Hang on a minute though, we were hosts…

Hang on a minute though, we were hosts…. It was the kind of trout fishing that WE gave to the world…. The fishing was excellent as the trout fed all week on a variety of hatching midge pupae….everyone knew what the telling flies were!!!So what actually happened? On the lakes the fishing was good. There were a few areas with good concentrations of feeding fish. Soon these fish were found and caught by many of the anglers. It seemed that whoever managed to convert more “takes” into boated fish, or whoever found a slightly better method would come out on top. The French team tried the “converting takes” approach. The England team tried the “different method” approach. France came first; England came twelfth. Were the England team that far off with their judgement? Possibly not, as Wales too decided that lures were more likely to catch faster than nymphs, and in Hywel Morgan and Gareth Jones they proved that this theory was correct. Martyn Adams and John Horsey of England also had good scores on lures, but it was the general lack of ability in the England team’s nymphing techniques, which proved their downfall. The sad fact is that all the practice that our team put in hadn’t installed enough confidence in them when it came to slow slow fishing. I have heard it said that too many of the practice boats were spent fishing over recent stockies, and that they didn’t require slowly moved flies. This meant that when the real event arrived, the fish that were being fished for were ones that hadn’t seen an artificial fly put over them for most of the season. They were not in the slightest bit inclined to chase either nymph or lure! Why did so many other country’s anglers do so well on our fish then? I put it down to the fact that in England we are becoming more and more reliant on stocky fishing. The team that had won selection for England are a bunch of fellows that are very much used to stocky fishing. They were the best guys available using our present selection system – they virtually picked themselves! Because they are so tuned in to catching stockies quickly they have amazing methods and wonderful fly collections. Had this event been at Rutland or Bewl I am sure that only the Welsh team would have been anywhere near us. But it wasn’t at Rutland or Bewl. It was on good old Chew and Blagdon and the fish had become pretty residential. So the anglers who worked hard at winkling out a few trout – because they always have to work hard at winkling a few trout out of their lakes – were the ones who did best.Congratulations to my good mate John Horsey for being the top England “boy”, he came in a reasonable 19th. Chris Howitt managed 33rd, Baz Reece 52nd, Simon Gawesworth 68th and Martyn Adams 92nd, though he was too ill to fish on the final day. I heard many comments being passed around about the suitability of the team that represented England. The problem is that until recently there was scope for the captain/manager to select “wildcard” anglers. At a venue such as Chew and Blagdon I am certain that someone of John Braithwaite’s great experience would have performed well. Dave Monks would certainly have caught plenty, as would many many other locals. Trouble is, that old system was abuse and so it has wisely been abandoned. So, for England it is back to the drawing board. I now know what those people connected with the England cricket team feel like! What of the others?The French were exceptional, the Welsh performed extremely well. What amazed us locals though was how well teams from a long way off managed. Canada seventh, New Zealand ninth, but best of all Australia in third place! These three teams in particular personified the way that anglers throughout the world are adapting to “our” way of fishing. These three teams sought local advice, and listened well. These three teams stuck to a method that works well for local anglers.

This World Championship has shown that there is not much between the “top” anglers and the rest. It has shown that river-craft and lake-craft are skills that are inherent throughout the world. I am already looking forward to next year’s event, which will be held in Wales – on Llyn Brenig and the river Dee. I will look forward to renewing my friendships with anglers from all over the world – but especially those from “down under”.