Maver Mega 'Match This' Final Qualifier - 12.08.12

Eighty six tickets were sold for the final Maver Mega "Match This" qualifier held on both Match and Specimen lakes. This would be the last chance for those anglers who had not yet qualified for the prestigious Grand Final on September 1st to book their place in the big money final. The pressure, therefore, was really on for some of the sport's big names.

Conditions on the day started off very wet with persistent heavy showers dropping the ambient temperature. However, after the first hour, the rain subsided with warm sunshine behind the clouds making conditions hot and humid. There were fish to be seen cruising all over the complex, but for the most part of the match, the quarry proved incredibly difficult to catch - that was until the wind changed direction.

Winner on the day was Maver's own Ian Giddins. Ian drew end peg 6 on the Match grass bank, but struggled to find the fish for the first couple of hours alternating between the pole and a small method feeder aimed towards the paddles. After the first hour, Ian had recorded just a few skimmers and two F1's and was not in the running. However, mid way through the match, the wind changed direction and began to blow down towards the cafe resulting in a frantic last hour and a half with Ian catching big F1s and carp to approx. 6lbs every few minutes on dead maggot down the inside. Ian finished the match with 150-05-00, beating the rest of the field by a big margin.

Second place was taken by Tricast Highfield rod Andrew Davies. Andrew drew peg 67 on the Match lake burr bank almost directly opposite Ian. Andrew caught on maggot fished down in the margins but could not match Ian's catch rate ending the match with 90-05-00. Andrew qualifies for the Maver British Pole Championships.

Garbolino / Dynamite Baits man Richie Hull finished the match in third place from end peg 32 on the Match grass bank. Richie caught carp and F1's on pole and pellet shallow and on meat down the edge to weigh in 87-05-00. Richie has given consistently good performances throughout the 2012 Mega "Match This" campaign qualifying for the British Pole Championships on a number of occasions.

Mark Johnson (Maver Midlands) finished in fourth place, thus qualifying for the Maver British Pole Championships. Mark drew peg 53 on the Match burr and started his match on bomb and pellet before switching to the margins late on offering double sweetcorn to tempt a good stamp of fish for the final hour. Mark ended the match with a section winning 85-04-00.

Maver Bait-tech rod Alex Bates took fifth spot on the day from peg 28 on the Match grass bank. Alex fished dead maggot down the edge after bomb and pellet failed to produce resulting in a final weight of 75-11-00 earning Alex a place in this year's British Pole Championships.

British Pole Championship Qualifiers:

Andrew Davies (Tricast Highfield)
Mark Johnson (Maver Midlands)
Alex Bates (Maver Bait-Tech)
Shane Trower
Przemek Solski