by David Ewing

I was covering the World Champs for two bosses... Matchangler.com (of course) and Déclic Pêche. I had spoken to Dave Johnson before the Champs and explained that I could only cover one section each day because of the distances between them. The Declic editorial team decided to assign me to what on paper looked the hardest section - Section E - on day 1 and to keep me there on day 2.
As luck would have it England's angler on Section E, day 1, was debutant Stuart Conroy. I say luck because Stuart drew and won this same section on day 2. Having both of us on the same section did give me a unique opportunity to write in depth about what happened in this area but also to tell the story of how England's new boy Stuart fared on his baptism onto the World Champs stage, he was not to disappoint.

The day cometh
Stuart draws peg 16 with Portuguese angler Duarte Jose to his left and the Lithuanian, Miroslav Ingelevic, on his right. The leading players in the section from the favoured teams were Gilles Caudin of France, Jean Paul Joliet of Belgium and Roberto Trabucco of Italy.
It was clear from the start that this section was going to be a worry for the all the teams. In practise it had fished hard - along with A section - and most captains were more interested in avoiding a blank. There were two target fish in the section, bleak off the bottom and roach on the bottom. The tactic most teams had worked out was to start looking for a fish by running over the initial feed, firstly on the bottom then off the bottom. Stuart started like the rest and caught a bleak and a good roach. He opted to try and catch a few more bleak - which he managed - but in retrospect he felt there might have been another large roach to be caught had he stuck at it.

Above: Stuart's day 1 score sheet that says it all - 3 hours for 4 fish (luckily one was a good roach).

Above left: Stuart asks how much longer he's got to finish assembling this scaffolding before he can get on with the fishing!

Left: Having completed his task he sets about trying to catch on a rock hard E section while Mark Addy phones a friend.

Where did that chub go?
The anglers on the higher numbers were finding more roach on the bottom - Trabucco on peg 34 had 790 grams of them and was beaten off the next peg by the Croatian, Smail Habibuvic, with over a kilo of prime roach. The real excitement in the section came from the early pegs with the Finn Jounion Lillman on peg 2 who lost three large chub before eventually slipping his landing net under one estimated at 5lb. Unfortunately his elastic was too slack and the chub slipped out of his zone into that of Caudin's. This fish, which would have slaughtered the section, was consequently disqualified!
The shoal then moved into peg 1 where Welshman, Ian Leach, managed snare one which helped hem easily win the section with a total weight of over 2 kilos.

Bonus slips thru his hands
Stuart's day became quieter and quieter. He'd never really caught fish regularly but had in fact been broken by the one bonus fish. He was on a fine wire hook to an 0.10 bottom and felt the fish bump-off. It was not a lump and he thinks in retrospect that it was either a perch or a small eel.
With 45 minutes to go Stuart played the big fish card. He choppped in some fresh worms and mixed up a few balls with his bottom mix and fed 5 balls straight away and went over the top. Sadly this was one section where big fish were at a premium and the gamble did not pay off.

The end of the day
Stu ended the day with 390 grams for 11th place. Trabucco had come 4th with 790 grams and Giles Caudin 9th with 480 grams. What impressed me about Stuart was his ability to look back at how he'd done realistically. He had held his own in a poor part of the section - OK he'd lost a fish - but he knew he had fished a tight match. There was no dropping his head and worrying about what might have been.
This is an important factor in an international anglers make up as temperament is can almost be as important as angling ability at this level of the sport. Stuart struck me as an someone who was sure of his ability and who was able to judge realistically how he'd performed. Fishing your first ever world champs is a nerve racking experience (I did it many years ago for Scotland at Luddington on the Warwicks' Avon and still remember that feeling). Stuart would never have to face this situation again and the decision to keep the squad unchanged for Sunday proved to be spot on so the other new boy, Sean Ashby, will have to bide his time before he gets the chance to go down the same route as Stu!

Left: With 4 points under his belt, Roberto Trabucco seemed in a happy frame of mind as he chatted with a French official. This would not be the case on day 2!

Sunday - make or break time
A new draw for Sunday saw no change to were Stuart fished, however, this time he was on the better top end pegs. He'd pulled peg 32 in the area where better roach had come from the day before. The section was packed with home spectators as top Frenchman Diego da Silva had drawn peg 14. Now Diego is the most in-form angler in France and many people expected him to lift the individual crown after his superb performance the day before. We (at matchangler) had posted a doubt on Saturday night that if Diego drew D or E he may struggle as the bream had failed to show in these sections and that could work against him.

Hot company
There were two other section winners keeping Diego company, Ian Leach (who drew peg 5, four pegs away from his chub peg of Saturday) and American Marc Greene along with some high placed section scorers such as the Dutchman Eddy Van Der Hoogen, Hungarian Szilard Magyar and the unmistakable figure of Italian, Roberto Trabucco.
The day started slower than Saturday and the roach seemed to have abandoned the section, most teams had spent the first 20 minutes or so trying for them. Diego realised quickly that the roach were not responding and went for the bleak. After an hour he was leading the section, however Stuart and super Swede, Mikael Tono, had also switched to bleak as well. Tono, on peg 34, was catching close in with Stuart following suit. The second hour was too close to call, the French hoped that Diego could keep up his catch rate but as the hour closed it became apparent that Stuart, Tono and the Portuguese angler on 33, Antonio Marques, were gradually pulling ahead.

Bleak or Bust
This section was dominated by bleak, no chub showed in the early pegs and only a couple of roach and perch were netted. Stuart was catching steadily, as he moved into the final hour, whereas Diego was slowing down, he only caught two fish in the next half hour. Diego's catch rate tumbled and the balance of power in the section shifted to the top pegs.
Most in the section where now trying for a bonus big fish - one of these would have brought individual glory to Marc Green, Ian Leach, Szilard Magyar and even Diego - but it was not to be.

Above: Mark Addy peers over an official to sneak a view of Stu's final weight.
Right: Stu tells French captain, Phillip Perrot, about the bloke behind them who's just snapped his pole!

The weigh in
This was about as exciting and nerve racking as they come. Low weights were registered on the first 13 pegs up to Diego, he then posted 600 grams - an incredible performance on bleak from the worst part of this section (2 pegs away from Stuart's draw on day 1). Diego set the target as the we moved along, on and past Trabucco, who fell well short, until the scales reached Stuart on peg 32.
Stu lifted his net with over 50 bleak and we knew Diego was beaten, 1.040kg gave him the section lead. Then what followed was a tense five minutes as the officials reached his Portuguese neighbour and then Tono who both fell just short of the kilo - Stuart had secured the section!!!

"And I'm feeling... glad all over!!!"
The relief was visible, a beer appeared from nowhere and he smiled and chatted with all around. A well deserved hug and kiss from his partner and it was all over, at least his part. Stuart had fished his England debut tight and hard, he'd struggled on day 1 but come through smiling with sweet success. Here, on Sunday afternoon in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, he'd won perhaps the hardest section in the Championships with a net of tiny fish and helped his team to take GOLDEN GLORY.

Left: Mark Addy was over the moon with his new conscript.

Below: Phillip Perrot was also so impressed with the England star that he trys to ascertain whether Stuart has any French connections in his family!

Above: What better way to finish the day than with a big hug and kiss from your NUMBER ONE fan.

Left: After all the day's excitement its back to the mundane task of tidyiny up.

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