Drennan Barnsley Blacks are flying the flag for England this weekend in Slovenia for the World Club Championship.

The talented squad have been practising hard and with anglers of the calibre of Alan Scotthorne, Lee Kerry, Sam Wildsmith, James Dent, James Brooks and Matt Godfrey all involved, they must rank as one of the favourites to win. Four of the squad also already have match experience on the venue.

The two-day event is on the River Sava in Radeče, Slovenia, with the main target being vimba. These average 3oz to 6oz and are like a cross between a dace and a roach and feed on the bottom like barbel.

Captain Glen Lawrence was quite upbeat about his team’s prospects:

“We’ve had some really good days practising off the match length with lots of small vimba and weights up to 10kg. We are now quite pleased to find out this week that the official match length is actually very similar, so we’ve continued to do well.

“Some sections are surprisingly deep. For instance, yesterday it was a full 10 metres deep 13 metres out – a proper bottomless pit! We have all still caught in these depths, though. It is now getting a little bit harder each day with average weights of about 5kg. A few bonus fish have also started to show, however, which could make things interesting.

“We are quietly confident and seem to be doing quite well compared to the other teams practising around us, which is a good sign. The Hungarians are also doing very well and will definitely be hard to beat. The French also seem to be a team to watch out for, along with the home nation, Slovenia.

“There are some very good teams involved but we will hopefully give it our best shot and hold our own!”

Visit the Pole Fishing website for more Drennan Barnsley Blacks practice session images.