Angling Times is injecting some much-needed impetus into the match fishing scene with two new initiatives that are drawing some of their inspiration from the past.

The all-new County Championships will see matchmen awarded weekly points for opens they fish, which will be printed as a county league table. At the end of the season the top anglers in each division will compete in a fish-off to form a five-man team to represent the county in a £10,000 All England Final. Angling Times editor Richard Lee said: “This instills local pride and excitement into competitive fishing.” There will be more about the new competition, which draws on the days when there was only one National (the All England) in next week’s issue.