Men's carp Team Wales crowned 2026 Home Nations champions

The Welsh men’s carp team have been crowned Home Nations champions for 2026 after edging a tight contest at Lyons Drove Fishery in Cambridgeshire that went right to the wire.

After 48 hours of fishing in tough conditions, Team Wales prevailed over their counterparts from England and Scotland, along with a visiting team from South Africa, to bring home the coveted ICFA Home Nations Trophy for the first time since 2017.

A huge well done to the Welsh team of captain Liam Timothy, David Jones, Dan Smith, Shane Beard, Nathan Garrett, Steve Grimley, Craig Storer and Declan Johnson.

The team started as they intended to go on with the first fish of the competition on Friday – a 20lb mirror – going to Liam and David in C section within the first 40 minutes, and was also Liam’s first fish for Wales.

Declan and Craig then decided to join the party and landed a 25lb common to take the lead in D section.

A positive start to Saturday morning for Team Wales saw them retake the lead from South Africa and ensured they were also in the lead at the halfway point.

Shane and Dan managed to catch their first fish in B section, along with Declan and Craig landing their second fish in D section.

It was a narrow lead they continued to hold on to as the match entered the final 12 hours, as the fish continued to trickle in for Wales in sections B and D.

South Africa were running away with the competition in B section, but using the point scoring system rather than overall weight meant it was still all to play for and all teams were still firmly in contention, with just one or two fish having the potential to turn the tables.

As the hours ticked away, the nerves increased as victory edged closer – before the final hooter sounded and Wales were champions.

“Thankfully for us, the fishing slowed right down on the Saturday morning and we managed to hold on to the gold,” said captain Liam Timothy.

“Conditions were tough and it was a very tricky match, but the boys dug deep, worked as a team and did what they needed to do."

The win is a massive boost for the team as preparation continues for this year’s world championships in Macedonia in early September.