This year the event was held in Hungary on Lake Velence hosted by the Hungarian Federation and was to prove to be the biggest ever World Championship event ever held with 40 countries and over 200 anglers taking part.
The event was held on the rowing coarse side of Lake Velence over a match length of 2 kilometres with good easy access to the pegs.
The lake is about 40KM from Budapest and has the following species of fish carp, grass carp, pike, cat fish, eels, tench, bream, roach, zander, asp and bleak.
The Team Consisted of
Eric Humphreys Manager
Robin Darker 2nd Captain
Andrew Murphy
Lee Edwards
Nigel Evans
Paul Philmore
Darren Frost
Andy Amos
Also attending in support and assisting was Ex Youth International Tomos Lea and Senior Welsh International Jimy Price.
During the five days of practice all teams found the fishing hard more so in some areas than others. We all kept thinking that the fish would move in over the feed that was being introduced but in reality this didn’t really happen and what was expected to be a pole match suddenly became a fixed body waggler and slider match.
The weather had certainly effected the fishing making things that much harder for teams to develop any real strong tactics. Even the bleak failed to show in any real significant numbers and certainly the bleak where in some areas and not others. So purely depending on bleak to get you out of trouble was not an option on its own.
The fishing length had a distinct shelf with an average depth of 2metres dropping of into deeper water upto 3 metres plus in places. But the crucial thing was that on the vast majority of pegs you could not get out to the drop off using the regulation pole limit of 13metres so as a result a heavier float was called for and longer lines to swing the float further out.
During practice no team proved to be any better than anyone ells and as the days passed by teams appeared to have written off the pole in favour of the fixed waggler or slider.
On practice day 1 weights within the team varied from .100gr upto 700gr not a good start to the week however Andy Amos hooked and landed an asp weighing in at 600gr. However day 2 was our best day of the week looking back with weights ranging from 1lb 15oz upto 9lb with Paul Philmore landing a Zander on the pole weighing in at just over 2lb 7oz and Andy Amos landing a carp of 2lb 4oz. A couple of different groundbait mixes where used but neither stood out as being any better than the other.
The pattern pretty much continued up until Thursday and Fridays practice wasn’t any better than day 1.
Throughout the week we introduced balls of groundbait and leam with joker on the pole line hoping things would have improved but in the vast majority of areas you could have sat on the pole line for three hours and not even get a bite. So we favoured the fixed body waggler at distances catapulting small balls of groundbait and leam laced with either bloodworm or joker and fishing with a bunch of 4 or 5 bloodworm on a size 16 or 18 hook.
This event had to be one of the most testing for competitor and manager alike with no clear pattern emerging from the practice sessions making it extremely difficult to formulate tactics for the competition days.
Throughout the week everyone was watching Hungary and England and Italy but again in reality they wasn’t doing that much better than anyone ells. And certainly if they did have a secret they wasn’t giving anything away.
Darren Frost was hoping to improve his chances of a medal this year in Hungary especially after just missing out last time on this venue. But again luck wasn’t on Darrens side.
I must point out that Paul Philmore won the side bet the team normally have on who catches the biggest fish during practice.
For the competition day the team tactic was decided after only a short meeting.
We used double leam 5 bags for the main waggler line, and a 50, 50 ground bait and leam mix for pole line we also had a bleak mix.
This gave us the 17litre max permitted. We also favoured using more bloodworm in the feed.
We also favoured the fixed body waggler rather than the slider with very little shot down the line and fishing approximately between 8" - 10" over depth although fish where caught just tripping bottom. This method was followed up by feeding one to two hard balls of double leam with bloodworm or joker as feed.
Some of the team where fortunate to have bleak in front of them and took advantage of this at the start of the match.
After day 1 we had 3 anglers with a possible chance of winning a medal Darren Frost, Lee Edwards and Andrew Murphy, plus a potential of a team medal.
What a position to be in.
Unfortunately we can't have all good pegs and unfortunately Andy Amos drew a bad area but nether the less fished an absolutely brilliant match on both days.
Results after Day 1 Results after Day 2Lee Edwards 3 points Lee Edwards 3 points
Darren Frost 2 Points Darren Frost 6 points
Andrew Murphy 3 Points Andrew Murphy 6 Points
Nigel Evans 5 Points Nigel Evans 15 1/2 points
Andy Amos 22 Points Andy Amos 21 Points
Total Team Points: 35 Total Team Points: 51 ½
Day 2 the tactics remained pretty much the same.
At the End of the day we missed out on a Bronze Medal by only half a point and when the results where announced the team where absolutely devastated. But at the end of the day all the team members performed to a standard that you can all be proud off and beating England was in its self a great achievement. And not to mention the fact that we have had 3 anglers within top 11 individual rankings.
Lee Edwards individual Bronze Medal was well deserved and all the team where pleased to see a Welsh Team member on the winners podium.
And I am sure you will all agree in wishing Lee all the best and a sincere very well done.
It is fair to say that the standard of angling ability amongst the competitors throughout the World is getting higher and higher all the time and the pressure that these lads are under when competing at this level is something very few anglers get the opportunity to experience.
Wales has had a very good year in relation to results at International Level and we all hope that 2007 is a turning point for Wales.
Alan Scotthorne is now 5 x World Champions after putting up a brilliant performance over the two days. Well-Done Alan!
This was perhaps one of the best youth competition that we have seen at this level. The event was held on Magiscroft Fishery in Scotland and took place on Saturday the 18th (Practice) and Sunday 19th August (Competition).
The competition was fished under International Rules and this certainly made the competition that more interesting.
The Scottish Team had the advantage over the Welsh Team with it being their home waters but this and the torrential rain didn’t stop us putting up a fight and a performance that you could be proud of since none of our anglers had seen the venue before.
The Competitors were as follows;
WalesMatthew Powell, Lee Roberts, Tyrone Lee, Sion Pritchard, Ryan Hughes, Jake Hanley, Neil Jones, Tomos Lea, Dalton Moore.
This event was the last event for Tomos Lea or Tomo as he prefers to be called as he has now reached the maximum age limit. Tomo,s performance while with the Welsh Team is one to be proud off and is an angler of great talent and is an angler that has the ability and confidence seen in more mature anglers and I am sure we will see more of him in the future.
Scotland Mark Lyons, James Woodrow, William Stewart, Kevin Murphy, Harry Brown, Jamie McKay, James Dornom, David Anderson, Tony Lamb.
Although the weather was against us the spirits of both teams was extremely high and both teams settled down to what was a very difficult practice session. It appeared after the 1st day that the Scottish Team set an average target weight per person for the match day of around 3lb per man. Both teams fished at length up in the water with shallow rigs ranging in depths from about 12" and 5' deep loose feeding caster over the top and either fishing caster, worm or maggot on the hook.
The Scottish team favoured fishing up in the water with a depth set around 2' or even shallower where as the Welsh Team found that the better quality fish where much deeper at around 4' - 6'.
In regard to the closer in line The Welsh Team opted for a line at around 6metres using 0.8g and 1.5gr floats depending on the depth they had in front of them and the depths varied from 8' upto 14' deep. The Welsh Team cupped in hard balls of groundbait with chop worm and caster and fishing either worm or maggot on the hook.
It was soon clear that at the weigh in after the practice session no team had done any better than the other. The fishing was certainly affected by the heavy rainfall.
The weather had improved significantly for the day of the competition and certainly the lake looked more active and appealing than the practice session.
With the draw for sections out of the way and after the setting up period you could see the enthusiasm and determination in these young anglers faces with each and everyone one of them wanting to do their best.
The signal was sounded to commence and it soon became clear that the fishing had improved significantly overnight with fish being hooked almost from the off. Mathew Powell (Wales) hooking and landing a carp of around 5lb within the 1st hour gave him a good start to the match. Tomo (Wales) also got off to a good start and was going head to head with David Anderson (Scotland).
Dalton Moore (Wales) also got off to a good start battling it out with Tony Lamb (Scotland) and Jake Hanley (Wales) also getting off to a convincing start that would see him dominate his section throughout the match. Lee Roberts (Wales) and James Woodrow (Scotland) where also going head to head
After the first hour every one had Scotland winning five sections and Wales winning four sections but this was to change around in the second hour with Wales taking the lead with 5 sections to four sections for Scotland. The third hour we were seeing things hotten up even more but Wales still maintaining the lead.
The fourth and final hour a message came down the bank that Wales was only winning four out of nine sections so the task fell on Ryan Hughes to produce extra fish during the last 40minutes to get him in front. The Scottish Team watching closely between Ryan Hughes (Wales) and Harry Brown (Scotland) suddenly Ryan hooks into a small carp then Harry hooks one still level pegging then Ryan manages to catch a further two carp taking him in front.
The final whistle is sounded and already Scotland convinced Wales had won as a result of Ryan's three fish giving him a section win.
We had down wins in the following sections A, B, E, F and H and this would have been sufficient for an overall win and Scotland had us down as the same.
But as they say its not over until the weigh in has been done.
Results
Section
| Country
| Name
| Weight
| Points
|
A1
| Wales
| Matthew Powell
| 16lb 6 1/2oz
| 1
|
A2
| Scotland
| Mark Lyons
| 17lb 2oz
| 2(win)
|
B1
| Wales | Lee Roberts
| 25lb
| 2(win)
|
B2
| Scotland | James Woodrow
| 19lb 11oz
| 1
|
C1
| Wales | Tyrone Lee
| 4oz
| 1
|
C2
| Scotland | William Stewart
| 7lb
| 2(win)
|
D1
| Wales | Sion Pritchard
| 11lb 11oz
| 1
|
D2
| Scotland | Kevin Murphy
| 31lb 6oz
| 2(win)
|
E1
| Wales | Ryan Hughes
| 6lb 3oz
| 2(win)
|
E2
| Scotland | Harry Brown
| 4lb 2oz
| 1
|
F1
| Wales | Jake Hanley
| 26lb 3oz
| 2(win)
|
F2
| Scotland | Jamie McKay
| 5lb 6oz
| 1
|
G1
| Wales | Neil Jones
| 21lb 11oz
| 1
|
G2
| Scotland | James Dornom
| 27lb 5oz
| 2(win)
|
H1
| Wales | Tomos Lea
| 32lb 6 1/2oz
| 2(win)
|
H2
| Scotland | David Anderson
| 9lb 12 1/2oz
| 1
|
I1
| Wales | Dalton Moore
| 4lb 3 1/2oz
| 1
|
I2
| Scotland | Tony Lamb
| 11lb 4oz
| 2(win)
|
Final Results
Country
| Combined Points
| Combined Weight
|
Scotland
| 14
| 129lb 1/2oz
|
Wales
| 13
| 144lb 1/2oz
|
Top Five Individual Results
Position | Section | Country | Name | Weight |
1st
| H1
| Wales
| Tomos Lea
| 32lb 6 1/2oz
|
2nd
| D2
| Scotland
| Kevin Murphy
| 31lb 6oz
|
3rd
| G2
| Scotland
| James Dornom
| 27lb 5oz
|
4th
| F1
| Wales
| Jake Hanley
| 26lb 3oz
|
5th
| B1
| Wales
| Lee Roberts
| 25lb |
Well done to
both Teams and to Magiscroft Fishery and all those that made this a truly
exciting and memorable event. The hospitality and support was extremely
appreciated.