water. In addition, this lakeside hotel boasts a unique and fabulous Four Roots Wellbeing experience, 22m indoor swimming pool and a gym.
This resort is set across several different buildings, meaning you’ll need to be comfortable navigating steps and inclines. All areas are accessible and there is a resort buggy on hand to help out where required.
To access this FANTASTIC deal please contact Mr Keith Wallace on kwallace.atteff@gmail.com or Mr Paul Angell on paul.angell1805@gmail.com

PS: They have just put in a new Gym and Swimming Pool and when we book we have FREE use of them in the price.

Elinor Fishery qualifier, Kettering – Sunday 30th March

Bruce Blackshaw reports: ‘Well that’s it for the 2025 Qualifiers for the England Bank National. 12 intrepid anglers turned up at Elinor Trout Fishery to try and secure their place at the National Final in May at Farmoor. Conditions were far from perfect, bright sunshine and brutal winds into the anglers’ faces. The first peg produced a few fish, but it was never going to be easy. Ronald Howard took an early lead, taking 3 fish off his first peg. The rest of the morning session proved tough going, with odd fish being picked up sporadically. At the lunch break 14 fish had been caught by the anglers. With the wind strengthening after lunch, it looked like it was going to be as tough, if not tougher, for the afternoon pegs, but the fish had other ideas, and fish were steadily caught. Coming to the last peg it was still all to play for, with nearly all of the anglers still having a chance to qualify. A late burst on the last peg by Ed Foster, catching 3 fish, secured him first place.’

Results:
1st Ed Foster 5 off 3 8 points
2nd Richard Haines 5 off 3 8 points
3rd Stephen Fish 4 off 4 8 points
4th Craig Compton 3 off 3 6 points

‘Many thanks to Bradley Gifford at Elinor Trout Fishery for hosting today. Let’s hope we can get a day where the wind doesn’t blow, and Elinor shows its true potential. Thank you to the anglers today, but also at all the previous heats. Congratulations to all the qualifiers from all the heats, and good luck at the final. Commiserations to all those who didn’t make it this year. I look forward to seeing you all again next year and hope we can keep the numbers competing growing.
Tight lines and wet nets for the rest of the year. Best wishes – Bruce’

All the Eliminators completed, well done to all our finalists. We will be in touch soon with your invites for the Final on May 18th at Farmoor. We should be able to let you know on which lake and in what area the Final will be fished in the next couple of weeks.

Congratulations: Jake Wenman, Mark Harrison, Tony Baldwin, Stephen Peart, James Stephenson, Tony Fox, Lee Wilkinson, Gareth Tilley, Andrew Stones, Ian Watts, Simon Clarke, Martin Crawley, Andy Taylor, Steve Cullen, Colin Fincham, Dave Morris, Connor Metcalfe, Andrew Taylor, Michael Leck, Josh Shuttleworth, Tim Joyce, Mark Rose, Gary Morris, Frank Daley, Graham Willis, Bruce Blackshaw, Derek Steel, Iain Scott, Ed Foster, Richard Haines, Stephen Fish, Craig Compton.

That’s our finalists for 2025. Best of luck to you all

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Official Trailer

Follow Howard Croston and the rest of the AT TEFF World Championship team as they compete in the 2024 World Championships in France. Details on Fulling Mill Fly Fishing’s YouTube channel here>>

Fulling Mill Fly Fishing: ‘In this Fulling Mill original documentary series we follow Signature Tyer Howard Croston for 9 months as he prepares for and fishes in the 2024 World Fly Fishing Championships in France. We start with his life at home, preparation and team practice, then follow him to France where we cover every moment of the event. The World Fly Fishing Championships is the premier fly fishing competition of the calendar year, and it brings the best anglers from around the world together for 5 days of intense fishing. It is a game of fine margins, and historically it has been responsible for many of the innovations in fly fishing that most anglers take for granted today. This is a six part series, and the first episode will premier February 1 on YouTube.
Howard Croston is a World Fly Fishing Champion (2019) and member of the English International Fly Fishing team. He’s also the Global Brand and Product Manager at Hardy. As one of our Signature Tyers Howard is constantly innovating new flies, and has many proven trout fly patterns in our collection. A brilliant angler and tyer, we’re thrilled to have Howard and his expertise as part of the Fulling Mill team.
Make sure to check out @howardcrostonflyfisher9227’s channel! here>>
To purchase Howard’s patterns, head to our website. UK here>> US here>>
Make sure to subscribe to our channel to see more videos like this. here>>
Make sure to follow us on Instagram! here>>
Video by @patricktillard’

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 1

Episode 1 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston dives into his life, how he got into the world of competition fly fishing, what his life looks like these days, practice for competition and some stories about his life. Additionally, Howard address myths about what fishing at this level is—whether that be euro nymphing, dry fly fishing, streamer fishing, or something inbetween— and what it isn’t. When you compete at this level in fly fishing, it’s an all consuming pursuit that becomes a centerpiece of your life. If you want to be truly competitive, and to have a shot at winning, Howard will show you what it takes.

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 2

In Episode 2 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston joins the rest of the members of Fly Fishing Team England for a day of practice a few months before the competition. Here, we dive into the team component of competitive fly fishing, and how this group of anglers works together to get not only the best team result, but to improve their personal standings as well. Howard is both Captain and Manager of the English team, and he has over 20 years of competition experience to pass on to the other members. In this video you’ll see the teammates not only working on their nymphing skills, but some advanced dry fly fishing as well.

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 3

In Episode 3 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston he completes his final practice in the UK, packs an absolutely massive pile of gear, and then heads off to France with the team. Howard dives into the little details in fly fishing that can be magnified to make a huge difference when you’re at the highest level of competitive fly fishing. They then spend a week practicing at various lakes and rivers around France in advance of the World Fly Fishing Championships, before we joined up with them a few days before the competition started. They do some fly tying, gear prep and Howard walks us through some of the things they learned in their week practicing there, what their nightly fly tying looks like and how they’re feeling in advance of the competition.

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 4

In Episode 4 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston we follow Team England to the opening ceremony. Then, the following morning we join Howard for the captains meeting, which is a discussion of the rules before the event begins. It’s now time for the competition to begin. After some final preparation and a short night’s sleep, day one begins. On this day we follow Howard to the Aude river, where he fishes two beats for both trout and grayling. The first is in a town center, and the second is well down a valley into some wild and overgrown terrain. Howard walks us through what gear he has, what rods he rigs up, and what flies he fishes—single nymph, double nymph, dry dropper, dry fly, big nymphs, small nymphs—and the puzzle as he tries to work it out. This is an amazing insight into all the variable these anglers are working with in such a short amount of time on new water. Even for anglers who don’t see themselves competition fishing, this is a great lens into fly fishing at it’s most technical limit.

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 5

In Episode 5 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston we cover sessions 2 and 3 of the World Fly Fishing Championships in France. First, we head to the Vicdessos river. There, Howard fishes what looks to be two lovely pieces of this small, paced river. What he finds are an extremely low number of fish and lots of great looking water that doesn’t appear to have anything in it. This makes for extremely thin margins where every single trout is critical, and mistakes are amplified. On this river you’ll see Howard fish both single and double nymphing setups, as well as a dry dropper setup to cover the calmer water and fish at greater distance.
On day 3 the venue changes drastically when Howard heads to the Carlit Lakes, which are a series of alpine lakes in the French Pyrenees. There he finds incredibly clear water, technical fish, but extremely fun and rewarding fishing. This sector, in contrast to the rivers, is almost all dry fly fishing with long leaders and light tippet. There’s also some sight nymphing as well. Howard breaks out decades of UK stillwater trout fishing wizardry for this one!

The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Howard Croston | Episode 6

In Episode 6 of The World Fly Fishing Championships ft. Signature Tyer Howard Croston we cover sessions 4 and 5 of the World Fly Fishing Championships in France. This is the final installment of our six-part series. In this episode we head first to the Têt river and watch as Howard has some serious breakthroughs in his understanding of how the French rivers and trout work. Then, on the final day we head to the Camporells lakes, which are a series of alpine lakes in the French Pyrenees. They’re much like the Carlit lakes, and Howard again shows us what decades of stillwater fly fishing experience can do for you in these technical fisheries. In this final day of competition Howard really gets in his stride and shows us how you have to take every day as a new one, and fight to the last second. As with the first series of lakes, Howard fishes a lot of dry flies and shows us an advanced understanding of how stillwater trout feed.

The 2024-2025 Bank Home International was fished at Ellerdine Lakes, Telford.

AT Team England Fly Fishing was represented by Bruce Blackshaw, Jim Burtle, Tony Fox, Gary Morris, Tony Smith and James Stevenson.

Congratulations to Ireland on taking the Gold.

Draw & Peg Allocations

Results
Session 1

Session 2

Final Results

Ellerdine Lakes are still looking for a few marshalls for the Bank International on Wednesday 5th March. ‘If you can spare your time, free breakfast and lunch and a sport ticket, plus you will pick up some fishing tips on the way.’

Further details on their Facebook page here>>

AT TEFF are looking for a European Team Manager, to act as the principal organiser and co-ordinator for the AT TEFF England European team. See Job Description and Person Specification below:

Interested applicants are asked to contact Alex Adams (Executive Officer – General Secretary), on alex.adams1969@gmail.com, for further information. Closing date for applications: 31st January 2025.