Three new leagues have been added for Spring 2016 ensuring anglers in North Yorkshire, Humberside and Surrey will have the opportunity to get involved.

In total, 10 leagues each containing four fixtures will be held on commercial fisheries spread throughout England, with some leagues beginning this month.

The competition is open to anglers aged 16 or under on December 31st, 2016 and the cost of entering the league is still only £1 per week. Competitors will have the chance to win prizes supplied by Preston Innovations and the top three anglers from each league will win a day with Preston Innovations' consultants while earning the title of regional champion. The competition ends in June.

Angling Trust’s Senior Competitions & Talent Manager Ben Thompson said: “Over 100 youngsters fished in the leagues last year and we hope that more will get involved in 2016. It’s a fantastic opportunity for any youngster wishing to get into match angling and make new friends while the more experienced anglers can pit their wits against other like-minded anglers.

“At only £1 per week entry plus the price of a couple of pints of maggots, it is affordable access to match fishing in a fun and friendly environment and there are some fantastic trophies and prizes up for grabs, including a day's fishing with some of the best anglers in the country.”

To find out more about the competition, venues, schedules and entry form click HERE

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

For many, this resulted in a hard day's fishing. However, as temperatures rose and with the wind dropping a little, alongside some sunshine going into the last hour of the match, the venue's shoals of carp and F1s fed remarkably well.

It was Jamie Hughes, an Angling Coach from the Wirral, who was installed immediately as favourite when he drew end peg 2 on Canal pool. He didn’t disappoint either, winning the event easily with 141lbs and being the first qualifier for Fish ‘O’ Mania 2016. Amazingly, his catch of 50 fish - carp and F1s up to 8lbs - were caught dobbing bread punch to a series of lines without feeding any bait at all for four hours of the match, and even then 40 maggots was the total bait used.

Canal pool was the place to be and further along the bank on pegs 6 and 8 Andrew Mann and Andrew Neal – Wales-based travelling partners and stable mates under the Milo Bait Tech banner – fought out a peg-to-peg battle. It was Andrew Mann who came out on top catching 83lbs 14oz of carp and F1s across and short, using the same dobbing bread and maggots short tactics as the winner down the edge with Andy Neal also fishing the same and finishing in third with 65lbs 8oz.

The second Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier moves to Viaduct Fishery, Somerset on Wednesday 9th March 2016.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The 2016 event is scheduled for the 28th/29th August and is likely to take place in Spain, although the venue is not yet confirmed, it could be at Merida.

England Ladies Manager Dave Brooks is looking for anglers who are capable of fishing to World Championship rules and therefore the submitted CV should indicate the style of fishing used.  Pole, waggler or slider are expected to be the best methods at this Spanish venue, but bleak may play a part so whip fishing, and a short line long pole approach may be needed.

Because the team is unfunded, any successful applicant will be expected to help raise funds or contribute towards the costs themselves.

Last year in Belgium, the team did not make the podium but Dave is convinced that 2016 will see them bounce back to their winning ways as in 2013 when the Ladies won Gold in Slovenia.

All applicants must have individual membership of the Angling Trust and the closing date for submissions is March 31st.  Please post or email to Sandra Drew, Competitions & Events Manager, Angling Trust, Strelley Hall, Nottingham. NG8 6PE, or email; sandra.drew@anglingtrust.net

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Tadworth carper Chris Bailey who only joined the Specimen Carp Club on Saturday, decided to fish the night and was rewarded for his efforts with a monster 36 lb Mirror. Chris fished the shallow water between the islands in front of peg 3 and tempted the fish on a Cell wafter which he fished in conjuction with a PVA bag filled with crushed pellet.

Harry Krishnan from Carshalton also fished Temple at the weekend breaking his PB with a superb 35 lb mirror known as 'The Sargeant'. Harry fished the nearside margin from peg 9 and used a cocktail of red maggot and corn on the hook over some dead maggots.

Harry's previous PB from Temple was 34lbs 2oz which he caught in November 2014.

With the mild weather set to continue Spring is almost here, so expect to see further Temple lumps reported!

Source: Bury Hill Fisheries

Representatives of four police forces – Northumbria, Durham, Cleveland and North Yorkshire – and senior fisheries officers from the Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water, the Tyne Rivers Trust, the Wear Rivers Trust and the Angling Trust have agreed to work together to help tackle the problem.

It follows a meeting in Newcastle upon Tyne co-ordinated by Giles Evans, Angling Trust’s Regional Enforcement Manager for the North East, highlighting the link between fisheries-related crimes and other forms of crime, such as wildlife, rural, business, organised and hate.

Giles explained how multi-agency partnership work involving the Fisheries Enforcement Support Service and the Voluntary Bailiff Service was making a difference in other parts of the country. These initiatives form part of a contract from the Environment Agency won by the Angling Trust and funded by the income from angling rod licences.

The new partnership in the North East will extend Operation Traverse – a multi-agency agreement already operating in East Anglia and East Midlands to clamp down on illegal fishing, poaching and other fisheries-related crime – and will formally be rolled out before April 1st.

Dilip Sarkar MBE, Angling Trust’s National Enforcement Manager, said: “This is excellent work to build on the existing partnership approach in the North East  that is also happening elsewhere in England.

“This is all about a shared responsibility and working together with a bigger picture very much in mind. Building on the success of the Environment Agency local enforcement team and partners, this is an exciting development, further protecting fish and fisheries in North East England, contributing to both the Rural Crime Strategy and the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit’s ‘Project Poacher’, aimed at raising awareness of the wider criminality connected with poaching in all its forms.

“The Angling Trust and the Environment Agency very much welcome the support of our partners and look forward to working together on Operation Traverse in particular.”

Chief Inspector Martin Sims, Head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, added that “with an increasing amount of stakeholders working together on a more coordinated basis, there is a real chance that fishery crime, poaching, wildlife crime and other related criminal activity has more chance of being tackled effectively. I look forward to the on-going collaboration arising from this very positive energy.”

Giles Evans said: “I am really pleased that Operation Traverse will be rolled out in the North East. There was genuine desire among everyone involved to make this a success.”

Dave Edwardson, Environment Agency Enforcement Team Leader, added: “We have enjoyed considerable success working with police and others over the years to combat illegal fishing. This new initiative is very welcome, reinforcing and extending the partnership approach and securing ongoing protection for our freshwater fisheries.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

This time the Veterans will travel to the Czech Republic in a bid to retain the double gold they won in Cabecao, Portugal last year. The £1,800 raised from the two events held in 2015 was a tremendous help towards the cost of competing and the squad would like to thank everybody concerned for their contributions.

Once again this year's competition will be fished on the same lines as last year's event with 40 anglers per side fishing against each other on a total weight basis.

The Red Rose team will be managed by Danny Sixsmith and the White Rose team by Dick Clegg, OBE, both of whom are now recruiting members in a bid to win this second event.

Entry for each 5 hour match will be £25 which includes pools and there will be a raffle each day with lots of prizes to be won.

Last year the Lancastrians easily won at Partridge Lakes but the Yorkies bounced back with victory at Lindholme so there is everything to fish for in 2016.

The two fisheries concerned are amongst the best in the country and everyone can expect some fantastic catches. The Lindholme event is a week before a Fish ‘O’ Mania competition and should attract anglers practising for that match. Remember you don't have to live in Lancashire or Yorkshire to join up, anyone can take part.

Thanks to Neil Grantham at Lindholme and David Ikin at Partridge for their help in the use of their fisheries for our fund raiser.

• 1st Match: Wednesday 6th April  Lindholme Lakes Draw 9am, fish 11am to 4pm
• 2nd Match: Wednesday 4th May  Partridge Lakes  Draw 9am, fish 11am to 4pm

  Contact;
Red Rose team manager Danny Sixsmith  07917 320244
White Rose team manager Dick Clegg OBE 07534 267512

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

World Championships 2016, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 18/19th September:

The team has previously fished this venue and secured a silver medal.

At present, nobody knows the species they will be fishing for, as in the winter the venue is sometimes drained and re-stocked.

The venue is a 2,000m rowing course and with up to 40 teams competing both banks will be used.

Team England scraped home with a bronze medal last year winning the second day in Slovenia, so team managers have stuck to the same squad.

Alan Scotthorne
Will Raison
Sean Ashby
Des Shipp
Steve Hemingray
Callum Dicks

European Championships, Almere Canal, Holland, 23/24 July:

A notoriously difficult venue which saw the Russians scoop gold here in the Worlds six years ago.

Bream and roach are the predominant species, but they are not evenly spread. This year the two England managers are adopting a different approach.

The team will consist of 3 senior squad members,
Will Raison
Alan Scotthorne
Sean Ashby

Joining them will be 4 of the next generation of young England hopefuls;
Lee Kerry
Matt Godfrey
Matt Derry
Cameron Hughes

All four have a wealth of experience fishing across Europe at both Club and International level (U18s and U23s) plus all shone in last year's 4 nations event in Newry Ireland where Matt Derry and Cameron Hughes made the top 3.

Matt Godfrey was unlucky last year. He was named in the squad for the Europeans in Belarus but England ended up not travelling because of the difficult border crossings.

Lee Kerry is also included after great performances in the World Clubs events for Barnsley.

Four Nations Championships

At the moment England look like hosting the event, this team will be named once the full go-ahead for the event is given

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

World Championships 2016, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 18/19th September:

The team has previously fished this venue and secured a silver medal.

At present, nobody knows the species they will be fishing for, as in the winter the venue is sometimes drained and re-stocked.

The venue is a 2,000m rowing course and with up to 40 teams competing both banks will be used.

Team England scraped home with a bronze medal last year winning the second day in Slovenia, so team managers have stuck to the same squad.

Alan Scotthorne
Will Raison
Sean Ashby
Des Shipp
Steve Hemingray
Callum Dicks

European Championships, Almere Canal, Holland, 23/24 July:

A notoriously difficult venue which saw the Russians scoop gold here in the Worlds six years ago.

Bream and roach are the predominant species, but they are not evenly spread. This year the two England managers are adopting a different approach.

The team will consist of 3 senior squad members,
Will Raison
Alan Scotthorne
Sean Ashby

Joining them will be 4 of the next generation of young England hopefuls;
Lee Kerry
Matt Godfrey
Matt Derry
Cameron Hughes

All four have a wealth of experience fishing across Europe at both Club and International level (U18s and U23s) plus all shone in last year's 4 nations event in Newry Ireland where Matt Derry and Cameron Hughes made the top 3.

Matt Godfrey was unlucky last year. He was named in the squad for the Europeans in Belarus but England ended up not travelling because of the difficult border crossings.

Lee Kerry is also included after great performances in the World Clubs events for Barnsley.

Four Nations Championships

At the moment England look like hosting the event, this team will be named once the full go-ahead for the event is given

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The funds will be matched with membership subscription income and fundraising from other sources to pay for political advocacy, campaign materials and staff time, including for a new Campaigns Officer who will support the work of our National Campaigns Coordinator Martin Salter and existing staff in the Angling Trust and Fish Legal.

This new post is being advertised this week at a salary of up to £25,000 and the closing date for applications is Tuesday, 23rd February. Applicants should be based in or around the West Midlands or London and have the ability to work from home.

The focus of the campaigns funded by the charitable trust will be in three key areas:

• Protection of marine fisheries - reform of legislation on inshore netting, new conservation measures for sea bass and to protect sensitive estuarine environments
• Reversal of decline in salmon stocks - regulatory measures to tackle agricultural pollution, removal of fish barriers (e.g. weirs and dams), restrictions on commercial netting for Atlantic salmon as part of the Save Our Salmon campaign
• Restoring natural flows of rivers - reform on water abstraction to lead to the restoration of natural flow regimes on more rivers

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust & Fish Legal, said: “We are very grateful to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for its generous support of our work over the next two years and very excited by the opportunity to continue to extend the reach and impact of our campaigns and legal action to protect marine and freshwater fish stocks.

"This level of funding is a major vote of confidence in our organisation and will, I hope, encourage more anglers to support us with donations and membership subscriptions because they will know that their funds will be matched from a charitable trust. If we are successful with these ambitious targets, we may be able to secure further funding in the future from the Foundation and other sources.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

In an answer to a parliamentary question this week, Fisheries Minister George Eustice confirmed proposed changes to the licence from April 2017, including "a full year rolling licence rather than a fixed single season; a licence for a maximum of three rods rather than the current two and a free junior licence for anglers under the age of 16." These will be advertised formally in the Spring.

The Angling Trust welcomes these announcements because it has received a great deal of feedback from members that the current arrangements are not fair to carp and other specimen anglers using three rods, but being charged for four.

The other issues that have been under discussion with the Agency covered the possibility of abolishing the junior licence in order to encourage more youngsters to take up fishing and introducing a 365-day rolling licence rather than the current 31st March end date. It was felt that a year's rolling licence was fairer than charging new anglers who purchase one halfway through the 'season' the full 12 month cost for just a part year.

News of the changes put forward by the Environment Agency has been welcomed by leading figures from the Angling Trust and the carp fishing community.

Martin Salter, Campaigns Chief for the Angling Trust, said:
"Carp anglers will obviously be pleased but tench and bream anglers like myself, who usually fish large pits with two rods at a time, would sometimes like to use a third rod to switch quickly to a new method or to stalk a fish showing in the margins.

"Whilst many anglers I know won't buy two separate licences at the moment, they would be happy to pay a fair price to use a third rod occasionally. We are particularly pleased that the EA have taken this forward and are prepared to forego the income from the £5 junior licence. I certainly wouldn't mind paying a bit more for my own licence if it meant that more juniors under 16 could fish for free, because anything that attracts youngsters into our sport has to be good for the future of angling."

Lee Jackson, former world carp record holder from the Tackle Box in Kent, said:
"Excellent news and not before time, too. It will be of great benefit to anglers, especially carpers, and how brilliant it is to be able to get youngsters into the sport without having to worry about a licence. Well done to the Government, the EA and the Angling Trust for applying common sense."

Sarah Chare, Head of Fisheries for the Environment Agency, said:
"Having listened to the Angling Trust and anglers’ views in our rod licence survey last year we have a number of proposals that we will be advertising this spring. These include a 365 licence, a three-rod licence and a free junior licence which we think could play an important part of getting more young people fishing and securing the future of the sport. If approved these changes will not come into effect until March 2017."

Simon Crow, Editor of Carp-Talk, added:
"The vast majority of fisheries up and down the country only allow carp anglers to use a maximum of three rods. It therefore seems a waste that we need to buy two two-rod licences to cater for this. It would be so much more user friendly if a third rod licence supplement was introduced and I'm delighted that this long overdue reform now looks like happening."

Clive Copeland, Head of Angling Development at the Angling Trust, added:
"Our research tells us that the majority of anglers start fishing when they are young. It is vitally important that we make it as easy as possible for young people to take up fishing and having a free junior licence will help us to do this. Healthy numbers of young anglers are obviously crucial to the future of our sport."

The Angling Trust first raised these issues with the Environment Agency at the beginning of last year following some initial discussions at the Carp Society Winter Show at Sandown.

Source: Canal and River Trust Fishing News