Why Fishcraft?
Great coaching adds something valuable to great angling knowledge.
Ben brings together two areas of experience that have shaped most of his adult life: angling and professional coaching. His fishing knowledge has developed over more than 35 years, while his career has focused on understanding how people learn, build confidence, improve their decision-making and perform effectively under pressure.
That combination means a Fishcraft day is about much more than being shown a successful tactic. Ben works with the individual in front of him, explains the thinking behind each decision and helps turn new information into skills that can be used independently on future sessions.
Learning and experience
A coaching day should be valuable, enjoyable and memorable.
A coaching day is a significant investment, and the quality of the experience matters just as much as the learning outcomes. There should be time to talk, experiment, ask questions and enjoy being fully immersed in fishing with somebody who is genuinely invested in helping you improve.
Catching more or bigger fish matters, but it is only part of the picture. The aim is for you to leave as a more capable and confident angler, with a clearer understanding of your fishing and renewed enthusiasm for your next session.
Coaching options
Coaching shaped around your starting point and ambitions.
Sessions can be arranged as one-to-one days, small-group coaching, club sessions or focused courses and events.
01
02
Beginners
Experienced anglers
Build good habits from the outset, understand the essentials and learn in a clear, supportive way without becoming overwhelmed by conflicting advice.
Improve consistency, work through plateaus and develop the observation and decision-making that underpin reliable performance.
03
04
Try another discipline
Juniors and groups
Explore a different side of angling with support, whether that means moving from carp into match fishing or broadening into predator, coarse or sea fishing.
Engaging, well-structured days for junior anglers, clubs and groups, combining coached practice with an enjoyable shared experience.
25
years focused mainly on specimen carp
5
years increasingly focused on match fishing
Meet Ben Tipney
A professional coach with a lifetime of angling experience.
Ben has spent his professional life helping people learn, develop and perform. He competed internationally in rowing and coached the sport from complete beginners through to athletes who won medals at the World Championships. He has also taught PE in schools and worked extensively in life coaching, executive coaching and performance development.
He holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Leadership in Sport and the British Psychological Society Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Coaching. This breadth of coaching experience allows him to adapt each session to the person, their goals and the way they learn best.
35+
years fishing
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Competing internationally
Coaching at the U23 World Championships
A coaching career across different environments
Decades spent helping people become more capable and confident.
Whether Ben was helping somebody take their first strokes in a rowing boat, preparing international athletes for a World Championships or supporting leaders through executive coaching, his role was to understand the person, clarify what improvement looked like and create the conditions for meaningful progress.
Fishcraft applies that same professional coaching approach to angling, combining technical knowledge with the ability to listen, explain, challenge and adapt.
Rowing action photograph: © Peter Spurrier / Intersport Images.
A love of every kind of fishing
Fishing is incredibly diverse, and every discipline has something to teach us.
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White sturgeon, Canada
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Exploring different species
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Predator fishing
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Sea fishing
Ben’s experience ranges from specimen carp and match fishing to predator, sea and overseas fishing. Some of his favourite days have involved enormous fish; others have involved catching small roach on a whip with his children.
Match fishing
A newer focus, built on a lifetime of angling.
Over the last five years, Ben has become increasingly immersed in match fishing and regularly wins or frames in open matches at venues including Royal Berkshire Fisheries, Ivy House Lakes, Tunnel Barn Farm, Alders Farm Fishery, Southend Farm and How End.
He finished third in the final of the MAP UK Pole Championship in 2024 and qualified for the Fish South Silvers Final in 2026. He particularly enjoys F1 fishing during the summer and commercial silvers fishing through the winter.
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Selected UK personal bests
49lb 8oz
Carp
7lb 8oz
Chub
20lb 8oz
Pike
3lb 8oz
Perch
17lb
Bream
2lb 8oz
Rudd
12lb 12oz
Tench
2lb 4oz
Roach
A coaching day with Fishcraft
“I had a match-fishing coaching experience with Ben at Baden Hall, covering both feeder and pole fishing. Ben was really easy-going and explained everything in a clear, understandable way. What particularly impressed me was the level of detail he went into. It wasn’t simply a case of being told what to do—Ben explained why we were doing it, which made everything much easier to understand and learn from. It was far more than just a day’s fishing; it was a genuinely enjoyable and valuable experience. I also caught a PB pole-caught carp of 18lb, which topped off a brilliant day. I’d thoroughly recommend Fishcraft coaching with Ben to anyone looking to improve their fishing and properly understand the thinking behind what they’re doing.”
Scott Lloyd
One of the UK’s most recognisable big-carp anglers, renowned for targeting some of the country’s most challenging fish—including the legendary Burghfield Common at 62lb 8oz.
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