The 2026 fishing season is fast approaching — and whether you enjoy coarse fishing, game fishing, or sea angling, preparation is key to making the most of your time on the water. Download Your Free Fishing Season Preparation Guide To help anglers across the UK get ready, we’ve created a free, downloadable Fishing Season Preparation Guide. It’s designed to give you a clear overview of what you need to think about before your first trip — from understanding seasonal rules and licence requirements to checking your equipment and planning safely. If you want to avoid last-minute ...

Robert Mogg lifted this year’s coveted Castspro Trophy and picked up a £200 first prize as well as third spot thanks to his bait casting skills at this year’s Game Fair at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire. Competitors were allowed one practice cast before taking on the challenge of three under arm / pendulum casts at five targets on the surface of the estate lake at Ragley Hall, within a maximum time of 10 minutes. The winners are those with the highest score in the fastest time over the three days. Robert secured both the first and third fastest times, with Rob ...

The Fishing Village was set in a prime position on the lake at Ragley Hall beckoning to all visitors as they came in through the entry gates. Sunday marked the end of The British Fly Casting Club (BFCC) three-day competitions, and competitors gathered for the Ragley Game Fair Championship and overall, Champion of the casting challenges. The Ladies Accuracy daily competition saw a consistent winner with Paula Zimmeman once again taking first place. In the Trout and Salmon Distance challenge Jo Stephens took the top place with a first win of the weekend for her. The Men’s daily results had quite ...

As the sun sets on another action-packed day at The Game Fair, day two of the fishing competitions wrapped up with some truly impressive performances across the board. Junior sensation Lloyd Thomas, hailing from West Wales, dominated the field by taking first place in all three events — the Single-Handed Trout Distance, Trout Accuracy, and Double-Handed Overhead Salmon competition. A remarkable clean sweep for the young angler! In the ladies’ category, it was Amie Battams who stole the show. Not only did she secure victories across all three events, but her precision also earned her the highest accuracy score of ...

The British Fly Casting Club (BFCC) returns to The Game Fair this year with its ever-popular casting competitions. Anglers of all ages will take part in trout accuracy, single handed trout distance, and double handed overhead salmon over the three days, designed to test their precision on the lake. Today marked the opening for the weekend of competition, as competitors gathered for the first round of casting challenges. The Trout Accuracy competition saw exceptional performances across all divisions. The Junior title went to budding fisherman Jack Gow, 17, with a stellar score of 49 – equalising the top score across the ...

The Game Fair 2024 at Blenheim Palace saw angling charities helping each other, as bumper attendances brought visitors in their droves to the Get Into Fishing Village. Each year, angling charities are invited to attend The Game Fair – the festival of the great British countryside – to talk about their work, meet other anglers and, in some cases, sell donated tackle. The English Disabled Fly Fishers (EDFF) once again enjoyed a successful show and, in turn, have donated a percentage of their proceeds, amounting to £290, to one of The Game Fair’s official charities for 2024, Tackling Minds. Tackling Minds ...

Castspro Challenge Trophy The Castspro Challenge Castspro staged a hugely popular selection of baitcasting games and a prestigious competition with cash prizes and a dedicated trophy up for grabs, in the Fishing Village throughout The Game Fair weekend. Hundreds of children and adults tried their hands at a variety of games, from target casting to magnetic crabbing and the fun ’Squids In’ accuracy game. Held near the bridge at the start of the Fishing Village, event competitors were required to underarm cast a weight on a rod into various targets, both on land and in the river. Each competitor ...

The sun shone on the contestants in the BFCC (British Fly Casting Club) Competitions at The Game Fair, held on the banks of the River Glyme at Blenheim Palace. Martyn Cordingley swept the board, winning all three categories: Single handed Trout Distance, Trout Accuracy and Double Handed Overhead Salmon. I asked Martyn his secret. He said: "I've been fishing all my life and started about the age of six." Where would be his dream place to fish? "On the Tweed, every time." Martyn Cordingley receiving his prize from Tracy Thomas of the BFCC Juniors In the Junior section, Matt ...

A co-ordinated campaign, created by award-winning environmental organisation Hubbub and supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation has resulted in the Treasure Your River project – a working group of litter-busting organisations across the UK. Among those involved in the scheme, which aims to remove 95 tonnes of litter from our rivers and prevent a further 90 tonnes from entering them in the first place, is the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme, which enjoyed a hugely successful Game Fair in the summer. Amazingly, more 80 per cent of marine litter originates from inland and our rivers then deliver ...

Ahead of World Rivers Day on Sunday 26th September, Fish Legal issued the below letter before action to the Environment Agency following the publication of a regulatory position statement that allows sewage discharges, which would otherwise be unlawful, due to supply chain failures in waste water treatment processing linked to Brexit and Covid. "The Environment Agency has just published a get-out-of-jail card for water companies. Their Regulatory Position Statement B2 (or RPS for short) tells the water companies that they can discharge in breach of their permits because of a shortage of chemicals used for sewage ...