Sea Fishing – England's Youngsters Take Shore Golds

The 2012 Home International Shore Championships at Samphire Hoe saw Great Britain and Ireland’s top anglers battle it out amongst the rocks and weed of the Channel Tunnel spoil site.

Species caught during the course of the event included wrasse, pout, pollack, bass and dogfish and the total number of fish landed and returned by the 12 teams of five over the 24 hour matches was 718.

The England Senior team were: Garrie Forster, Gareth Griffiths, Rob Marshall, George Smith, Dave Lane, Bill Lindfield (Reserve) and Bob Gascoigne (Manager).

The England Junior Team consisted of: Callum Graham, David Morris, Harry O’Neil, Martin Smith, Daniel Stote, Connor Hallett (Reserve) and Mark Hurcombe (Manager).

The England Youth Team were: Jake Butcher, Michael Brookes, Michael Dawkins, Jack Hayes, Oliver Hopkins, Ben Harrison (Reserve) and Julian Shambrook (Manager).

Day one saw Scotland take the lead in the seniors’ event with 15 points. Top angler on the day was Scotland’s Scott McNicol who landed 12 fish for 329cm from A Zone.

England took the honours on the first day of the youth event with an impressive 19 points out of a possible 20. It was once again a Scot, in the form of Colin McGarva, who was the most successful on the day landing eight fish from A Zone for 166cm. England juniors also won their first event with 15 points. Top junior on the day was England’s David Morris winning C Zone with ten fish for 229cm.

The second day brought an improvement in the weather and the senior event finished with Scotland, Ireland and England all finishing the day with 13 points. The constant pressure on the venue for the days preceeding the championships saw the numbers of fish caught dropping.

Top angler on the day was Ireland’s John Bermingham who landed nine fish for 220cm. In the youth event England once again finished on top with 16 points. Scotland’s Joe Turner led the field on the day landing ten fish for 249cm. In the junior event England equalled the bench mark set by their comrades on day one by dropping only one point and taking the day on 19 points.

The juniors were fishing an area previously un-fished and this showed in the catches and England’s Callum Graham, the current Junior World Champion, won the day with 18 fish for 382cm.

Final Results:

Senior

Gold - Scotland 28 points

Silver - Ireland 27 points

Bronze - Wales 23 points

D/ Bronze - England 21 points

Youth

Gold - England 35 points

Silver - Scotland 23 points

Bronze - Wales 20 points

D/Bronze - Ireland 20 points

Junior

Gold - England 35 points

Silver - Ireland 25 points

Bronze - Scotland 24 points

D/Bronze - Wales 17 points