Midlands based Drennan England manager Mark Downes has described the venue that recently held the European Championship as the worst he’s ever fished.

England finished fourth of the 27 teams on the appropriately names Ugli Canal, with winners France taking the gold by targeting tiny fry and bleak on size 26 hooks and joker hook baits. England had set themselves a target of just 300gr each over the two days to take gold on a venue where Will Raison reportedly never had a bite on the long pole all week. And if they had managed that they would have won easily. However, their banker fish were the bleak and they disappeared on day two. “The place was dreadful, easily one of the worst we’ve been to,” said Mark. “I think the average weight of the anglers on day two was 3oz!”