WILL WORLD CHAMPS COME HOME? I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT

We haven’t the resources to host this international event I

T’S been 22 years now since England hosted a coarse fishing World Championship – the ill-fated but (as far as results went) rewarding match at Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham.

We haven’t had a look-in since, and with more and more Eastern European nations entering (in fact actually existing!) where angling is a far greater interest, it may be some time before we have another.

The governing bodies of those nations often have genuine and total control over potential venues. That makes access and fish stocks, for example, more suitable than anything we could hope to provide here.

More than 300 pegs are required, plus other areas for teams that wish to practice in the two weeks before the event. There has to be bank space for parking, spectators and media interests, fixed platforms (or very good banks that can be used in potentially fluctuating levels) and, of course, a few fish.

The last thing we are short of here in England is fish, but the rest of the requirements seem to be lacking.

The Angling Trust doesn’t have the finances to create a suitable water, thanks to the reluctance of 95 per cent of anglers to support their sport as they should.

The waters that spring to mind as being potentially good, such as the Huntspill and Ten Mile Bank, are controlled by clubs whose members may be unwilling to give up their venue for a couple of weeks or even like their fisheries being filled in with thousands of litres of groundbait, bloodworm and joker that emanates from possibly dubious sources.

That leaves us with rowing courses where, currently, little or no fishing takes place.

Now, as anglers we have a great rapport with rowers, don’t we?

Sorry, Drennan Team England. Keep your passports and international driving licences up to date.