Freshwater angling competition
TheWorld Freshwater Angling Championships is afreshwater angling competition . Participating countries fish in teams of five with titles awarded to the team with the fewest points, the competition area is split into sections and the winner with the most weight will be awarded one point, two for second, three for third, at the end of the two days the team with the least points is the top team. Since its inception in 1954, the competition has been staged onrivers ,canals andstill waters from a selected host nation. Currently (to 2021), the world championships have not been held outside ofEurope .
The 68th event was held in September 2022 atBilje , Croatia. Held at Lake Biljsko Jezero which holds prussian carp, dwarf catfish, grass carp, catfish, asp, bighead, red perch, silver bream, ide and carassius.[ 1] First-time world champions wereSerbia , with Italy in second place and the Czech Republic in third.[ 2] and the individual new world champion was Mihael Pongrac of Croatia.[ 3]
The 69th World Freshwater Coarse Angling Championships was held inMequinenza-Fayón , at theRibarroja Dam , on the riverEbro , Spain on 9-10th September 2023.[ 4] and the team event won bySerbia , for a second consecutive year, with England in second place, and France in third.[ 5] The individual world championship winner was Esteve Martinez, with James Dent and Sean Ashby of England in second and third place.[ 6]
The 70th World Championships was held atBéthune , France on 21–22 September 2024.[ 7] First-time world champions wereCroatia , withItaly in second place andFrance in third. The individual world championship winner was László Csillag of Hungary.[ 8]
The 71st World Championships was held atModrac Lake ,Lukavac , Bosnia and Herzegovina on 6-7 September 202.[ 9] The winners wereItaly , with last years winnersCroatiain second place, andFrance once again third.[ 9] The individual world championship winner was Nagy András, again from Hungary.[ 9]
The inaugural world championship was held in West Germany in 1954 and won by team England,[ 10] with the first individual title going to Gino Vigarani of Italy.[ 11] In 1992, Dave Wesson, anAustralian , became the only non-European to win the title.[ 12] The 2020 World Freshwater Angling Championships was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic [ 13] but resumed in 2021.[ 14] The host nation have been team champions on 15 occasions, with the strongest nation at home being Italy who have won on their own waters 6 times, the others were Belgium 2, France, Luxembourg, Romania, East Germany, West Germany, England, Spain.[ 12] The host nation has produced a home grown individual world champion from just 9 events of the 67 fished (one in seven).[ 15]
For a video history of this major angling event, see External links at the bottom of this page.
World Championship Nations Team results [ edit ] Year Venue and Host Country No. of nations World Champions P/Pts Runners-up P/Pts 3rd Place Team P/Pts Reference 1954 Düsseldorf , West Germany England50 Belgium70 Italy71 [ 10] [ 11] 1955 Reading , England Luxembourg69 Belgium71 France74 [ 10] [ 11] 1956 Paris , France France39 Belgium64 Luxembourg71 [ 10] [ 11] 1957 Belgrade , Yugoslavia Italy23 Luxembourg52 France54 [ 10] [ 11] 1958 Huy , Belgium Belgium29 France32 Luxembourg86 [ 10] [ 11] 1959 Neuchâtel , Switzerland France71 Italy103 Switzerland104 [ 10] [ 11] 1960 Gdańsk , Poland Belgium36 France61 West Germany87 [ 10] [ 11] 1961 Merseburg , East Germany East Germany44 Belgium66 England70 [ 10] [ 11] 1962 Lac de Garde , Italy Italy21 France27 Belgium95 [ 10] 1963 Wormeldange , Luxembourg France57 Italy77 England80 [ 10] 1964 Isola dei Pescatori , Italy France6 Italy9 Austria20 [ 10] 1965 Galați , Romania Romania22 Poland27 France32 [ 10] 1966 River Thurne ,Martham Ferry , England France8 Belgium15 Italy24 [ 10] [ 16] 1967 Dunaújváros , Hungary Belgium12 France17 England25 [ 10] 1968 Fermoy , Ireland France18 West Germany24 Romania25 [ 10] 1969 Bad Oldesloe , West Germany Netherlands17 Belgium19 France21 [ 10] 1970 Berg, Netherlands Belgium8 Netherlands14 France16 [ 10] 1971 Peschiera del Garda , Italy Italy6 Belgium21 France25 [ 10] 1972 Prague , Czechoslovakia France12 England24 Italy25 [ 10] 1973 Chalon-sur-Saône , France Belgium10 France16 England26 [ 10] 1974 Ghent , Belgium France18 Italy18 Netherlands23 [ 10] 1975 Bydgoszcz , Poland France23 England26 Belgium26 [ 10] 1976 Varna , Bulgaria Italy7 Bulgaria20 Austria27 [ 10] 1977 Ehnen , Luxembourg Luxembourg16 Belgium18 France19 [ 10] 1978 Vienna , Austria France14 Italy19 Czechoslovakia24 [ 10] 1979 Saragossa , Spain France14 Netherlands16 Portugal25 [ 10] 1980 Mannheim , West Germany West Germany7 England23 Belgium24 [ 10] 1981 Luddington , England France25 England31 Wales37 [ 10] 1982 Newry , Northern Ireland Netherlands20 France25 England26 [ 10] 1983 Amersfoort , Netherlands Belgium9 England14 Netherlands24 [ 10] 1984 Yverdon , Switzerland Luxembourg28 England28 Belgium40 [ 10] 1985 Florence , Italy England16 Italy17 Belgium25 [ 10] 1986 Strasbourg , France Italy27 West Germany35 Austria40 [ 10] 1987 Coimbra , Portugal England9 Italy18 Austria40 [ 10] 1988 Damme , Belgium England50 Italy50 France58 [ 10] 1989 Plovdiv , Bulgaria Wales48 Italy68 England83 [ 10] 1990 Maribor , Yugoslavia France60 England89 Italy89 [ 10] 1991 Szeged , Hungary England44 France48 Italy51 [ 10] 1992 Enniskillen , Northern Ireland Italy94 France87 Channel islands120 [ 10] 1993 Coruche , Portugal Italy49 France68 Austria76 [ 10] 1994 Nottingham , England England92 France96 Italy117 [ 10] 1995 Lappeenranta , Finland France23 Belgium45 Italy59 [ 10] 1996 Peschiera del Garda, Italy Italy36 England63 Austria72 [ 10] 1997 Velence , Hungary Italy56.5 England70 France72 [ 10] 1998 Zagreb , Croatia England61 France84 Italy89 [ 10] 1999 Toledo , Spain Spain34 Italy40 England52 [ 10] 2000 Firenze , Italy Italy37 England59.5 Hungary89.5 [ 10] 2001 Paris , France England68 France72 Italy87 [ 10] 2002 Coimbra, Portugal Spain52.5 Portugal55.5 Belgium74 [ 10] 2003 Madunice , Slovakia Hungary55 Poland93.5 France102.5 [ 10] 2004 Willebroek , Belgium France70 England71 Hungary79 [ 10] 2005 Lappeenranta, Finland England64 Belgium76 Hungary77 [ 10] 2006 Rio Mondego , Portugal England61 Italy85 Hungary101 [ 10] 2007 Lake Velence , Hungary Italy57 Belgium78 Hungary86.5 [ 10] 2008 Spinadesco Canal , Italy England74 San Marino104 Italy109 [ 10] 2009 Lage Vaart Canal , Netherlands Slovakia39 France40 Belgium41 [ 10] 2010 Ciudad Real , Spain England40 Italy42.5 Netherlands51 [ 10] 2011 Ostellato , Italy Italy21 Hungary27 Belgium33 [ 10] 2012 Morava River, Czech Republic Poland32 Czech Republic44 France47 [ 10] [ 17] 2013 Żerański Canal,Warsaw , Poland England22 France33 Poland39 [ 10] [ 18] 2014 Dubrava Canal , Croatia37 Netherlands38 Hungary40.5 Serbia45 [ 19] 2015 Sava River, Slovenia Italy37 Czech Republic42 England46.5 [ 12] 2016 Rowing Course,Plovdiv , Bulgaria34 Hungary34 Czech Republic42 England46 [ 12] [ 20] [ 21] 2017 Ronquières , Belgium38 Belgium18 England21 France24.5 [ 22] [ 23]
2018 Montemor-o-Velho , Portugal22 Germany46 Hungary52 Belgium61 [ 12] [ 24] 2019 Novi Sad , Serbia France20 Italy26 Hungary32 [ 25] 2020 cancelled –COVID-19 pandemic – – – – – – – [ 13] 2021 Peschiera del Garda , Italy23 Italy75 Czech Republic86.5 England89 [ 14] [ 26] 2022 Bilje , Croatia33 Serbia31.5 Italy42 Czech Republic47 [ 2] 2023 Mequinenza-Fayón , Spain23 Serbia45 England54 France70 [ 5] 2024 Béthune , France27 Croatia31 Italy40 France43 [ 8] 2025 Modrac Lake ,Lukavac , Bosnia and Herzegovina30 Italy31 Croatia31,5 France34,5 [ 9]
World Championship Individual results [ edit ] Year Venue and Host Country Individual World Champion Individual Runner-Up Individual 3rd Place Reference 1954 Düsseldorf ,West Germany Gino Vigarani F Fugazza H Andef[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1955 Reading ,England M Mailly Dufeys Ducret[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1956 Paris ,France F Cerfontaine G Dubuc Robert Tesse[ 12] [ 15] 1957 Belgrade ,Yugoslavia Giulio Mandelli G De Angellis F Fugazza[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1958 Huy ,Belgium J Garroit F Cerfontaine A Negrignat[ 12] [ 15] 1959 Neuchâtel ,Switzerland Robert Tesse G De Angelli S Knapen[ 12] [ 15] 1960 Gdańsk ,Poland Robert Tesse F Cerfontaine F Swinnen[ 12] [ 15] 1961 Merseburg ,East Germany R Le Gouge F Schmidt Robert Tesse[ 12] [ 15] 1962 Lac de Garde ,Italy R Tedesco J Fontanet M Vanelli[ 12] [ 15] 1963 Wormeldange ,Luxembourg Billy Lane Robert Tesse M Vanelli[ 12] [ 15] 1964 Isola dei Pescatori , Italy J Fontanet P Despres Robert Tesse[ 12] [ 15] 1965 Galati ,Romania Robert Tesse L Seppi C Burch[ 12] [ 15] 1966 River Thurne ,Martham Ferry ,Norfolk Henri Guiheneuf P Baudot C Roelandt[ 16] [ 15] 1967 Dunaújváros ,Hungary J Isenbaert K Handt G Detry[ 12] 1968 Fermoy ,Ireland G Grebenstein I Pana V Sherwood[ 12] [ 15] 1969 Bad Oldesloe , West Germany Robin Harris J Leyrer J Vermeulen[ 12] [ 15] 1970 Berg,Netherlands M Van Den Eynde P Michiels P Paquet[ 12] [ 15] 1971 Peschiera del Garda , Italy Dino Bassi A Alfieri E Zimmer[ 12] [ 15] 1972 Prague ,Czechoslovakia RJE Levels A Thommas Jacques Tesse[ 12] [ 15] 1973 Chalon-sur-Saône ,France P Michiels M Van Den Eynde G Herbert[ 12] [ 15] 1974 Ghent , Belgium A Richter Mendez Gomez Jean Pierre Fougeat[ 12] [ 15] 1975 Bydgoszcz ,Poland Ian Heaps Jacques Tesse G De Bagi[ 12] [ 15] [ 27] 1976 Varna, Bulgaria Dino Bassi Ivan Marks F Pasinetti[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1977 Ehnen , Luxembourg J Mainil Poth J Quinet[ 12] [ 15] 1978 Vienna ,Austria Jean Pierre Fougeat Roberto Trabucco N Birnbaum[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1979 Saragossa ,Spain G Heulard T Eikhout H Durozier[ 12] [ 15] 1980 Mannheim , West Germany R Kremkus O Wessel Roberto Trabucco[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1981 Luddington , England David Thomas V Santos S Lecocq[ 11] [ 15] 1982 Newry ,Northern Ireland Kevin Ashurst M Thill F Bartolas[ 12] 1983 Amersfoort , Netherlands R Kremkus J Kohn P Van Gool[ 12] [ 15] 1984 Yverdon ,Switzerland Bobby Smithers R Stevens BJ Brouwer[ 12] [ 15] 1985 Florence , Italy David Roper Roberto Trabucco P David[ 11] [ 15] 1986 Strasbourg , France L WeverClive Branson R Van Neer[ 11] [ 15] 1987 Coimbra ,Portugal Clive Branson Kevin Ashurst D White[ 11] [ 15] 1988 Damme ,Belgium Jean Pierre Fougeat S Gardner E Colombo[ 12] [ 15] 1989 Plovdiv ,Bulgaria Tom Pickering F Casini R Benton[ 11] [ 15] 1990 Maribor ,Yugoslavia Bob Nudd Kevin Ashurst R Koenig[ 12] [ 15] 1991 Szeged ,Hungary Bob Nudd Kevin Ashurst J Van Schendel[ 12] [ 15] 1992 Enniskillen ,Northern Ireland Dave Wesson C Guicciardi M Thill[ 12] [ 15] 1993 Coruche ,Portugal M Barros J Savelhoul B Bodineau[ 12] [ 15] 1994 Nottingham , EnglandBob Nudd R Stronck JJ Chaumet[ 12] [ 15] 1995 Lappeenranta ,Finland P Jean J Wilmart J Desque[ 12] [ 15] 1996 Peschiera del Garda, ItalyAlan Scotthorne C Guicciardi E Colombo[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1997 Velence ,Hungary Alan Scotthorne Gianluigi Sorti K Milson[ 12] [ 11] [ 15] 1998 Zagreb ,Croatia Alan Scotthorne P Carroyer M Barros[ 12] [ 15] 1999 Toledo , Spain Bob Nudd J Rodriguez Blasco R Xarez[ 12] [ 15] 2000 Firenze , Italy Jacopo Falsini Will Raison Jean Pierre Fougeat[ 11] [ 15] 2001 Paris , France Umberto Ballabeni P Lorenc D Da Silva[ 11] [ 15] 2002 Coimbra, Portugal J Rodriguez Blasco J Duran S Conroy[ 12] [ 15] 2003 Madunice ,Slovakia Alan Scotthorne K Schater R Bednarski[ 12] [ 15] 2004 Willebroek , Belgium Tamás Walter E van der Hoogan T Ambrus[ 12] [ 15] 2005 Finland Guido Nullens Stephane Pottelet Will Raison[ 12] [ 15] 2006 Rio Mondego , Portugal Tamás Walter Ivan Biordi Sean Ashby[ 12] [ 15] 2007 Lake Velence , HungaryAlan Scotthorne N. Gavrobiks Lee Edwards[ 12] [ 15] 2008 Spinadesco Canal , Italy Will Raison W Wheeler Steve Gardner[ 11] [ 15] 2009 Lage Vaart Canal , Netherlands Igor Potapov Will Raison Simon Jensen[ 11] [ 15] 2010 Ciudad Real , Spain Frank Meis Cathal Hughes Rumen Vitkov[ 11] [ 15] 2011 Ostellato Ferrara ,Italy Andrea Fini Peter Milkovics Ferruccio Gabba[ 12] [ 15] 2012 Morava River,Czech Republic Sean Ashby Sergey Fedorov Stephane Pottelet[ 17] [ 12] 2013 Żerański Canal,Warsaw ,Poland Didier Delannoy Steve HemmingwayAlan Scotthorne [ 18] [ 12] 2014 Dubrava Canal ,Croatia Goran Radovic Stefan Altena Arjan Klop[ 19] [ 12] 2015 Sava River,Slovenia Yuri Siptsov Tamás WalterAlan Scotthorne [ 12] [ 15] 2016 Rowing Course,Plovdiv ,Bulgaria Jernej Ambrozic Josef Konopasek Rastislav Dudr[ 28] 2017 Ronquières ,Belgium Luc Thijs Stephane Linder Geoffrey Duquensne[ 29] [ 22] 2018 Montemor-o-Velho ,Portugal Johannes Böhm Eric Di Venti Ralf Herdlitschke[ 30] [ 15] 2019 Novi Sad ,Serbia Alan Perko Alexandre Caudin Maxime Duchesne[ 25] [ 15] 2020 cancelledCOVID-19 pandemic – – – [ 13] [ 12] 2021 Peschiera del Garda ,Italy Goran Radovic Imre Szákovics Petr Klásek[ 14] [ 26] 2022 Bilje ,Croatia Mihael Pongrac Mitja Kmetec Balázs Csöregl[ 3] 2023 Mequinenza-Fayón ,Spain Esteve Martinez James Dent Sean Ashby[ 6] 2024 Béthune ,France László Csillag Wiktor Walczak Matija Kraševac[ 8] 2025 Modrac Lake ,Lukavac ,Bosnia and Herzegovina Nagy András Aleš Kancler Filippo Beltrami[ 9]
Team competition : France16 , Italy 14, England 13, Belgium 7, Netherlands 3, Luxemburg 3, Germany 3, Spain 2, Hungary 2, Serbia 2, Wales 1, Poland 1, Romania 1, Slovakia 1, Croatia 1
Individual multiple Champions :Alan Scotthorne 5 ,Bob Nudd 4, Robert Tesse 3, Jean Pierre Fougeat 2, Rudgher Kremkus 2, Dino Bassi 2, Tamás Walter 2
4-Time World Champion Bob Nudd (1990, 1991, 1994, 1999) 5-Time World Champion Alan Scotthorne (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007) Country Gold Silver BronzeMedals France0 16 0 15 0 14 0 45 Italy0 14 0 15 0 10 0 39 England0 13 0 13 0 9 0 35 Belgium0 7 0 11 0 9 0 27 Netherlands0 3 0 2 0 3 0 8 Luxembourg0 3 0 1 0 2 0 6 Hungary0 2 0 3 0 6 11 Germany3 2 1 6 Serbia0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 Spain0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 Poland0 1 0 1 0 2 0 4 Croatia0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 Wales0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 Romania0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 East Germany0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Slovakia0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Czech Republic0 0 0 3 0 2 0 5 Portugal0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 Bulgaria0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 San Marino0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Austria0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 Switzerland0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Channel Islands0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Total 70 70 70 210
^ "68th Coarse Angling World Championship for nations - Croatia 2022" (PDF) . zsrubaranje.hr. 2022.^a b "68th Nations Coarse Angling World Championship 2022 Final team Rankings" . facebook. September 11, 2022.^a b "68th Coarse Angling World Championship Individual Final Rankings 2022" . Facebook. 11 September 2022.^ "69th Coarse Angling for Nations World Championship Spain 2023 Mequinenza-Fayón 09-10 September 2023" (PDF) . fips-ed.com. 2023.^a b "69th Nations Coarse Angling World Championship for Nations 2023 Final team Rankings" . facebook. September 11, 2023.^a b "69th Coarse Angling World Championship Individual Final Rankings 2023" . Facebook. 11 September 2023.^ "FIPSed 70th Coarse Angling Nations World Championship - Béthune, France" . anglingtrust.net. Retrieved21 February 2024 .^a b c "70th Coarse Angling World Championship for Nations - Canal D'Aire a la Bassée Béthune" (PDF) . fips-ed.com. 22 September 2024.^a b c d e "FIPSed 71st World Championship Coarse Angling For Nations" (PDF) . anglingtrust.net. 7 September 2025. Retrieved14 October 2025 .^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi "World Freshwater Angling Championships Tables" . angling-news.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. RetrievedJanuary 16, 2022 .^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Special Shot Fishing, The World Cup in Figures" . gpofishing.it. September 7, 2011. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2016.^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be "World Freshwater Angling Championships Tables" . angling-news.co.uk. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2022 .^a b c "The FIPS-M has decided to postpone all the Championships from 2020 until Autumn 2021" . fips-m.org. January 14, 2022. Archived fromthe original on 14 January 2022.^a b c "67th Nations Coarse angling World Championship 2021" . facebook. September 12, 2021.^a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh "Coup Nations M Fra 2019" . FIPS-ED. 2019. RetrievedJanuary 17, 2022 .^a b "1966 and all that" . canalrivertrust.org.uk. April 18, 2017.^a b "Gold for England's Sean Ashby in 2012 World Angling Championships" . anglersmail.co.uk. 2012. Archived fromthe original on December 28, 2017.^a b "World Angling Championships 2013" .anglersmail.co.uk . 17 September 2013. Archived fromthe original on 2 November 2013.^a b "World Angling Championships 2014" .anglersmail.co.uk . 14 September 2014. Archived fromthe original on 8 March 2016.^ "63rd Coarse Angling World Championship for Nations - Team Final Ranking 2016" . Facebook. 2016.^ "63rd Coarse Angling World Championship for Nations - Team Winners 2016" . Facebook. 2016.^a b "Belgium's Anglers win gold at World Championship" . Brussels Times. 2017.^ "64th Coarse Angling World Championship for Nations - Team Final Ranking 2017" . Facebook. 2017.^ "65th Coarse Angling World Championship Team Final Ranking 2018" . Facebook. 2018.^a b "Team England finishes in 5th Place in the 66th FIPSed Nations World Championship 2019" . anglingtrust.net. September 10, 2019.^a b "67th Nations Coarse angling World Championship 2021 Team Result" (PDF) . kirchberg.neumann.lu. September 12, 2021.^ "September 7, 1975 in on the Bydgoszcz Canal between Okole and Osowa Góra locks" . facebook.com. June 5, 2021.^ "63rd Coarse Angling World Championship Individual Final Ranking 2016" . Facebook. 2016.^ "64th Coarse Angling World Championship Individual Final Ranking 2017" . Facebook. 2017.^ "65th Coarse Angling World Championship Individual Final Rankings 2018" . Facebook. 2018.
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