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Over 450 compete in huge ‘Junior National’

Country’s biggest match for youngsters continues to inspire the next generation

A young lady sat fishing at the side of the river

@Canal and Rivers Trust

by Angling Times |

Published on8th October 2026 at 11.00am

The 2026 National Celebration of Young People and Fishing was yet another event to remember, as 460 young anglers lined the towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal in a ‘festival of fishing’.

The Canal and River Trust (CRT) contest took place between September 12 and 13 and is one of the largest angling events in the country, this year beaten only by the Division One National, in which 480 anglers fished.

A young boy sat down holding his catch by the side of the river.

The event forms part of the CRT’s Let’s Fish! programme, which introduces thousands of people to fishing each year.

Competitors between the ages of six and 20 took part, battling it out in the friendly competition, designed to inspire the next generation.

Rather than simply catching the biggest weight, the focus was on fun and teamwork, as families, friends and local communities came together to create a festival atmosphere along the canal between the village of Little Onn and the town of Market Drayton, in Shropshire.

The event was supported by Tackle Guru alongside several other companies, and each participant took home a medal, a fishing book, a certificate, a highly prized gudgeon mug, a goodie bag and an item of tackle donated by the angling community.

A lot of people along the side of the river fishing.

John Ellis, national fisheries and angling manager at the CRT, was delighted by how the weekend went: “Fishing on our canals is about so much more than catching fish – it’s about building confidence, creating lifelong memories and making new friends,” he told us.

“To see 460 young people, including more than 100 representing schools, come together for this year’s
National Celebration on the Shropshire Union Canal was truly inspiring. Events like this prove how powerful initiatives such as Let’s Fish! can be in connecting young people with the outdoors and with each other.”

Big brown trout... Banked on a bagel!

Many anglers have caught a surprise trout or two while fishing for other species, but few will have landed anything in quite the same league as this gorgeous wild brownie, banked by young Sebastian Hancock.

The 11-year-old had gone for a few hours’ fishing on Sunday with his dad, David, simply to get out of the house. They popped down to a stretch of their local River Stort and wandered along the banks, trotting a float and using pieces of bread torn from a leftover bagel as bait.

“After an hour-and-a-half, we hadn’t had any luck, but just as we were walking home along the banks, Sebastian threw a bit of bagel in and a fish took it almost straight away off the surface,” David told us.

Sebastian Hancock holding a trout

“So, we quickly changed our set-up to freeline a bait, and after 10 minutes of trying, the fish hammered it.”

Sebastian then played the powerful fish in the strong current for around 10 minutes before it finally came to the waiting net.

“It was in absolutely immaculate condition,” David added. “We didn’t weigh the fish – we just took a quick photo and then returned it to the river.

“It was a great result, especially as we were just using a hook and a chunk of bagel!”

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