Angling Trust Species Hunt
Angling Trust Species Hunt 2023-24 – sponsored by TronixPro
WHAT IS THE SPECIES HUNT?
The Angling Trust Species Hunt is a sea shore based competition designed to get anglers out fishing and enjoying catching a wide variety of sea fish of all sizes.
It’s split into two parts:
- Species Hunt – your challenge is to catch as many different species of fish as possible from UK waters.
- Specimen Hunt – we want you to catch the largest specimen you can. We’ve picked out 38 sea species for you to target – the bigger the better!
WHO CAN TAKE PART?
Species Hunt is open to all.
Scroll down to the form below to register for Species Hunt 2023-24.
When you’ve registered you’ll receive a welcome pack through the post which includes a laminated Species Hunt card, a full set of competition rules, a guide to the specimen sizes and a TronixPro retractable tape measure for measuring your catches. We’ll also send you information on how to handle and measure your catches safely for the benefit of the fish and yourself.
The Species Hunt welcome letter, rules and species list can also be found by clicking here
WHEN DOES IT START?
This year’s competition runs from Saturday April 1, 2023 and runs to Sunday March 31, 2024.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO?
It’s simple – go out and catch a sea fish! Once you’ve caught a fish, place it carefully next to your laminated Species Hunt card and measuring tape (preferably on a soft surface), snap a picture, and then carefully return the fish.
You’ll then need to submit your picture to us via the Species Hunt email address. All entries must be sent to [email protected] with the subject “Capture Report”.
For the Species Hunt the email must include the following:
- Name & UPN of participant
- Name of species caught (please be specific e.g. rock goby, not just goby).
- Date & location of capture
- Photo with clearly visible fish & clearly visible Species Hunt card.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Our team of experts will keep a running tally of your catches and judge specimen-sized fish. Multiple captures of a species will only count as one, but if you’ve caught a bigger one than you have previously then you can enter it into the Specimen Hunt via the same email address including:
If you are submitting a fish for the monthly Specimen Hunt, please title the subject “Specimen” and also include:
- Photo with tape measure clearly shown. You may use a measure other than the Tronixpro tape measure provided that it is accurate and visible on the photograph. We need to see the whole fish in the photo.
- Tactics used to catch the fish e.g. hooks, tackle, bait, etc.
- Weight of the fish (optional)
- Photo of you holding the fish – we love to publish lovely photos of our anglers! (optional)
We also request that photos show unbloodied fish as we want to promote a good image for the sport. This is especially important for the Specimen Hunt where pictures will be published online in various media.
NEW FOR 2023 – SPECIES HUNT ELITE LEAGUE
Species Hunt can become very addictive and highly competitive, and we wanted to ensure that all anglers of all abilities can enjoy the competition equally so this year we’ve established an Elite League for the Top 30 anglers from last season’s competition to compete in, with the main General Species Hunt for the more leisurely angler to enjoy. At the end of the year there will be relegations and promotions from the two categories.
There will also be a Junior category once again this year which is open to anglers under 16 years of age at the start of the competition on April 1 2023.
NEW FOR 2023 – MORE TRONIXPRO PRIZES!
Thanks to TronixPro there will be monthly and yearly prizes across all three categories worth over £3,000.
All Specimen catches are judged by our panel of experts for monthly prizes. If you’re selected as our Specimen Hunt Fish of the Month winner, you’ll receive a £35 TronixPro tackle bundle.
For Species Hunt, the winners are crowned by who catches the most species during the competition year, and there are great tackle prizes up for grabs:
Elite League – Winner will receive £400 of TronixPro tackle of their choice, the runner up £200, and third overall £100.
Prizes for the General and Junior Species Hunt are listed below.
Yearly Prizes
Each year everything resets, so for anglers who competed last year – try to catch all the fish you caught again! We have two categories: Senior (16 & over on 31st March of competition year) and Junior (under 16 on 31st March of competition year). The prize structure is as follows:
| Position | Senior | Junior |
| 1st | £350 | £200 |
| 2nd | £300 | £150 |
| 3rd | £250 | £100 |
| 4th | £200 | £50 |
| 5th | £150 | £50 |
| 6th | N/A | £50 |
The prizes will follow the format that the prize value highlighted is that of Tronixpro fishing tackle. This will be selected from the Tronixpro/HTO catalogue. Winners will be contacted via email when the competition closes.
Specimen Hunt – A monthly prize of terminal tackle from Tronixpro will be sent out at the close of the competition to the best specimen winner each month. The specimen will be judged on size and rarity of capture b
NEW FOR 2023 – THEMED CHALLENGES
In addition, this season will see the launch of two seasonal challenges for all Junior anglers taking part in Species Hunt. Starting on Saturday July 1, 2023 and running until Saturday September 2, 2023 we’ll be rewarding the capture of 10 carefully selected species with limited edition Species Hunt stickers. In December we’ll select two more fun species for you to target, again with some superb stickers as the reward for anyone able to crack the challenges.
NEW FOR 2023 – FISH OF A LIFETIME
We’ve seen some amazing fish species and specimens entered for the Species Hunt competition over the years, including several record-shaking fish and hundreds of personal bests.
While every fish is special, we wanted to reward those truly incredible catches with a new Fish of a Lifetime Award. Judged by the team at TronixPro, there will be two awards each season for fish which really stood out. Each angler will win a TronixPro Xenon DV8 fixed spool reel worth £99.99.
GO FOR IT!
So, what are you waiting for? Get your registration form filled in and get catching! We’re looking forward to seeing your fish.
Don’t forget we’ve got an active Species Hunt Facebook page too where you can share your catches, stories, and pick up some great advice too.
Find it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/specieshunt.
