Mark Downes has admitted to Total-Fishing that the team is ‘struggling a bit’ in its bid to bring back gold from the European Championships.Speaking two days into the official practice session on the 200 metre wide Prince Albert Canal in Leige, coach Mark said: “It is a bit of a struggle. The biggest weight we’ve […]

RMC boss Ian Welch says he expects the venue to produce Britain’s first ever 40lb grass very soon, after the venue’s Church Lake smashed the British record with a 39lb 2oz fish in the first week of the new season. The fish fell to the rod of East Grinstead, Sussex angler Kevin Ballard, and beats the […]

Angling lost one of its great heroes last week when Benny Ashurst died suddenly aged 88. The former miner, who along with the likes of Billy Hughes pioneered a revolution in match fishing techniques in the 1960s and 1970s, died two days into the new season, after going fishing as normal on opening day. His son Kevin, […]

The National Federation of Anglers manager for the NFA’s England Team with Disabilities, Alan Bates, has announced a ‘tried and trusted’ squad to fish the 2002 World Championships for Angler’s with Disabilities being staged at the National Angling Centre in Llanelli, Wales on Saturday and Sunday, August 17/18. The five-man squad were chosen after a tough […]

For the first time since 1906, when the inaugural NFA National Championship was fished, the ‘Nationals’ as they are now known, will commence prior to the traditional June 16 new season next year (2003). NFA National Executive officer, Mick Turner, explained “We have enjoyed a super sponsorship agreement with Embassy but although we have a legal […]

Environment Agency staff are looking into how thousands of fish died in a canal in Middlewich, Cheshire.About 5,000 fish, including carp, roach and gudgeon, have been found dead in the Trent and Mersey Canal. A half-mile stretch of the canal, between Town Bridge and Big Lock, is affected.First reports on Friday were of a smaller […]

The Environment Agency and the National Federation of Anglers will be giving free angling instruction to children at Langbridge Farm in Newchurch this Saturday (22nd June).The Agency, in association with the Newchurch and District Piscatorial Society, wants to encourage youngsters who have never tried freshwater fishing to ‘give it a go’. Coaching is free; bait […]

The Joint Angling Governing Bodies are launching a new scheme to licence qualified coaches/instructors operating within all three disciplines of the sport. This is the culmination of a commitment made in 1999 by the three Governing Bodies of angling – the NFA, the NFSA and the STA- to bring the sport into line with other […]

NEW York State has banned the sale of leads of 0.5oz or less on the grounds that they are a threat to wildlife.Anglers will still be able to use leads they already own, but the hope is that the move will promote the manufacture of alternatives. The new bill follows the lead taken by neighbouring […]

Van den Eynde Clubman Northern Semi Final, Border Fisheries (102 fished)Practise made perfect for Izaak Walton Leigh as they eased to victory in the Northern semi final of the popular Van den Eynde Clubman competition.A month virtually camped on the Cheshire venue had shown the five man outfit that bites would be at a premium, and the […]

The River Nene – now a noted big carp water – has produced its first verified ‘forty’ from a stretch near Peterborough in Cambs.The fish – a magnificent 41lb 4oz common – fell to the rod of local angler Glen Woolner just ten hours into the new season. It took a boilie from an swim Total-Fishing […]

A six month experiment using underwater cages as a fish refuge against cormorants at a Norfolk fishery has been branded a success and will now be tried across the UKThe cages – comprising closely spaced wooden stakes rising several feet above a pallet – have been in place at Bawburgh Pits for six months.They have […]

A free guide to fishing in the Norfolk Broads has just been produced by the Environment Agency to co-incide with the start of new season.‘Angle on the Broads’ gives details of where to fish and what species are on offer, and includes codes of conduct and a guide on how to handle fish.The booklet has been […]

Northampton’s Tony Gibson is £2000 better off after winning the biggest prize in specialist angling – the Drennan Cup. But it’s not the money he’s celebrating. Rather it’s the prestige of winning a trophy regarded as the Holy Grail among big fish anglers. “The competition has such heritage and history,” said the 37-year-old in Angling […]

The Environment Agency and Leicester City Council are inviting north Leicester anglers to attend a public meeting to discuss the idea of establishing an angling club on the former Leicester Marina site, at the junction of the A6 and the A563. The Agency and Leicester City say they want to explore its possible development as […]