THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP'S

The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs approached the PAC in 1991 with an idea for a yearly International between Britain and Ireland. East Sussex PAC regional rep Chris Tingley roped in his brother Dave, and together set about forming the British Pike Squad under the remit that the event would be held over two days with one being a sit down 2-rod match and the other a 1-rod roving match. This first British squad would be selected from the Top 10 anglers from the ACA/Angling Times Pike Championships' that were taking place in October. With the team plus reserves and a handful of friends to act as stewards, the British party set off in May 1992 to face the Irish at Mullingar.

The 1st International saw the British faced with a large reed fringed Lough, with open water only reachable by wading. With no one in the British squad even having thigh let alone chest waders, the entire party including stewards were soon soaked through. Cold wet and tired the British returned to the hotel elated with their slight lead over the Irish. Sadly the following day the Irish trounced the British with their own roving style of fishing sink and draw dead baits. An Irish win by a convincing margin forced the British to concede that this was down to Irelands superior skill on the "wobble".

The following year Britain gained revenge when the International was fished at the beginning of October at Chatteris on the Fens. After the first day's roving match the Irish lead by just over 50lbs, but the British were confident that the Irish would struggle on the coloured waters of the 16ft drain in the pegged down match. The Irish tactic of fishing with small baits soon had them in action with Zander which they had never seen before; and after the delight of catching the first few (which don't count in a pike match) they were soon back in action - with yet more Zander! Meanwhile the British were casting larger baits to the far marginal shelf on leger tackle with float fished baits drifting through the centre of their swims and started to catch their target prey. Building up a good weight before the Irish caught on and changed tactics to suit, however too late to affect the outcome and Britain ended the match with a winning margin of just 8lbs.The first British victory.

1994 saw the Irish win by just 5lbs 09ozs at Ballinasloe, prompting a rethink on how the British Squad was being selected, as the Irish roving style of fishing was leaving the British anglers far behind. Worse followed in 1995 when Britain were trounced by a massive 173lbs 11ozs. Two weeks later we held our first Selection Final over two days, with one day being a sit down match followed by a 1-rod river rover. This resulted in a much better mix of squad, and one we felt could compete on a level playing ground with the Irish.

1996, and our first visit to Kiltymagh in Co Mayo in the North West of Ireland. Team spirits were high as we flew out from Stansted, and after two days of intense fishing and fantastic scenery, we achieved our first victory on Irish soil. Winning by just 2lbs 03ozs. Sadly for us the following six years proved to be an anti climax as the Irish set up an 8-2 lead. Realising that we were still not gaining enough on the Irish, we changed our Selection format in 1999 to two day's of 1 rod roving matches to improve the skill levels of all competitors. Almost immediately we noticed a change in the team's attitude and results as we slowly started to catch up with the Irish.

2002 saw us back at Kiltymagh again, the scene of our last victory - with a great team spirit and belief in ourselves. This spirit showed on the first day when against all Irish expectations the British tore the Irish apart on the ‘wobble’ soundly beating them by a staggering 101lbs 12ozs. Totally shell-shocked the Irish returned to their hotel, drastically changing plans in a bid to try to salvage some of the weight. Despite this tactical diversion they only managed to beat the British on the day by 1lb 10ozs which still saw Britain lift the cup with a winning margin of 100lbs 02ozs.

2003 and Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire. The first day was fished on the St Ives lakes - a beautiful mixed fishery with a good head of pike. Britain ended the day with a lead of just over 21lbs. Day two was on the Old Bedford River, a venue we knew really well, and the right tactics saw us finish after two days 89lbs 14ozs ahead of the Irish. (8-4)

The following year saw the first Female angler qualify to fish the International in the shape of Suzanne Waller who was joined in the squad by her husband Andy. Reaching Roscommon, we were met with the most awful weather imaginable, rain and high winds, and with the Shannon over its banks in places and running through like an express train. We were soundly beaten on the sit down day, as the Irish knew that any pike present would be lying on or just off the second shelf. And with conditions on the River Suck no better the following day, we were again soundly beaten. Whilst we struggled to work out where the pike were to be found, the Irish had done their homework well, ending the two days with a winning margin of 68lbs 13ozs and a 9-4 lead.

2005 and a return to Loughborough saw the two days fished on the River Soar with the new format of two days of one rod roving matches, ending the un-popular sit down match. After the first day the British held a 34lb lead over the Irish which was to prove too much for the Irish to claw back despite the heroic effort of ‘The God’ Godfrey Donoghue who managed a personal catch of 15 pike over the two days for 60lbs 04ozs overall with an incredible 41lbs 09ozs on the second day threatening to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the Irish. However, some solid performances towards the end of the second day from Richard Harvey, Mark Groom and Bob Belcher saw Great Britain hang on to beat the Irish by an overall total of 33lbs 14ozs to reduce the lead to 9-5.

last year saw the British return to Roscommon and the scene of the Irish victory of two years back, with the British hoping for another solid performance from a team featuring only 2 International virgins. As a result of appalling weather both before and during the International, both days of the International had to be staged on lakes which suited the Irish better than the British. After two days of intense British pressure the Irish held on to take the trophy by the slenderest ever winning margin of just 1 lb 05 ozs. Just one more fish would have made all the difference!

This year saw the Brits determined to win back the trophy on the fish rich Somerset levels around Bridgwater. For full details on gow we got on visit the competitions page.