Northumberland angler reels in gold medal at World Fly Fishing Championships

Howard Croston reeled in 41 fish, the longest at 502cm, to take the individual honour.

He was also captaining and managing the England team at the competition, which was held in Tasmania, Australia.

Howard, who is product development manager for Alnwick-based Hardy, the world renowned fishing tackle manufacturer and Royal Warrant Holder, said: “To compete against the best anglers in the world so far from home on unknown venues in some of the worse weather conditions imaginable was a very daunting task, however, the team practised well and found solid methods that beat the conditions.

“To win a gold medal whilst captaining and managing my country was something I never dreamed possible and, despite the conditions, the incredible fishing in Tasmania did not disappoint.”

The competition involved 23 countries, each with teams of five anglers, which competed for five days across five venues in gruelling conditions in the central highlands of Tasmania.

Venues included both rivers and lakes where target species were wild Brown and Rainbow Trout.

All fish were fished to full catch and release FIPS Rules (Federation International Peche Sportif) where scoring is based on the length of the eligible fish which are carefully measured and released.

All fish over 20cm counted towards the competition, with longer fish scoring more points.

The winner of each section is placed first and receives one point, second two points etc.

Howard, from Morpeth, started fishing aged five, on rivers in the Lake District, and he has attended a total of 16 World and European Championships, enjoying fourth and tenth place finishes.

It is 10 years since England’s last individual winner, Ian Barr taking the title in 2009 where England won the team gold medal.

Howard was also part of that team effort.

In 2014 England also won team bronze.

Howard was also part of that team.

This year England took a respectable eighth position in the championships in Tasmania.