Details of Britain’s biggest canal angling competition have been announced, with the 2019 Canal Pairs Championship once again coming to the nation’s waterways.
Organised in partnership between the Canal & River Trust and the Angling Trust with sponsorship from Dynamite Baits, the Championship will see sixteen regional qualifying heats taking place across England with further heats being held in Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
Competitors score points based on the weight of fish each pair catch, with up to six pairs in each heat going through to the Grand Final on Saturday 19 October 2019. The Grand Final will be held on the Shropshire Union Canal with pegs at Little Onn and Norbury Junction.
Applications for tickets will open early next year via the Angling Trust’s online booking system at a cost of £40 per pair per qualifier. This makes the contest one of the most affordable ‘Big Finals’ in the whole match calendar.
Prize money for the 2019 competition final, which is subject to entry, could total over £18,000 between the top four pairs.
John Ellis, national fisheries and angling manager, said: “With millions of people living on the doorstep of our canals, they offer amazing opportunities for angling – whether you’re a competitive angler or just someone that wants to escape the pressures of modern life for a while.
“We’re really pleased to announce the dates for the 2019 Canal Pairs Championship. Previous events have proven really popular. We’ve listened to competitors and tweaked the qualifying rules with a minimum of three pairs now going through to the final from each qualifier. There were some great performances from some ‘lesser known names’ in this year’s final which just goes to show that any pair could win the event in 2019.
“We’ve got some tremendous venues lined up enabling anglers all over the UK to show us what they can do. Hopefully it can inspire more local people to see just how good angling on their local canal really is.”
James Lewis, competitions development manager at the Angling Trust, commented: “We’ve worked closely with the CRT to tweak the contest for 2019, eradicating any fastest losers procedures and putting in plenty of geographically diverse qualifiers. At £40 a pair, I know I’ll be chancing my arm once more this year!”
The dates, venues and host clubs for the qualifiers and the final are listed below:
• Saturday 18 May – Foxton, Grand Union Canal (Wellingborough Nene Angling Club)
• Sunday 19 May – Soudley, Shropshire Union Canal (Hodnet Angling Club)
• Saturday 1 June – Wombourne, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (Wolverhampton Angling Association)
• Sunday 2 June – Gloucester & Sharpness Canal (Winget Angling Club)
• Sunday 16 June – Coventry Canal (Tusses Angling Club)
• Sunday 30 June – Grand Union Canal (Luton Angling Club)
• Saturday 6 July – New Junction Canal (Doncaster & District Angling Association)
• Sunday 7 July – Newry Canal (Newry Canal Match Group – Ireland)
• Saturday 13 July – Forth and Clyde (Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling)
• Saturday 20 July – Aire & Calder (Doncaster & District Angling Association)
• Sunday 21 July – Rochdale Canal (Todmorden Angling Society)
• Sunday 4 August – Aylesbury Arm (The Tring Anglers)
• Saturday 10 August – Coalyard Betton Wood, Shropshire Union Canal (Hodnet Angling Club)
• Sunday 1 September – Shebdon, Shropshire Union Canal (Hodnet Angling Club)
• Saturday 21 September – Shardlow, Trent & Mersey Canal (Pride of Derby Angling Club)
• Sunday 22 September – Loughborough, Grand Union Canal (Quorn Angling Club)
• Saturday 28 September – Whixall, Llangollen Canal (Hodnet Angling Club)
• Saturday 28 September – Froxfield, Kennet & Avon Canal (Reading & District Angling Association)
• Sunday 29 September – Lancaster Canal (Pike Anglers Club-Lancaster Canal)
The Canal Pairs Championship Final will take place on Saturday 19 October on the Shropshire Union Canal – one section at Little Onn and another at Norbury Junction.
