Angling Cymru

🎣 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 Congratulations to 𝗝𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗦, who has won March’s Angling Cymru Fish of the Month competition in the 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 category. Carmarthen Sea Anglers club member Jason caught this Spurdog that weighed 12Ib 7oz on a session last month at a west Wales mark. Jason was over the moon as it was his first ever Spurdog – and then followed it up with another three smaller fish. For winning Fish of the Month, he wins a £20 tackle voucher in association with Anglers Corner. Well done Jason! 👏

🎣 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 Congratulations to 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦, who has won March’s Angling Cymru Fish of the Month competition in the 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 category. Rich takes the prize with this 31lb common carp from Fendrod Lake, Swansea, at the start of last month. It was one of six landed throughout the session. It was also the first time the fish had been caught over 30lb for his club lake, so Rich the chance to name it Bertie – after his little boy. For winning Fish of the Month, he wins a £20 tackle voucher in association with Anglers Corner. Well done Rich! 👏

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus / Happy St. David's Day 🌼 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗛 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗗𝗢𝗚 A huge congratulations to Craig Wilson who has now had his Spurdog, weighing 9.07kg (19.99lbs), ratified as new Welsh Record for Spurdog. Craig, from Cardiff, caught it on 31st December 2025 off Stout Point aboard Sea Leopard with skipper Darren Ryan. The previous record holder was Paul Whittle from Holyhead, who held the record since 2008 with a fish of 8.997kg. Craig’s fish was just 0.083kg heavier but enough to net the record! Well done, Craig 🎣👏

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda / Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of our members, volunteers and supporters, and the wider angling community in Wales and beyond.

As part of our #ValuedVolunteer highlights, we're sharing Roger Pratt’s story. Roger is a Level 2 coach, the Chairman, and one of the founding members of The Pembrokeshire Federation of Angling Coaches. Since 2007, he has led a group of anglers who want to give young people a chance to experience the sport, including many who might never expect to take part. 🎣 So far in 2025, the Federation has run 31 coaching sessions, reaching 224 young people from a wide range of backgrounds. Many caught their first fish, including young carers, scout groups, pupils with additional learning needs, and a group of Brazilian exchange students. The Federation also runs coaching in coarse, game and sea fishing, and they have exciting plans for 2026. We’re looking forward to seeing what this brilliant group does next as they continue opening the door to a new sport for young people. Roger shows how volunteering can open doors for young people, lift up communities, and inspire a love for the outdoors. Thank you, Roger! 🤗 @anglingcymru

Hats off to the Welsh Shore Masters team on a hugely respectable seventh place finish at the 2025 Masters Shore Angling World Championships in France. It was a remarkable performance with the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 team competing as a quartet and an angler short, rather than the permitted team of five. Tony Thomas, Leigh Rogers, Ivor Smith and Franco Attanasio pulled out all the stops across four days of competition on the beach at Equihen-Plage on the southern outskirts of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Wales led the way after the first day, while there were zone wins throughout for Ivor, Franco and Leigh. Ultimately though, the inability with no fifth angler to drop a score with two blanks, proved to be the difference. Nonetheless, a fantastic performance 👏🎣🌍 The team would like to say a big thanks to RPC Design & Architecture Ltd and Albatross Fisheries for the clothing sponsorship. 🤝

The U16 Welsh Shore Junior Team Trials were held last Saturday (18 October) in Borth. The event was organised and run by Ben Worsey, Team Manager, with the support of Anthony Lewis, the Youth Team Manager. Nine children attended, four of which had previously fished for Wales, and five new applicants. The fishing was difficult at times with the prehistoric forest more prevalent than expected. The boys dealt with this brilliantly, with some adapting styles to find different species of fish in amongst these snags. Almost 80 fish were caught during the session with a mixed range of species including bass, flounder, plaice, corkwing wrasse and shanny. Ben said: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴’ 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭!” 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

Wishing the very best of luck to the men’s and ladies’ shore anglers representing Wales at the 2025 FIPS-M World Championships in the south of Portugal this week. The men’s team, managed by Ivor Smith, features Craig Maddock (Gwent & District SAC), two-time former world champion and north Walian Alan Price, Rob Collins (Neyland SAC), Holyhead’s Gary Wood and Tony Owen (Three Herrings SAC). Representing Wales in the ladies’ competition this week are Laura Webb and Pamela Worrall. They are supported by Julian Webb and Carl Worrall. For Cardigan SAC angler Laura, this will be her second worlds; Last year in Spain she was 13th overall out of 60 in the ladies’ individual standings, boosted by a 6th placed finish on day four of the competition in brutal conditions. Pamela, from Aberystwyth, is now a 10-time world championship veteran. Currently No.8 in the official world rankings, she was 4th individually in Italy in 2023. The four days of competition start tomorrow. Tight lines all 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🎣

Last weekend, the famous River Weaver in Cheshire was the setting for the 2025 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝘾𝙪𝙥, with Wales taking their turn to host this year, and with thanks to the support of Northwich Angling Association. An annual event, the Celtic Cup is a friendly developmental competition giving up and coming anglers the opportunity to fish for Wales, alongside current internationals, battling it out against Ireland and Scotland 🎣 There were a number of eye-catching performances for Wales; most notably newcomer Scott Thomas, who topped the overall individual standings, while rising star Ronnie Jay ‘RJ’ Lawson – just 14 years old – demonstrated why he is one to watch for the future. 👏👏 Congratulations to the Wales Float Fishing Team anglers who took part in this year’s Celtic Cup, led by team manager Ben Roberts: James ‘Marge’ Thomas, Lee Salisbury, Iain Swanson, Euan Luke, Rob Taylor, Steven Roberts, Rich Hopkins, Simon Pickering, Ty Woods, Shane Lee, Scott Thomas, Matthew Powell, Ronnie Jay Lawson and Gareth Evans. Well done also to all team members from Ireland and Scotland and in particular congrats to Ireland for their stunning comeback win on day two to take home the team trophy. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇮🇪 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Read more, including the thoughts of Wales team manager Ben Roberts, on anglingcymru.org.uk 🔗 link in bio

Former veterans world champion Harry Billing can add the title of Welsh individual coarse angling champion to his glittering career CV after he won Sunday’s Angling Cymru DragonMania Final at Weston Pools. The 71-year-old Sonubaits and Garbolino sponsored angler, from Winwick near Warrington, took the trophy and £2,000 cheque after winning the match with a bag weighing 84lb 7oz in total off peg six on Canal Pool. His margin of victory was only 4oz more than defending champion and Weston regular Matty Dawes who, with 84lb 3oz off peg 17, went agonisingly close to making it back-to-back DragonMania titles. A stellar field of top coarse match anglers had been vying to become DragonMania champion, with the final being contested by the winners of the 20 qualifying matches that were staged at six different venues across Wales between April and September. All were gunning for a share of the £3,000 prize pot for the final, with £2,000 on offer for the outright winner, and four section prizes of £250 up for grabs. See anglingcymru.org.uk for a full report and reaction. 🔗 link in bio Results: Winner – Harry Billing (6) – 84lb 7oz Sections winners: A – Steve Openshaw (48) – 43lb 4oz B – Andrew Price (12) – 72lb 13oz C – Matty Dawes (17) – 84lb 3oz D – Richie O’Connor (26) – 62lb 4oz

We are proud to support this year’s NSPCC Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week (6-12 October). This year, the focus is on how parents and carers help bring out the best in your child. Your support means everything 🙌 The way you show up for your child in sport; whether it’s cheering them on, listening when they’ve had a tough day, or helping them stay motivated – can help shape how they feel about sport for life. Whether they’re chasing medals, personal bests or just having fun, your encouragement helps being out their best. Here’s how you can play your part: Listen to your child 👂 Keep sport fun 🎉 Respect everyone 🤝 See something? Say something 👀 📽️ Watch the latest video from the @nspcc_official and find out how you can keep sport safe and positive. 🔗 Link in our bio #SafeInSport #KYCSIS25 #PlayYourPart