This year National Fishing Week fell at the end of July, and in addition to taking part in local fishing events in my constituency, I also organised for the very first time, a charity angling competition between MPs, a team from the Metropolitan Police and young people from the charity Thames21, in the beautiful surroundings of Lake John fishery in Waltham Cross.

As Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Angling, police officers at the House of Commons have been pestering me for ages to come up with a ‘cops versus MPs’ angling match so this year I decided we would organise something as part of National Fishing Week. We also thought it would be great to use the event to not only raise the profile of angling but to raise funds for the great work of Catch21, the newly-named Thames21 angling programme which works with young people all over London, many of whom were at risk of involvement with drugs and crime prior to their participation in the programme. All monies raised in the match have gone to Catch21 to support future angling work with young people across London.

When I took the idea to Grant Fear, the Catch21 Development Coordinator at Thames21 his enthusiasm was fantastic, and he was delighted at the opportunity for many of the young people he works with - many of whom are previous offenders or identified as at risk of offending - to have a day out with members of the Met. Police and the House of Commons to share their love and enthusiasm for fishing.

Four teams of five anglers competed and the winning team were Met Police Blue with a weight of 68lbs 12oz. They received a cup from the match sponsors Thames Water. The individual winner was Simon Bottomley (Met Team Blue) with 29Ibs of small carp on the pole.   Simon generously donated half his winnings to second placed Jace Norword of Thames 21 whose 19Ibs 4oz catch formed the bulk of his teams might enabling them to come in as runners up.  The MPs team were delighted to avoid coming last thanks to a couple of last minute carp from yours truly and a creditable 7Ibs from the Worcester MP Mike Foster giving us a team weight of 15Ibs 12ozs.  The wooden spoon went to Met Police Red who weighed in just 8Ibs 14ozs on a hot muggy day when the fish were just not biting as they usually do on this prolific venue.

All in all it was a great day out raising around £400 for the charity and showing what great contribution our sport can make to improving the lives of young people.  I am grateful to Karen and Colin at Lake John for the free use of their wonderful fishery and to Thames Water for their generous sponsorship.  This is now set to become an annual event, and I am already looking forward to next year!

Finally, I welcome the government’s decision to introduce a closure in Lyme Bay of 60 sq nautical miles to dredging for shellfish. As all anglers should agree, the protection of our marine heritage is paramount, and it is crucial that we take every step to protect the vitally important and precious reefs in the Lyme Bay area.

First Published in ‘Tackle and Guns’ as Commons Man