Why on earth do they choose these venues?

If you think about it CIPS have selected some shockers for their events over the years… Newry Canal… Holme Pierrepont… Beleek…

As I understand it Spain fished for bleak and blitzed it with only 11 points (pretty incredible on such a dire venue), France were second (their best result for a long time), Steve Gardener won his section with a couple of chub, one of the Italians (Defendi) came nearly last with 41gr and they are down 13th.

There’s an interview with Steve Gardener on MatchAngler.com I believe.

The top ten going into day two are Spain, France, Poland, Serbia, Belgium,Czech Republic, England (27pts), Holland and Russia. Wales are 15th, Scotland and Ireland not fishing.

It was rubbish by all accounts.Usual story, not enough fish in there and hammered in practice, too much bait has gone in and the fish are not hungry.

Spain’s whole team amassed less than three kilos and England’s total team weight was 1.675 kilos with Alan Scotthorne and Sean Ashby weighing in only around 150 grammes. But Steve Gardener is in with a great chance of a gold at last. He’s second with 1pt and 973gr. Fingers crossed for Steve….

1. France
2. Spain
3. Belgium

European Champion is Wiktor Walczak (Poland), second place went to Paul-Louis Lafont (France), third Hans Slegers (Belgium).

Dont know about any other results. Look at the official website for more, http://www.ecac2011.pzw.org.pl/

England finished fourth in the end, with Wales 10th. Italy came back strong and finished fifth after a poor first day.
Steve Gardener got third in section on the second day and just missed a medal – fourth overall. Sorti won his section.

The results from the European Match Fishing Championships and a video can be seen here:
https://www.total-fishing.com/content/england-fourth-tough-european-championships

Although the weights were very low, I don’t think the venue was that bad. First of all, there were fish in every peg (albeit not many), there were multiple options (fish top 6-7 for perch, fish the whip for bleak or fish top 3-4 for gudgeon, fry, small roach etc) and choosing the correct tactic for the given peg was important.

This also reflects that the results in the end have all the big names in the top, and the less big names further down.

However, there was not a lot to work with, in some areas there simply wasn’t any fish at all on the long line. Addy told me that Will Raison didn’t have a bite on the 13m line in the first week of practice, which to me proves that something was definitely not right on this venue.

In the end Spain secured a deserved team silver after a stunning first day performance. I was told part of their success was due to using the same glitter found in trout-bait in their groundbait, something the bleak obviously liked. On the second day more big fish were showing, including some tench in multiple sectors. Falsini caught 3 of these, obviously easily beating the bleak anglers. According to rumours, 1500 kg of fish were stocked from a nearby lake friday evening before the championship. Unfortunately the organizers failed to tell anybody, and I really don’t think FIPS are pleased with this move, as it ruins the whole idea of a practice.