England overcome pedantic officials

A record entry of 36 teams fished on the River Seine in Paris. After day one the England side of Bob Nudd, Will Raison, Steve Gardener, Stu Conroy and Alan Scotthorne languished in fourth place, trailing seven points behind the leaders France and Italy.

With so many competitors, however, and the river fishing poorly, the opportunity to pick up points was always there and the new management team of Mark Downes and Mark Addy refused to throw in the towel.

Traditionally the angler with the lowest points total after day one drops down to make way for the reserve. New boy Sean Ashby graciously relinquished his first chance of international glory, recognising that the superior experience of three-time World Champion Alan Scotthorne would be vital if his side were to claw their way back into the medal table.

A crucial change of tactics saw the England side record some remarkable nets with Raison, Gardener and Conroy the heroes. The day was not without controversy, as both Raison and Gardener were to come under pedantic and partisan scrutiny from the match officials.

Championship rules dictate that floats must not be overshotted and no weights are to touch the bottom. The England plan involved targeting eels fishing bunches of redworms under large flat floats. When it became clear that the change in plan was working the officials struck.

Raison had a rig confiscated amid accusations of float legering, which later proved to be untrue and Gardener had a section winning eel disqualified as the over zealous Marshall claimed it had swum outside of Gardeners zone whilst being played.

Despite the best efforts of the 10, 000 strong Gallic crowd and the stringent interpretation of the rule book, the England side cruised to victory with 68 points ahead of France on 72 and Italy 87. Raison secured a superb section win from a peg that had blanked the previous day netting five eels and a bream for 5.100k.

Gardener hung on to second despite the confiscation of his best eel and Conroy also made a mockery out of a peg that had blanked on the opening day whipping out 55 bleak for 1.040k and another section win.

Anglers who enjoy sport on the Pocklington Canal at Canal Head near Pocklington would do well to avoid the area in coming months. I can advise that even the world-beating anglers above would fail to catch here at the moment. The reason? There are no fish! Environment Agency staff carried out a careful removal of fish last Thursday to allow essential de-silting work to take place.

This is part of a scheme to restore the canal being carried out by Pocklington Canal Amenity Society and British Waterways. Many of the locks have already been restored and the swing bridges re-installed, and boats can now reach Melbourne, about half way along the length of the canal.

Roger Byrne, the British Waterways Engineer responsible for the project, said: "The main problem now is that the canal is silted up, especially at Canal Head near Pocklington. This silt is currently restricting water flow down to the navigable section and creating low levels in the lengths noted for their biodiversity and their ecological value.

"However, we were concerned that simply removing the silt may cause problems for the resident fish, so we asked the Environment Agency for assistance."

The Environment Agency stepped in to safely remove the fish to clearer water further down the canal. The fish, including roach, perch, carp and pike, will be removed using electrofishing equipment, a technique where an electric current is passed through the water temporarily stunning them and making them easier to net out and transfer. The fish have been transferred to the Melbourne Arm.

Shaun McGinty, Environment Agency Fisheries Officer, said: "We are very happy to help out British Waterways on this excellent project. It will greatly improve the canal for all users, including the anglers, and will help protect the significant environmental interest for which the canal is renowned."

Two waters have reopened following the foot and mouth crisis.

The York Amalgamation stretches at Knaresborough on the Nidd and the first field at Sutton on Derwent are now open.

With no matches booked this weekend they are available for pleasure angling.

Weekend bookings

Saturday: Park View - CIU, Donkeywoods - Local AC, Howsham Hall - Shepherds.

Sunday: Park View - Pudsey, Poppleton - Royal Oak, Middlethorpe and Donkey Woods - York Noakes Cup, Palace Ings - New Earswick, Acaster - White Rose, Howsham Hall - Ben Johnson.

Updated: 11:41 Friday, September 21, 2001