Inter-Services Coarse Angling Championships 2009

This year the Championships were contested on the Basingstoke Canal at Aldershot, no prices for guessing it was the Army's choice!

With the strongest team for several years lining the banks, expectation was high of a good performance. The practice sessions went well with less practiced squatt anglers gaining practical experience from the knowledgeable team members and having the benefit of time to gain improve their techniques. Small fish were targeted as the main source for good team points, and with no big fish in the feeding mood, confidence was bolstered.

For those of you, who know the Basingstoke canal and the vast quantity of red clawed crayfish (American Signal Crayfish) it holds, will be pleased to know that the canal is now commercially potted to remove this angling menace. Normally, the art would be to avoid drawing then into your peg and/or establishing how to avoid hooking them, especially with the small hooks being employed, (24's and 26's) as getting you hook back is notoriously difficult. However, due to the commercial enterprise, adjacent stretches have seen nearly 3 hundredweight of crayfish removed in the last month, so progress indeed. This was borne out by some anglers not even hooking a crayfish over the three days of the Championships.

One of anglers on the day (who shall remain nameless to prevent reprisals) stated wouldn't it be strange if our floats never reacted to bites on the squatt line!! Talk about call it in!! This was exactly the story as our plan (which had worked well on both practice days) failed to produce any fish for the majority of our anglers. Odd pockets of fish, in a feeding mood, were present and CPO Keith Massheder (HMS HERON) and CPO Nick Jones (HMS TIRELESS) both produced the results and won their sections, two anglers had 2nd in section; WO1 Shep Shepherd (45 CDO) and PO Al Jones (HMS ASTUTE), the rest of the team were last. Some extremely capable anglers in the team worked really hard to avoid a blank. My match was typical of many, after significant effort I had my one and only bite after 3 and 15 minutes - a two ounce perch!!

The winning individual weight was 1Kg 990 gm.

The RAF are once again Inter Service Champions with 18 points, the Army were second with 24 points and the RN and RM third with 30 points. Roll on next year with the RAF choosing the venue, we are expecting another canal, but who knows, we'll have to wait and see.

Report supplied by WO1 Pete Edwards