unsung heroes such as Tony George, Will Lear and Andy Cambell

When you actually stop and analyse all of the work that goes into such an event, it is not surprising to find that some aspects do not quite click into place as they ought to!The quality of fishing that the lakes provided was of the highest order. I spent a lot of time with the Australian team and they came to England with the expectation that the competition would be a matter of lure bashing for “stockies”. It turned out not to be – and that was to the benefit of the majority of anglers as it meant that genuine fishing craft should produce the winning team. Everyone agrees that the French team, which won so easily, provided a skill level that was far in excess of the rest of the teams. The Welsh managed to use local knowledge, and when required, a little bit of “heave-ho” with the left arm! The Australians, Italians and Norwegians all showed great devotion to nymph fishing, and were fully justified to finish as they did. The local guides – unsung heroes such as Tony George, Will Lear and Andy Cambell – can all claim to have had a great input to these World Championships, yet who will know? The 80 plus controllers – essential for the measuring of fish, ensuring that rules were being adhered to, and generally making the competitors feel at ease – all go un-rewarded as there was no money left in the “pot” to pay them for taking time off work and sitting in a boat, or by the side of an angler on the river or lake bank. We will remember the French team for a long time – but not much else!The people who live in the valley, or who come to fish there, will be remembered by the competitors, as all of those that I spoke to at length agreed, that they had never met such helpful people as they encountered here. I must say that I would wholeheartedly agree. I was staggered as to how many people would offer to give flies, advice, directions or even just buy a pint for our visitors from around the world. I enjoyed seeing the local groups, such as the Fly Dressers’ Guild, welcome all and sundry. I enjoyed the wonderful camaraderie that there was. I imagined that this was something that happened wherever this event was held. But no! It seems not. The fishermen of England should be proud of how sportingly they behaved.Sure, they wanted England to do well – they even hoped that they might win the event, and to that end many of them gave away long held secret flies to the England boys. BUT they were just as happy helping the Bosnian team or the German team and even the French team. Long may this sport provide such a good feeling! Long may it kindle such friendships and provide the true feelings that should be evoked by sport.I will be taking up some of the offers to visit people that I met in the Championships. I hope to get a trip sorted out to go to Australia and New Zealand. Farewell for now to Peter Hayes – who so generously spent hours of his time showing me his revolutionary way of teaching casting; to Ross Stewart, last year’s World Champion, who left me a lovely set of Australian flies; to Andrew Scott – quiet man, great angler; to Malcolm Crosse – team captain and general dogsbody – an amazing organiser to all of the rest of the team. I give them a big “thank you” – I learned a lot myself! I will certainly meet up with some of the “colourful” Irishmen who were over for the match. I would love to get to Canada…. One can dream!!!Back to the humdrum ways of fishing in this country. The Peregrine/Nomad competition has started in earnest and, as last year, I will be operating the computer for John Horsey so I will look forward to seeing old friends around the country. The Hardy Competition moved into this area last week with three days of events on Wimbleball. I will give a run down of what is going on in the domestic scene in my next article. Good fishing to you all now!

Martin Cottis