Three local ladies shine as Wales win Home Counties Angling Championship
Three lady anglers recently flew the Pembrokeshire flag with real distinction as they formed a quarter of the Welsh team which won the Home Countries’ Championship at the Llyn Clywedog Trout Fishery; the first time that this magnificent venue had hosted the event.
It was the first time that Wales had won the event since 2007 so small wonder that Nica Prichard, Barbara Thorne and Rhian Taylor were delighted as they were in the winning team that caught a magnificent 66 fish ahead of England (59), Scotland (35) and Ireland (32).
Fished in difficult conditions
Their gold-medal success was all the more praiseworthy because they fished in difficult conditions because they spent seven hours in a boat with a member of the opposition drawn out of a hat, with temperatures up to 31 degrees on the practice days, and with the fish seeking deep water to avoid the hot weather.
But the ladies made sure that they were well -hydrated thanks to copious amounts of water supplied by Castell Howell and Morrisons- and all three praised the support and hospitality at Llyn Clywedog, which is run by Llanidloes Angling Club, who were clearly honoured to host such a prestigious event.
Strong Welsh welcome and hard work in practice
It was appropriate that on the opening evening the Welsh team entertained their opponents with a selection of Welsh music that included Hymns and Arias, Calon Lan and Sospan Fach, plus Drunken Sailor to round things off nicely.
On the respective practice days the teams fished from 10am-4pm and 10am-2pm and during that time team coach Simon Davies had worked hard with the Welsh squad and was pleased with the way that they worked - and on the big day they were out in the boats from 10am to 5pm, where every member of the team managed to contribute some fish.
Special day – for special people
Following the Welsh success and the presentation of the gold medal the entire team celebrated by jumping into the lake to cool off – which made quite a splash!
Barbara Thorne made a major contribution to Welsh success as she caught seven fish, followed by Nica Prichard (4) and Rhian Taylor (3), to finish in the top six anglers on the day.
What made their performances even more fantastic was the fact that they have a combined age of 213 for an average of 71, and first took up angling following illness or bereavement – and all three now coach others under the umbrella of PFAC, the Pembrokeshire Association of Angling Coaches, and from visits to the lodge at Treffgarne Bends I have seen the amazing work they do in coaching youngsters with special needs.
They provide a shining example of the benefits of angling, especially at a certain age, and we can only say ‘Well done girls’ to three very talented and lovely ladies!