Nigel Duncan on fishing: Helen Philp claimed her third Scottish

It's been a whirlwind week for the Fife bakery shop manager and she hopes to add icing on the cake by helping the Tartan team make a big impression on the international stage.

The five-women team jetted to North America on Thursday to practice ahead of the world event which runs from September 24 to 30 with the women fishing one river and four stillwaters.

British Columbia rules only allow one fly on the cast making it even more difficult, but Scotland's squad are confident and one member has tied hundreds of flies which will hopefully rise fish.

Dione (cor) Roberts, who is the manager, and Lana Taylor from Edinburgh join Milnathorp-based Philp in the team which also has Joy Penrose Stupart (cor) from Helensburgh and Dierdre Dunbar who is originally from Annan but now lives in England.

The opposition in only the second women's world championships comes from Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, England, The Netherlands, New Zealand South Africa, Sweden and America.

Czech Republic won the inaugural event in Norway and Scotland have elected to go out early to ensure they know the "lie of the land". They intend to walk the locations and fish similar waters ahead of the event.

Fly choice will be critical and Philp said: "I've fished in Canada before and we have done our homework. We have experience in the team and we are going there to win."

She has been buoyed by her victory in the Scottish at the 700-acres, Lake of Menteith, Scotland's only natural lake, but the success surprised Philp who landed five fish for 227 cms. Penrose Stupart was second with four fish 50cms behind and Morag Wallace third, also with four fish, only seven cms further back.

Kathleen Shepherd had the longest fish, a 56cm trout, and the best newcomer was Claire McGowan.

Philp, chairperson of the national team, admitted: "I should have had eight fish but played three others and lost them at the net, one of them was a cracker.

"I knew it was going to be tough. It was one of those thundery days with the sky heavy and there was not a breath of wind with the water calm. It was a hard slog and I started at Lochend Bay and had four fish there and then moved to an area called the The Cages and had one there.

"Yes, I was surprised myself at the win and thought I would need eight or nine fish to win but five was enough."

Roberts, the Scotland team secretary, has also fished in North America and she has been busy making hundreds of flies in the last few weeks which she hopes will take a trick with the local trout.

No indicators are allowed during the competition but competitors are allowed to drift their boats on the stillwater.

Confident Roberts said: "We have a strong team. Helen is the national champion, Joy was second at the Lake of Menteith, and Lana was the defending champion and the other members, including myself, were in the top ten." There will be a bear patrol, he added, for the river fishing day.

Members of Edinburgh and Lothians Coarse Angling Club host their annual rod and reel match at Orchill near Gleneagles today (SAT, September 16) with the draw at 8.30am and the match brings the club's season to an end. It also brings the curtain down on the chairmanship of Edinburgh-based Geoff Lowe who retires after nearly three decades at the helm.

Drumtassie bosses report that anglers are catching well and one of the best returns was from John Garden who had 19 to the net on the coarse pond including a common carp of 12lb 11oz and his first barbel.

It was Garden's second visit in days and on his first he had 26 to the net and also lost a number. Lauda Lizemore (cor) said he had an "awesome" trip to the water and set a new personal best with a 24lb 8oz common carp.

Chanelle Maver, the manager, said that this is a day ticket water but anglers can fish overnight if they are a member and she stressed that if you want to fish the carp pond then you need a 42in landing net and an unhooking mat which must have padding or padded sides around it. This is to keep her fish safe.

On to tackle and Daiwa are marketing new N'Zon, quad shaped, inline swivel bombs which allows anglers to switch from method to a bomb and back again quickly.

They are lead free and their aerodynamic design is said to deliver extra distance. They are available in five weights from 10g to a 60g version. Price? £4.50 per pack.

Fly fishing now and Millhall near Polmont report that the cloudier weather with a breeze encouraged fish to feed. Top scoring flies were damsels on intermediate lines and diawl bachs on a floating line.

However, the weather reverted back to blazing sunshine and flat calm conditions and the fish put their heads down making it difficult for anglers however M Nelson returned 12 fish on diawl bach, A Prentice and M McAllister returned eight and seven fish respectively, also on diawl bach. while G Scotland and S Scotland returned seven and six fish respectively on damsels. S McCarroll decided to tie on snakes and his method scored with ten fish.

Nearby, D Ford was among the most successful anglers at Bowden Springs near Linlithgow with three fish including a superb 10lb trout and owner Jim Gargaro said that Ally McCoist, buzzer and Viva (white) patters plus cormorant were doing well.

Allandale Tarn owner Iona Allan reports that top flies lately have been single yellow or black smoker and beetle patterns. FAB with a buzzer or cormorant teamed underneath have also worked but small dries are working in the morning before the sun gets too bright.

She added: "Don't be afraid to pull as the rainbows and goldies in particular like a chase." The fishery near West Calder is open until 8pm.