Teams for the Division One National Championship are already selected each year due to promotion status.  The entry fee to take part is £190.00 per team.  There are five optional pools available to enter for individuals and as a team.  All individuals within the teams named on the entry forms must be individual members of Angling Trust. 

The Senior Nationals attracts some of the best anglers in the country. 

Teams who finish in the top ten of the Division 1 National Championships are invited to take part in the Preston Innovations Club Classic event held over a weekend at the end of September.  The sponsors present the winning team and the winning individual with a prize cheque to help their participation in the World Clubs Championship the following year. 

When and where

Date: Saturday 9th August 2014

Venue:  River Trent

HQ: Southwell Racecourse, Station Road, Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. NG25 0TS

Division One National fishing championships in 2013

The 2013 Angling Trust Division One National Championship saw fifty six teams, 560 anglers compete in a very close contest on Saturday 7th September on the Trent and Mersey canal between Rugeley and Burton. The temperature had dropped during the run up to the match, and a cold start to the day resulted in the better fish not feeding so well. This turned into a battle for bites from the smaller fish such as roach, perch and ruff.

Top team on the day were Shakespeare Superteam with 442 points a fantastic average of 44 points per angler. They fished to a very tight team plan, which involved putting five or six balls of groundbait down the far shelf then fishing chopped worm down the near side for perch and ruff while the groundbait settled. When bites on the inside dried up they fished squatts over their groundbait hoping for small roach, perch and skimmers. Later they moved to the shallow line on the far side with chopped worm as the bait. They finished the match rotating these three lines to catch the extra few grams, which worked well on a hard fished water.

In second place were a team with a first class record on canals, Maver Image with 429 points and again squatt and chopped worm tactics were the basis of their team plan. Third place went to Team Daiwa Dorking who are always in contention for any national title with their extremely talented team to total 416 points.

More information: Angling Trust division one national championship

Scottish Water was carrying out engineering works on the Logan Reservoir in May 2008 when it inadvertently released a vast quantity of silt, which filled the river to a depth of up to 30 centimetres along one and half kilometres of the Logan Water.  The silt smothered gravel on the riverbed, which is a vital habitat for invertebrates (the main source of food for fish) and where fish lay their eggs.

The United Clyde Angling Protective Association, which has extensive fishings on the upper Clyde, had written to Scottish Water prior to the start of the engineering works to warn them of the risk of sediment escape, and advising them to take proper precautions.

The Association is one of more than 1,000 angling club and fishery owner members of Fish Legal in the UK who benefit from free legal action if waters they own or lease are damaged by pollution or other issues. Fish Legal is fighting more than 60 cases throughout the UK on behalf of members, which is funded by collective subscriptions from its club and fishery members and from nearly 13,500 individual anglers who support its work with an annual subscription. Fish Legal has a fighting fund which means that it can meet the costs of losing cases, but it has only ever lost four cases in 65 years, and has settled thousands of claims on behalf of its members.

Robert Younger from Fish Legal said:
"We believe that a public utility like Scottish Water should take responsibility when it causes damage to its neighbours. It is a shame that we had to drag them to the court doors before they would pay our claim in full."

Joe Quigley from UCAPA said:
"We thank Fish Legal for settling the matter on our behalf. If Scottish Water had taken heed of my letter advising them to take proper precautions  it would have saved them a great deal of money."

Martin Salter, National Campaigns Co-ordinator at the Angling Trust added; “Having commissioned the valuable Sea Angling 2012 report the government now needs to use its findings to ensure that recreational sea fishing still has a future. This means greater protection for estuaries and inshore waters and the creation of designated recreational only fisheries and species. These policies have been clearly demonstrated to work well in other countries around the world.  We just need the imagination to make this a reality over here.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The Trust particularly stressed the need to protect juvenile and migratory fish in estuaries and other nursery areas from both legal and illegal netting and to stop commercial targeting of fish that are aggregating to spawn. These will be key elements of the Trust’s forthcoming ‘Give Fish a Chance’ campaign aimed at securing a better deal for sea anglers.

A recent Defra-funded report, Sea Angling 2012, demonstrated that sea angling has a £2 billion economic benefit for the economy, far greater than commercial fishing’s, but this is under threat due to a failure by governments for decades to protect inshore fisheries.

The Trust’s CEO Mark Lloyd and campaigns chief Martin Salter were accompanied by George Hollingbery MP (Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Angling Group). They told the Minister that although Sea Angling 2012 showed that nearly 1 million people are still going sea fishing, 70% of them stated that they would go fishing more if fish stocks were improved. 

They stressed that a lack of fish was the biggest barrier to the next generation taking up recreational sea angling.  The Angling Trust has also issued a briefing along these lines to all MPs in advance of the Fishing Industry debate this week.

Angling’s representatives also raised with the Minister other issues affecting anglers including unlawful canoe access to rivers, bass conservation measures, the impact of cormorants and goosanders on fish stocks and the need to implement the Water Framework Directive.  The Minister agreed to continue the practice of hosting an angling summit for a wide range of angling and fisheries organisations, in addition to regular meetings with the Angling Trust.

George Hollingbery, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Angling Group said: “Angling is really important to rural and coastal economies and the government needs to recognise this by giving recreational anglers a greater share of the fish stocks and by protecting juvenile and spawning fish from exploitation.  Fish are far more valuable to the country as a target for rod and line anglers than in a trawler’s net.” 

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said: “George Eustice was receptive to our concerns and seemed well informed already about the issues we raised.  I am hopeful that we will be able to work closely with him and the other Defra Ministers in the future to guide policies for the benefit of all anglers.”

Martin Salter, National Campaigns Co-ordinator at the Angling Trust added; “Having commissioned the valuable Sea Angling 2012 report the government now needs to use its findings to ensure that recreational sea fishing still has a future. This means greater protection for estuaries and inshore waters and the creation of designated recreational only fisheries and species. These policies have been clearly demonstrated to work well in other countries around the world.  We just need the imagination to make this a reality over here.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

New Blueprint Coalition Chair appointed: S&TA's own Janina Gray

Ever since she joined the S&TA in the autumn of 2007 as our (first ever) Research and Policy Manager, Janina Gray – known to one and all as Nina and now our Head of Science HH– has shown a total and passionate commitment to the S&TA’s aims which has helped lift the Association to a whole new level on the national stage.  Representing fisheries and aquatic environment interests on committees and working groups that have included government departments and major environmental charities, Nina has, on our behalf, employed her scientific knowledge to ensure that fisheries have a real voice in the decision-making processes that impact so directly on key outcomes.

In recognition of her outstanding work, her peers and fellow members of the Blueprint for Water Coalition have voted her Chair for 2014 – the first time ever a fisheries organisation has been accorded this accolade.   It is a great honour for the S&TA – for Nina, it is richly deserved.   Many congratulations!

S&TA in the media

We’ve had considerable exposure in the media this last month, ranging from television to print and online, from the chalkstreams in the south to the aquaculture problems in Scotland.

These included Times, Press & Journal, an interview with Guy Linley-Adams on BBC Radio Scotland and considerable local and online coverage on the sealice story (issued 21 November)

Brian Clarke, in his monthly Times feature, highlighted S&TA’s work in an analysis of dredging (5 November)

An in-depth profile  of the chalksteam problems by Mike McCarthy in the Independent on 31st October and BBC TV Countryfile, Sunday 1st December,  highlighted the problems with salmon farming, interviewing S&TA(S) Director of Communications Andrew Graham-Stewart.  

Raise funds for S&TA at no cost to you

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It's very simple - just visit the easyfundraising website to register and shop with over 2000 well known retailers like Amazon, Argos, M&S, eBay and many more. Whenever we buy something, the retailer makes a donation to the Salmon & Trout Association.

We'd be really grateful if you could use easyfundraising too. It won't cost you a penny extra to shop through easyfundraising and you can even save money with special offers and voucher codes.

Once you’ve registered, if you download the ‘Find and Remind’ add-on it will automatically remind you every time you visit a site which offers a donation – it’s really easy!

Source: Salmon & Trout Association

Add increased TV, radio and magazine coverage and you can see why the BCAC is such a great launch pad for anglers’ careers.

Qualifying events for the BCAC run from March to June 2014 with the semi finals being staged in July/Aug at Barston Lakes in the West Midlands and the final taking place on 12th September at Broadlands Lakes in Southampton.

BCAC in the past

For the last 15 years the BCAC has been a major part of the UK carp fishing competition calendar and in that time the event has helped make the angling careers of many well known names whilst at the same time providing an excellent launch pad for those who have now become household names (well at least in the world of Carp Fishing)!

More information: British Carp Angling Championships

This was the information we received from Adrian Hoole, who is an Angling Trust licenced coach and also the chairman of a community association in Blackburn, Lancashire who take young people fishing to give them something to occupy their time and energies.

"It all started back in 2007 when we received a £500 grant form a small community based group to help with our aims of tackling anti social behaviour within our community and was awarded a certificate from the Home Office for our stance against anti-social behaviour.

We would take the young people fishing on the local canal but this is no longer available, over the years we have been over subscribed with the young people who became engaged, that we now have a long term lease for our own old mill lodge (the last remaining mill lodge in Blackburn).

This lodge have not been used in 15 years and has become a fly tip area and overgrown with weeds etc,

We have applied for a grant from the Peoples Millions and we are in the final today where we will appear on regional TV, (Granada). We are going into a head to head fight against another group from Cheshire and it will be up to the public to vote for who they deemed is the best cause.

We stand a chance of winning up to £50,000 so we can improve the water for ALL anglers inclusive. The work will be to create paths for people to access the lodge, a special path for disabled users, security fencing, usable platforms and an informal educational building to teach angling."

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said:

"In 2012, Defra and the Environment Agency commissioned the Angling Trust to compile a national strategy for the future of angling participation. Fishing for Life aims to find ways of overcoming barriers to increasing the number and diversity of anglers and maximising the benefits to society from people going fishing.

This chance to secure funding from the People's Millions is something we support 100% and is a magnificent effort by the Lodge team and Adrian to stand up for angling and the benefits it can bring socially to an area. We are really pleased that this effort has paid off handsomely for them and hope other similar projects will take heart from this and put forward their own bids for funding nationwide!"

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Season 3 Week No: 21 - 25

Weeks 21 - 25 saw a mixed bag of catches ranging from 5 carp caught to 56 carp caught, it also saw scorching heat down to a couple of frosty mornings.

• Total Anglers: 20
• Total number of Carp caught: 115
• Total Weight: 2980 lb 15 oz
• Of the 15 carp caught: 20 x 30’s & 88 x 20’s (of which 41 were upper 20’s).
• The top Carp were: 3 x 39 lb 8 oz, 2 x 36 lb 8 oz, 35 lb, 34 lb 12 oz & 34 lb 46 oz.

Week 21, after a two week break, saw the arrival of four guys from Stockton on Tees. Paul Dixon, Steven & John Beard and Ron Davidson. The guys were here to catch a few fish and also have a break and chill out, they didn’t fish during the nights and would start fishing after breakfast, usually their days fishing ended not long after dusk. The week started off sunny and by Wednesday had reached 35 degrees, not ideal for fishing just days, the weather changed late Wednesday and started to cool down, however the lake temperature stayed very warm. Between the four of them they landed just 5 carp totalling 116 lb 8 oz. They were all landed on Trigga (lake specials) topped with fake corn and the biggest weighed in at 26 lb and was landed by Steven. Advice was given on rig set ups and baiting up areas, when followed this seemed to pay off for two of the anglers. Steven Landed himself two carp, the largest being a 26 mirror. Ron landed himself three carp, the largest being a 25 lb common.

Week 22 saw the arrival of Nick Pinder and his dad David on their second visit, Chris Ayre on his third visit and Dennis Gouldthorp and his son Matthew on their first visit.

The week also saw the weather start to cool down a little and towards the end of the week we had some well needed rain.

Nick and David arrived on Friday and opted for the same swims that they had last year, Buzzard and Hawk. The fishing was slow and they both tried various set ups and had quite a few tentative takes, with a few runs where the fish were clearly picking up the boilies and dropping them without getting hooked. David ended the week with two fish, his biggest was 31 lb 8 oz which he was very pleased about as on his previous visit a 30 had eluded him. Nick ended his week with 3 carp, his biggest weighed in at 34 lb 4 oz which he caught when he cast to a showing fish.

Chris arrived on Sunday and was here on his third visit and this time he had come with Dennis and his son Matthew. Chris started his week in Owl and was off to a flying start when he was the first of the three to catch a fish, however his week slowed right down and he had missed a few runs over the week and decided to move to Kestrel for his last day. After the move he landed himself one more fish, which was a PB common for him and his biggest fish for the week weighing in at 27 lb 8 oz. Dennis and his son Matthew (13 yrs old) fished Harrier for the week, Matthew was keen to learn knots and rig tying and was often found talking to Nick or Chris getting hints and tips on fishing, unfortunately because of this he only landed one fish over the week but he was happy as it weighed in at 24 lb 8 oz, a new PB for him. Dennis had himself 3 fish over the week but none of which were actually on his rods, they all came to Matthew’s rods when he was off talking to Chris or Nick or even doing a bit of float fishing. His largest for the week weighed in at 36 lb 8 oz.

All of Dennis and Matthew’s fish were caught on Cell dumbbells topped with fake corn. All the guys had a great time and are looking to come back but probably not until 2015.

Week 23 saw the arrival of John Duncan and his wife Gail, Andy Maher, Wesley Jones and Phil Marshall. The week also saw a lot of tentative takes resulting in approximately 15 missed runs and about 5 lost fish.  John arrived Saturday with his wife Gail and their little terrier called Tess.  Gail settled herself into the Gite while John settled himself into Kestrel and Tess got to know Cookie and Leo. John has fished France a few times before and had brought his own boilies, he had Krill boilies and shellfish, crab and onion boilies.  All his fish were caught on these either on their own or topped with pink fake corn. Over the week John landed himself 12 fish totalling 302 lb 8 oz, 3 of which were 30’s and his biggest for the week weighed in at 36 lb 8 oz.

Andy and Wes came together on their first fishing trip in France, they were here for just 5 days and they both arrived with UK PB’s of around 24 lb. Andy settled in to Buzzard while Wes opted for Owl, both of them fished Trigga (lake specials)  or Rosehip topped with fake corn. Andy landed himself 5 fish totalling 123 lb 6 oz one of which was a 30 weighing it at 31 lb. Wes landed himself 6 fish totalling 142 lb 10 oz, unfortunately a 30 eluded him and his biggest was 29 lb 4 oz. Phil arrived on the same flight as Andy and Wes and was also only fishing 5 days.  Phil opted for Harrier and he tried various boilies, some he had brought with him and some he brought on site.

In front of Harrier there was a lot of activity and Phil had a lot of what he thought were line bites but he said due to his sweetcorn boilies being quite soft in the water the carp were managing to get them off without actually taking the whole rig. He ended up landing just one fish over the week which was a common and a PB for him when it weighed in at 29 lb, he caught it on Trigga (lake specials) and fake corn. All the guys had a great time and are looking to come back next year or sometime in the future.

Week 24 saw the arrival of Daniel Kelly on his third visit (second this year), Tom Mason on his second visit with his brother Ben on his first visit and Tolan Blackmore-Davey also on his first visit.

Despite being in the last week of September, this week also saw the temperature reach 35 degrees. Again there were some tentative takes which resulted in about four carp having been lost. 

Tom Mason came here last year with his girlfriend Natalie, they both slept in the bivvy last year but this year Natalie opted for the luxury of the Gite.  Tom also brought along his brother Ben on his first trip to France. Tom fished Harrier and Ben fished opposite him in Kestrel. Ben’s UK PB was around 19 lb and he was the first of the two to catch landing himself his first French carp at 22 lb, Tom followed suit and the game was on. The both fished various baits and they caught on Trigga (lake specials), monster Squid purple & and various coloured pop ups. Between the two of them they landed 12 carp. Tom landed 7 carp totalling 177 lb 14 oz, with his biggest weighing in at 34 lb 12 oz. Ben landed 5 carp totalling 128 lb 8 oz, with his biggest weighing in at 35 lb

Tolan was here on his first fishing trip to France, he opted for Owl and was looking to beat his UK PB of 27 lb. His first 3 fish arrived Sunday and two of them were bigger than his UK PB. He caught his carp on Cell pop ups or dumbells and he also caught on a Pineapple dumbell. He landed himself 5 carp over the week totalling 136 lb 14 oz, with his biggest weighing in at 32 lb 12 oz. Tolan has already booked to come back for two weeks next year with his brother.

Danny was here on his third visit and started in Hawk but moved to Buzzard after a couple of days. It seems luck was not with Danny on this visit and despite all his efforts he only managed to land 2 fish for the week with his biggest weighing in at 23 lb 8 oz.

There is no one on the lake for a week after the guys left.

Week 25 saw the arrival of Ross Clarke on his third visit and Colin Raggett and Mark Salmon on their second visit.  Ross, Colin & Mark met last year on the lake, they got on so well they decided that this year they would all come back the same week. They have also met up in the UK to go fishing. The week also saw ‘Sam’ make an appearance to every angler on the lake, she has lost a bit of weight over the summer but she is clearly back on the munch for winter. This meant each of the guys walked away with a new PB of 39 lb 8 oz. With the arrival of October the weather seemed to be perfect for fishing, a drop in temperature and quite a few overcast days with some rain. There were still a few tentative takes and between the guys they lost / missed approximately 15 carp.

Ross arrived on Saturday and set himself up in Kestrel but made a move to Hawk mid week. He had brought some Nash Monster squid purple with him but he also wanted to fish Trigga (lake specials).Last year Ross came for two weeks and set himself a target of five 30’s, but fell one short, this year he had no target for 30’s but he was targeting a specific fish, our common with the split tail. His fish over the week were mainly landed to Trigga (lake specials) topped with either fake corn or tutti fruiti mini pop ups, he also landed one on Rosehip topped with tutti fruit pop up and Monster squid topped with fake corn. Ross had to wait until his last night here before he landed his target fish, and let’s just say he was having a party in his bivvy when he caught it.  It weighed in at 34 lb 6 oz. Ross finished his week with 23 carp totalling 625 lb 8 oz, four of which were 30’s.  His biggest weighed in at 39 lb 8 oz.

After having last pick, Mark decided on Falcon for the week, he told us his tactics for the week, they were to do everything Ross did last year.

Mark was hoping to beat his biggest from last year (32 lb 12 oz) and as the week went on he also wanted to end the week with 18 carp or more, unfortunately he ended the week with 17 carp but he did manage to smash his biggest carp from last year when he landed Sam. Mark landed 17 carp totalling 439 lb 4 oz, three of which were 30’s.  His biggest weighed in at 39 lb 8 oz.

On Colin’s previous visit he had his girlfriend (Jayde) with him, Jayde had the biggest fish of the week last year so you can safely say Colin was looking to beat that this year. He started in Buzzard but things were a bit slow for a few days so he made a move to Owl and things picked up for him with his catches coming steadily right up until Saturday when he managed to almost double his catch for the week. Colin fished Trigga (lake specials) or Rosehip topped with fake corn, tutti fruiti or strawberry mini pop ups. He managed to not only beat Jayde’s biggest but also her total fish catch from last year. Colin landed 16 carp over the week totalling 410 lb 2 oz, three of which were 30’s.  His biggest weighed in at 39 lb 8 oz.

The guys enjoyed themselves over the week, constantly ribbing each other and Ross learnt not to run round corners when the grass is wet, hope. Ross is back in April next year and all three of them are back in May 2015.

If the pier is too crowded for you during the daytime, night fishing could be for you. Not only is it a more convenient option for many people, you can actually improve your chances of getting a bite by fishing at night. Some fish, like carp and catfish, are nocturnal and actively feed during the night – they could be yours for the taking.

However, you will need to take certain precautions to ensure your own safety. These top tips will help you get started.

Keeping warm

As The Independent reports, Britain is poised to experience a barrage of snow and sleet soon. These near-Arctic weather conditions don’t mean that you have to cancel your night fishing trip – you just need to be savvy with what you wear.

Wrapping up warm is essential if you plan on night fishing this winter. Base layers are a great option as these hug the body, trapping an insulating layer of air onto the skin. You’ll also need a warm coat, thick socks and a hat to help you beat the chill.

Take a look at the range of Snugpak items available from Polimil. Designed for extreme outdoor environments, their thermal products would be perfect for any fisherman.

Torch

It goes without saying that night fishing is dark. This can make baiting your line and unhooking your fish incredibly difficult tasks.

To avoid having to fish in the darkness, you should always pack a torch with you. The last thing you want when at the end of the pier is for your torch to run out of batteries. Wind up torches are an excellent option as they are kinetically powered.
Unless you’re fishing with a friend who can hold it for you, carrying a torch can be inconvenient. A great way to free up your hands is to go for a head torch. Simply strap onto your head and illuminate all you need to see, without having to juggle it with what you’re doing. This torch, also available from Polimil, would be ideal.

Pack a snack

Depending on the length of time you fish for, you may find yourself growing hungry. Eating a hearty meal before you head out will help to keep you warm, as your body generates heat as a by-product of digestion. You should always take a selection of snacks with you too. A hot flask of soup or tea would be a great option to keep you warm.

Many angling clubs are uninsured, or are paying too much for poor insurance cover. Angling Trust membership, which now includes insurance cover as a benefit of membership, is the answer...

Many angling clubs and syndicates don’t carry insurance and could face multi-million pound claims if one of their members, or a member of the public, suffered an injury on club waters.  Many other angling clubs are paying far too much for cover which is inadequate to protect the club and its officers.

Membership of the Angling Trust now includes insurance automatically with club and syndicate membership.  The standard cover includes £5 million public and £10 million employers liability to clubs, including for work parties, maintenance, coaching days and all the angling activities of their members in the UK.  This standard cover can be extended to provide £10 million public liability insurance, and other items such as contents, trophies, club houses and boats.

George Stephenson spent 25 years in Africa running safari camps before setting up a highly successful business for Roxton Bailey Robinson arranging fishing expeditions throughout the world.  He is also Chairman of the Save the Rhino Campaign and he now lives on his farm in Wiltshire which includes two miles of the River Nadder and a carp lake.  He has been a passionate all round angler since the age of 4, catching coarse, sea and game fish throughout the UK and around the world.

Among a host of notable catches in the UK and around the world, George considers the highlights to be a 23lb pike from the River Wye, a 32lb salmon from Iceland, a 96lb Nile Perch and a 30lb English Carp. Whilst he has caught many exotic species including long-tailed tuna on the fly from Kenya, sea trout from Argentina,  black marlin, sailfish and tigerfish from Africa he still enjoys targeting  brown trout, chub, grayling and bass back home in England.

The new Chairman has identified a number of priorities for the organisation over the coming years, which include:

• Accelerating the steady growth in membership of the Trust among individuals, clubs, fisheries, riparian owners, the angling trade, and charter boats.
• Increasing fundraising from private donors and corporate sponsorship to support specific campaigns and the English national angling teams.
• Continuing to develop the relationships with Sport England and in particular the Environment Agency to deliver the National Angling Strategy.
• Working more closely with the various disparate angling organisations in Wales and Scotland to create more unified representation for anglers throughout the UK.
• Recruiting new volunteers to the Angling Trust board to provide strategic direction to an organisation that turns over nearly £2.5 million a year and employs nearly 40 staff.

Mike Heylin has served as Chairman since shortly after the formation of the Trust in 2009, and announced his intention to step down at the AGM in 2012.  He will remain as a member of the Board of Directors for the time being and said: “I feel privileged to have served the angling community for the past four years and proud of what the organisation has achieved in that time.  I warmly welcome George Stephenson’s appointment to the role and feel that he has the skills and experience the organisation needs to take it forward to the next step in its development.”

New Angling Trust Chairman, George Stephenson said: “I am delighted and honoured to have this opportunity to give something back to fishing, which has been a very important part of my whole life.  Mike Heylin, Mark Lloyd and all the Directors and staff of the Angling Trust should be congratulated for the enormous progress they have made since 2009 in unifying the angling community to support a single representative organisation.  I look forward to working closely with them to develop plans to build on the success of the past four years.  It is essential that all anglers are made aware of the excellent work being done on their behalf by the Angling Trust and its partner organisation Fish Legal.”

Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon said: “I have been very impressed by the Angling Trust and all that it has achieved in the past four years.  They have robustly made the case for the protection of fish stocks and anglers’ right to fish for them and they are developing a wide range of programmes to deliver the National Angling Strategy which I launched last year.  I know of George’s work and very much welcome his appointment as Chairman – his knowledge and experience of the world of angling and fisheries will, I’m sure, be very useful to the Trust in the next stage of its development.  No doubt I will be hearing from him and his executive team often in my role as Fisheries Minister!”

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust & Fish Legal said: “On behalf of all the staff and volunteers, I would like to thank Mike Heylin for the immense amount of time, energy and enthusiasm he has given to the Angling Trust.  His dedication to angling and fisheries over forty years has culminated with a huge contribution to the formation and early development of our unified representative body.  I am very grateful to George Stephenson for volunteering to take on this role and I am looking forward very much to working alongside him and the rest of the board to build on our success so far.”

Charles Jardine, from Fishing for Schools, said: “I am utterly delighted to hear of George’s appointment and I enthusiastically endorse him as the new Chairman of the Angling Trust as the unified body for all anglers.  He is a beacon of common sense, someone who knows what the future needs - and how to get there.”

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News