Drennan Team England are famed for leaving no stone unturned in preparation for the annual FIPSed World Float Championships, which is why Alan Scotthorne, Steve Hemingrey and Sean Ashby travelled out to Belgium for a recce session last week.

The aim was to practice the Brussels-Charleroi Canal at Ronquieres in conditions more likely to resemble those on the match weekend of September 9-10 than during the official midweek practice week.

“It’s a busy shipping canal, with big boats travelling up and down throughout the week. But this commercial traffic is much reduced on weekends,” disclosed Alan.

“We wanted to fish the venue under weekend conditions when flows and levels are much more stable than during busy midweek periods.

“I can’t say much about our tactical findings as we need to keep these secret. But a concrete-banked canal with the bottom still sloping away beyond the maximum permitted 13m pole length means this will be a technically difficult match. The crucial thing will be getting feed tactics right to catch fish on a slope,” opined Alan.

The England party caught plenty of quality roach plus occasional skimmers, perch, ruffe and bullheads during their visit, prompting Alan to forecast a fair contest with pole tactics dominant.