Deja Vu

The last time I covered a World Championships was in 2001 when it was held on the River Seine in Paris, and on the first day of competition I found myself following the action in section A, where England had Alan Scotthorne on the end peg (A1). So how 'spooky' (weird) was that, when on the first day of this year's event, I again found myself patrolling section A (many thanks DJ), with Alan yet again drawn in that same section... peg 2 on this occasion! The conditions this time were, however, very very different.

The Heat is On!
As the competitor's were having their baits checked by the officials, the temperature was in the late 30's and rising, and it was only 9am! It was going to be a very hot and demanding three hours for the 32 anglers in these open conditions as there were few trees for shelter along the section and many had no umbrellas. The heat would rise into the forties before the end of the match.

Jean Desque fishing the Seine during the 2001 World Championships in Paris.In Paris, there were just five single sections. Last year, saw a change to this format, allowing each section to be divided up, according to how many nations participated. In Holland each section of 38 teams was split into three, whereas this year the sections could only be split into two, as their were only 32 nations competing. While this system gives lesser teams the chance to obtain good points if the draw was favourable, it also means that top teams could be drawn against many of the lesser teams and so gain easy points. This scenario failed to materialise in Section A with England, France, Hungary, Russia, Portugal and home side Spain being drawn in the first half of the section, while Italy, Belgium, Germany and 2009 World Champions Slovakia found themselves in the second half.

During the five days of practice, section A saw a lot of action, as there seemed to be many more carp in this particular area. This could have been down to the fact that it was one of the deeper sections on the match length and that there were plenty of underwater features within the 13 metre pole limit range. It certainly appeared that many of the teams were going for carp straight from the off, because directly after the five minute pre-baiting period, most angler's went straight out on the 13 metre line in search of an early advantage.

The first fish caught was a carp-hybrid by the Russian, Georgy Utgof, on A1, but that was the last action he would see for some time. Alan Scotthone picked up a good fish in the first hour, but also had the hook pull out of an unstoppable monster fish, as it headed for the far bank of the river!

The second hour saw a real battle developing between Alan and David Corcoran of Scotland, who was two pegs away on A4. There was also a second encounter going on at the other end of this section with Dutchman Stefan Altena (A16), Slovenian Mirko Kos (A14) and Ireland's Jason Ward (A15) going fish-for-fish. After a slow start, these three were regularly seen with several metres of elastic stretching from their poles, indicating that big fish were being played and, nearly always landed. Alan and David were also enjoying some action with the carp and hybrids, but their initial sport was not as hectic.

From early on, I could see in the distance, poles pointing skyward in the other half of the section, and when I eventually arrived there, after 'hiking' across the 150m gap between both halves of the section, I discovered that the two end peg areas were dominating proceedings. Bulgarian Rumen Vitkov's (A17) peg seemed to contain an 'aquarium' of carp-hybrids, carp and carassio, but strangely the angler's to his right were struggling. At the far end, Ladislav Konopasek of the Czech Republic (A30), was also catching well, as was Sweden's Stefan Holst (A32). Both these anglers were having to deal with some very lively fish, which were taking up to 15 minutes to land... much too long for a three-hour contest.
Note: This time aspect, of playing and landing fish, will be looked at more closely in a special feature to be produced shortly.

Three anglers in a line, all with fish on. Furthest away: A18 Goran Radovic, A18 Serbia. Middle: Andy Amos, A19 Wales. Nearest: Marcus Balogh, A20 Austria.

Sitting quietly in the middle of all this was Channel Islander Garry Crisp (A26). His match had gone largely unnoticed by many, that was until he broke his landing net handle trying to lift out a large fish! He eventually managed did to get it in and then, using a long bank stick as a handle, followed it up with two more good-sized carp, trying not to fall in as he stretched over the rocks to net them! Another angler to keep and eye on was Italy's Jacopo Falsini (A21). The large crowd behind him told it's own story because every time he landed a fish, applause rang out across the section.

I returned to the first part of the section for the final 30 minutes, having continued to notice poles pointing upwards on a regular basis. This was an impossible section to cover and assess, because even though the stewards put the fish count on each angler's board after every hour, you had no idea if they were carp, bleak or catfish, without literally asking each steward! And they could not give accurate information as to actual size and species, because of the language barrier!

Davie Concoran keeps the pressure on 5x World Champ Alan Scotthorne with a steady run of fish.

Former World Champ Tamas Walter picks up the odd fish from A9, but would have preferred to have been nearer the ends of the section!
However, it became clear that the Scotland's 'Wee' Davie Concoran had done well, but it was still impossible to know who had actually pulled ahead. Even with the Dutchman on the end peg also catching well, the general opinion was that the Scot may have the edge. From England's point of view, the team needed to ensure that they kept the French and the Dutch at arms-length. Former World Champion, Hungary's Tamas Walter, had originally been seen as a threat, but he finished the match poorly and was well out of contention.

Frenchman Jerome Vasseur netting a good fish. The one he lost at the end would have seen him 'rocket' up the order to at least a respectable 4th or 5th place!
As the five-minute signal sounded, there was still plenty of elastic to be seen. A crowd had now gathered at Frenchman Jerome Vasseur A6 peg as he was playing a good fish, one that could make a big difference to his final position. It was now that the problem of using elastic too light became all too apparent. For the next five minutes, the Frenchman struggled at first to control, and then land the fish, as even with five sections of pole pointing up in the air, it was impossible to guide it towards the waiting net. With two minutes left, he grabbed the elastic as he tilted the pole backwards, something that's not allowed in the World Champs, but let go of it very quickly after FIPS official, Dick Clegg, shouted out a warning to him! With his team management counting down the time, Jerome made one last effort to land the fish. And with 11 metres of pole now being stuck up in the air, he tried to 'bully' the fish into the net, almost falling off his box in the process as he lent back. It was a valiant effort, but ultimately ended in disaster, as both angler and fish parted company with just seconds remaining on the clock.

As the weigh-in started, it was still unclear as to who would take top honours. The Russian on A1 was well out of it, so it was left to Alan Scotthorne to put down the first marker in this half of the section with 12.320kg. But Davy Corcoran recorded 13.155kg and it was a weight that would not be beaten. With England now holding two points, the interested crowd followed the scales all the way to the Slovenian Kos, who had looked to be doing well throughout the match. He weighed in 11.340kg, just a fish away from Scotthorne's weight. Next was Irishman Ward who, while having over 10kgs, did not trouble either Concoran or Scotthorne. Only the last angler looked a real threat, Stefan Altena. The advantage of an end peg paid off for the Dutchman as he weighed in 12.320kg, enough to snatch second place. Nevertheless, 3pts was still a good result for England.

In the second part of the section, the advantage of that end peg again, helped Bulgarian Vitkov take the section, weighing in with 15.485kg. However, there was a surprise in store as Channel Islander Garry Crisp, with all his landing net problems, picked up second place with 14.835kg. A fine achievement considering there is so little carp fishing back home. Czech star, Konopasek finished third with 13.200kg, his teams highest scorer of the day. The Italians would have been looking for good points against England, Holland and France in the first half section, so they would have been very disappointed with Falsini's 11kgs for fifth place, not to mention falling behind Belgium's Bart Helsen, who weighed in 12.515kg.

It was an exciting section to watch, yet difficult to assess. However, the full picture would not emerge until tomorrows signal at 1.30pm, which would end the tournament for another year!

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