Young fisherman, 13 years old, fishing for England

A young angler from Bristol has been selected to represent his country in the World Youth Angling Championships.

Thirteen-year-old Charlie Isaac wants to compete in… England Under-15 squad Serbia in August.

After a series of assessments during March and April, Angling Trust directors selected Charlie for the team.

“I couldn’t believe it, it was the happiest I’d ever felt,” Charlie said.

Speaking to the BBC at Lake Bitterwell, the youngest member of the team said he did not expect to make it this year.

“This year was a bonus,” he said.

“I thought it was really hard to achieve this year and I did it.”

Charlie’s father, Paul Isaac, said he “almost fell over” when Charlie’s name was announced.

He said: “I could not believe that they mentioned his name frankly, because I convinced him that this would not be the case this year.”

“When they said his name it meant a lot.”

Mr Isaacs said that even before he had children, he wanted his son to hunt for England.

“It gives him a tremendous opportunity,” he said.

“It’s not just about this year, it’s about the start of his international career.”

Charlie, who has been fishing since he was four, said the sport was good for managing stress and “solving problems”.

“What I like about it is coming to the bank, stress-free mind, and catching as many fish as possible,” he added.

The young fisherman, who prefers tench, said people tend to think that fishing is mostly luck.

“It’s how your gear is, how you walk in the water, how you hold your poles,” he said.

“It’s not just the luck of throwing it in the water and the fish taking it, it’s all these different things you have to do to get a bite.”

Charlie said he doesn’t like to eat lake fish, preferring to release the catch.

“It’s really cute, you can give them a nice little kiss,” he said.

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