A team of anglers from the Environment Agency in the North West has won first prize in a national fishing competition.
The Water Industry Game Fishing Championships is held every year in different parts of England and Wales and brings together teams from water companies, the Environment Agency and the Association of Rivers Trusts. The competition involves six hours of fishing and attracts English and Welsh internationals and famous anglers including Robbie Winram.
Competition organiser and Environment Agency Fisheries Advisory Committee member Fred French said ”This event is great as it brings together people from across the water industry and gives them an ideal opportunity to meet each other in a fun, informal way. The competition has been running for 29 years and this year was one of the best yet.”
The event was held on Saturday 10 May and saw 17 teams take part, a total of 120 individual anglers. It was held at Stocks Reservoir near Clitheroe and winning the competition on their own patch was an added bonus for the team.
Team Captain and Environment Officer Ian Gaskell said “We’ve worked hard over the last few years and have finished second place three times so winning this year is fantastic for us".
It is the first time the Environment Agency’s North West Team has won the competition and they narrowly beat our Head Office Team to the top spot. Iwan Lawton, a member of the flood risk data team in the North West also won the singles reserve match.
