Stan gets silver as England fish out second place

GODMANCHESTER angler Stan Binge saw a dream come true when he stepped up to represent England in the Veterans’ World Angling Championships in Ghent, Belgium, and returned home with a silver medal.

During four days of hard practice and preparation, Binge performed consistently to claim a place in the starting line-up for day one of the competition.

In temperatures that soared well above 30C, there were plenty of fish to be caught but the decision by the anglers was whether to go big or look for the little-and-often option.

Binge and his England team mates Dickie Carr, Terry Lancaster and Roger Marlow, opted for the latter but the Dutch and Belgians went for the big fish and took an early match lead.

Binge was the unlucky angler who had to step down for Don Slaymaker, the fifth squad member, to fish on Sunday, after losing an all important bream from his catch.

“I pulled some good fish throughout practice but that lightly hooked bream that got away inches from the landing net probably cost me a day’s fishing but it was just as tense without a rod in my hand,” he said.

In a nerve-wracking day, the match fortunes changed by the minute as fish were caught and lost.

By the end of the competition it was apparent that Belgium had secured the gold medal but the minor places were too close to call.

England and Italy were equal on points but England took the silver medal after count-back gave them a 42 to 38 kilos advantage.

The trophy now sits proudly in Binge’s shop in Godmanchester.