A WARRINGTON angler has set his heart on more world championship medals after reeling in England glory this week.

Latchford fishing ace Stuart Conroy won his section on the second day of the River Seine event in Paris, which was his debut in the senior world championships.

The 31-year-old with youth world championships and European championships success under his belt now has a team gold from the highest level to add to his collection.

Stuart, who coached the England women's team to silver medal glory in Croatia four weeks earlier, won his medal on Sunday and returned to Warrington after spending much of the summer angling overseas.

Prior to Croatia, Stuart was in the England team which finished second in the 2001 European Championships staged in Bulgaria.

Stuart said: "It had always been an ambition of mine to fish for England and after achieving that I set my sights on winning a team gold in the world championships. Now I will have to set a new goal, and it will probably be to win more team golds with England. I have had a taste and want more of it."

Stuart, the only member of the England team not to be a full-time angler, rated the Seine fishing as difficult', particularly his section, but the manner in which he helped to turn England's fortunes around was outstanding.

He said: "I was 10th in my section after day one but I won on day two with 50 bleak that weighed in at 1kilo 40grms. They are only small fish and some anglers over here consider them to be a nuisance fish but when you are in a competition you will gladly take anything."

His tactics and ability to adapt to the water and conditions paid off as, with one teammate also winning his section on day two, England turned a fourth place day one finish into a gold rush - sinking the French into second place and pushing Italy down to third.

Warrington Anglers' Association and Lymm Angling Club member Stuart, who competes domestically with Keenets North West, can count himself unlucky to have missed out on an individual world championship medal in the sport which has the greatest number of participants in the United Kingdom.

He said: "I lost one decent fish on the first day. I had hooked it, had it on for a few moments but it broke my line after swimming into a snag. I reckon it would have been about a pound in weight and that would have been enough to have put me on the podium but that's fishing. In the end, I was overall 15th."

The self-employed window fitter is from a family with a history of angling and it was his older brother Steve who taught him when he was eight years old.

Stuart said: "Steve has been the main influence on my fishing. He is the best angler never to have fished for England and he has always given me tips and advice. These days we band ideas back and to."

The National Federation of Anglers coach fishes every day in the summer and during the weekends, at least of the winter months.

He said: "I love fishing generally but particularly competing. I think it is exciting because when you are fishing you do not know what the next fish is going to be - how big or what type.

"It's a pretty relaxing pastime, but not when you are competing at world level because your mind is working all the time."