My heart goes out to you Paul hopefully in time the old pals act will not be tolerated!

as I said earlier and it does beg the question why even bother with trials ?

Nepotism

The master at his best !! 🙂

Seem to remember Dave Thomas winning the individual that year.
Whenever it was, lignum sticks were quite widely available, including those produced by Ultra Floats, based near Leamington. Their problem, like most others at that time, was the thickness/density of the paint used overrided the attributes of the raw material.
John Allerton and John Dean were pioneering alloy/wire stemed sticks arouind this period too.

Hi Paul,

I remember that day very well. I did no good in the first match and spent most of the second match watching John Dean fishing the far bank under the willows with a back-shotted stick float.
I agree with you that the day was only to give the preselected anglers a bit of practice on the venue under match conditions

Many years ago, I believe the “Selection Process” for England representation was for an angler to finish in the top 10 of the then named All England Championships… some feat that saw several anglers qualifying again and again though

The current system for the float team by Non Fishing Management is by far the best, but do the selected anglers have the necessary?
1. Do they win or get results consistently in good company in th ecurrent climate
2. Do they have the commitment ?
3. Have they got the time and money (a big restriction)
4. Are they a Team Player willing to pass on even the smallest morsel of information. Surprising how many good anglers fail here despite all the apperances in the mags.

But I think the hardest thing is to get a Manager of the right calibre – the Alex Ferguson of the fishing World, think Cleggy got it right and the current regime follow this to some degree, don’t be afraid to change…or you will fail…

But you can’t just pick a good angler and expect that he has the attributes to fill this role, imagine having to select a team and calling up Will, Darren or Des and telling them they are OUT….. proper sulk on, i remember Pete Waddy when at Barnsley getting calls in the middle of the night from irrate ex England stars who were not picked for the Blacks…OUCH

Find the right Manager he will build the Team….. but who picks the Manager & on what criteria? It’s a Tough One !!

Until 1971 the top 5 teams in the previous year’s National (only one match back then) each nominated an angler, possibly the 6th team nominated the reserve. As often as not the teams would nominate their highest weight angler in the National. One of the few teams to buck the trend was Stoke who won the 1969 National but nominated Kevin Ashurst as the angler best able to represent England in 1970. Apart from winning in 63 I believe Billy Lane fished more than once, partly due to Coventry’s results and also Billy’s outstanding National results. Bernard Donovan took over as team manager and sought to change the team selection but died soon afterwards but the change to team selection was in place for Stan Smith.

Interesting about the stick float. I once stumbled – mid 80s? – on a stick float design using a fibreglass stem. Somehow I got the balance perfect although the float only took 6 no. 8 and 2 no. 10 I could (fishing a fine line like 1.5lb) cast to the waggler line and then catch on the drop. I got broke at the top rubber after about 7 or 8 years on a chub and lost the float and could never quite replicate it but as Paul says such a float is deadly. I had some fantastic catches of roach on the Bristol Avon on the drop with it. From what I remember it helped when making stick floats to try throwing them like a dart (Ivan Marks trick) and if, and only if, they flighted perfectly would you have a chance of a good float.

I watched the 1981 Luddington match with a mixture of awe and trepidation. England had no plan B. Half convinced that Tony Scott and Clive Smith could have balled in bloodworm/joker in groundbait after 2 hours close in and caught something but we’ll never know.

Hi Paul,

I’m Paul Wainwright. Now retired and living abroad

I remember the same thing happening to Stu Killen Leicester at holme pierrepont he was by far the best in practice if i remember right Ricky Teale fished the same trails .Needless to say neither got in but we did win that year Bob nudd won individual i don’t think Stu ever got over that year . 🙁

Hi Paul

I’m Paul Wainwright, if of course you remember me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now retired and living abroad

Hi Paul

I fished that day on the Warwickshire Avon, Im a bit younger than you, not by much, and I saw it as a day when Stan Smith could look at future Internationals rather than to pick a team. I don’t think Stan did the job much after that. But I do remember you winning…must have drawn a flier lol.

Got a feeling Stan’s last year was 1983 (Warks. Avon was 1981).