IT was a 'bream' come true for ace Warrington angler Stuart Conroy.

On his international debut on the continent at the weekend he became the French champion.

It is a title he now adds to his British Championship success from last June.

There was further jubilation in France for Stuart too as he was a member of the winning team too.

He said on his return: "I'm really made up, specially as this was my debut on the continent."

The 29-year-old's groundbait combination did the trick as he hauled in around 14lbs of bream on an arm of the River Seine at Creteil, just south of Paris.

Three days of practice beforehand were crucial to Conroy and his England teammates, Dave Vincent, William Raison and Steve Gardner.

Conroy, who had only previously fished one home international at senior level, said: "It just looked like the River Weaver at first - like a big, deep, slow moving canal.

"So we used similar rigs but it was the groundbait mix which was very important. Anything that clouded in the water attracted small fish.

"We went for a lot of rough bread with heavy mole-hill soil which took the bait to the bottom and this did the job as we all caught bream."

As is the best method on the continent, the England team used three or four bloodworms on their hooks.

The result was two section firsts and two section seconds to take the team award from 20 teams, which included a Dream Team of former world champions.

After being selected for and winning this invitation international Conroy is hoping more honours will come his way.

Cheshire Angling-backed Conroy and his mentor, his brother Steve, will be hoping for continued glory as members of the English Premier Division side Tricast Highfield.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.