COMPETITIONS

Both the WFCA Team and WFCA Veterans Competitions have been successfully held in the Northern region for the past two years. For these competitions to continue in 2011 they will need to be held within the Southern Region in either October or November.

The Northern region ran these matches via a cooperative of local clubs; with this in mind would any clubs interested in running these events  please contact me giving details of proposed venues and dates.

TEAM WALES - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 - ULGI CANAL, OPOLE, POLAND

Our senior team (Lee Edwards, Andy Johnstone, Ian Hughes, Nigel Evans, Ben Roberts and Ian Leach) has returned this week from the European Championships.  The team were confronted with a very poor venue; in so much as it was almost devoid of fish over 75 gm (3 ounces)!  During practise they enjoyed one day where 4 of the 6 anglers caught over 1 Kg!  Apart from that, it was mostly ounces caught each day.  Come match days, the plan was to try and land a bonus fish (anything over 75 gm - a perch, roach or bream) in the early part of the match and then scratch as many small fish as possible.  However, the small fish (and we’re talking very small at 1-2gm each) were not in great numbers in every peg.  Indeed, the best hope was a catch of small gudgeon (at around 5gm each).
After a week of practise which resulted in few fish caught, the Team Manager (Eric Humphreys) had a difficult selection but decided to leave out Ben Roberts on Day 1.  The Day 1 result saw 3 (Lee, Andy and Nigel) of the 5-man team score well with 5 points each but unfortunately 2 poor draws saw 2 poor results with 10 and 12 points - this left Wales in 15th place from 27 teams.  Day 2 saw Ben Roberts replace Ian Hughes.  On Day 2, the team recorded 4 very good results with Ben Roberts winning his section; unfortunately, there was also a last in section.  Nevertheless, Day 2 saw Wales finish in 6th place on the day and the final team placing rise up to a reasonable (yet disappointing) overall 10th place.  On a positive note, Lee, Nigel and Andy all finished in the top 15% individually and higher placed than all but 1 English angler (although England ended 4th team overall).

The photo shows Andy Johnstone landing his bonus fish on Day 2 - a 70gm perch.  Andy caught another 181 fish on Day 2 to record 406gm for 5th in section - beaten in the last 20 minutes by 4 anglers in a row who all caught a bream!
The Welsh Senior Squad now look forward to the Home International on 17 July (to be broadcast on Sky TV) and the World Championships in Italy in September.  A development team will compete in the Celtic Cup in August.

HOME INTERNATIONAL – CUDMORE FISHERY, STAFFORDSHIRE – 17 JULY 2011

The day after the Fishomania Final, Matchroom are sponsoring the 1st Home National for some time, where Wales will compete against England, Scotland and Ireland in a teams-of-four match to international rules on Arena Pool - and all caught live on Sky TV!  Why not take trip to Cudmore to support our boys!  It promises to be a very exciting and enjoyable day out!  Our team will be Lee Edwards, Darren Frost, Ben Roberts and Andy Amos (due to the venue’s proximity to North Wales, the last 3 anglers all have a wealth of experience at Cudmore).  

MATCHROOM FISH’O’MANIA HOME INTERNATIONAL 2011

Shimano Team Wales took part in the inaugural Matchroom Fish’O’Mania Home International on 17 July 2011.  This event, televised on Sky TV, and competed at Cudmore Fisheries, Nr Newcastle-under-Lyme, has really captured the angling public’s attention.   The match was fished to International Rules with the exception that it was decided on total weight, 5 hours long, with ½ hourly weigh-ins, and bait limits were raised accordingly.

A couple of practise days revealed that the there were plenty of fish to be caught on the pole.  It was clear that, as ever, feeding would be key.  Tactics covered the use of caster, worm, hemp, maggot, and corn in varying amounts but worm was the best hook bait.  The Fish’O’Mania competition the day before the international event uncovered that the venue would likely fish differently than in practise.  Barbel and carp was the main quarry but silvers would also play a significant part.    

The 4-man Welsh team, managed on this occasion by Andy Johnstone, comprised Lee Edwards, Ben Roberts, Andy Amos and Darren Frost.  The following anglers also attended to act as ‘runners’ and assist with the ½ hourly weigh-ins: Martin Churchill, Mike Williams, Tomas Lee and Ian Leach.  Eric Humphreys, the National Manager, was forced to stay at home due to an untimely illness but he had the best coverage enjoying the event on TV and passing Andy the odd tip as the match progressed into the last 2 hours.  Wales began to pull back Scotland and England but our charge could not be maintained and the last 30 minutes cost us dearly.  Not the result the team wanted but what an exciting competition!  Make sure your able to watch next year’s event - it’s compulsive viewing and has been described as the best televised angling ever seen in the UK!

An intriguing and thoroughly exciting match was the result with Wales winning after the first weigh in but slipping back after an aggressive start!   

The overall result was:

1st England - 95.89 kg
2nd Scotland - 88.09 kg
3rd Wales - 79.58 kg
4th  Ireland - 56.11 kg

The Assistant Welsh National Manager, Andy Johnstone, was full of praise for the whole team.  They now look forward to the World Championships in Italy in September!

Finally, thanks to Shimano for their continuing generous team sponsorship; also to Sensas for sponsoring the team with groundbait; and finally to Denzil Thorpe of Angling Bait Club who provided the worms at this event and the recent European Championships.

While there is no official individual event within this match, Lee Edward’s superb performance from Peg 1 saw him weigh the highest individual catch (39.57 kg).  Unusually, the manager had to place his anglers once the peg numbers were drawn - Lee fully justified the manager’s decision to place him on Peg 1.  The photo below shows Lee with some of his match-winning catch.  The other lad’s recorded the following weights:

Darren Frost - 15.33 kg - Peg 5.  
Ben Roberts - 11.27 kg - Peg 9.
Andy Amos - 13.41 kg - Peg 13.

                 Welsh Federation of Coarse Anglers

JUNIOR TRIAL APPLICATION FORM