Match ace scoops £50,000 victory

Zac Brown is the 2013 Maver Mega Match This champion after a nail-biting day of action at Maver Larford Lakes, which saw the Preston Innovation Delcac man crowned the winner by a little over a kilo to pick up the massive £50,000 winner’s cheque.

Weighing in 52-460 from end peg 12 on the Match Lake of the Stourport fishery, Caterham, surrey-based Zac just got in front of 2011 winner Andy Power who was denied a memorable double after he scooped the UK Championships title just a few days earlier, one decent Larford fish dividing the two in a nervy weigh in that went right down to the wire, Andy eventually finishing with 51-520.

Fancied to do well off his draw on the island of the lake, Zac left it very late with a good run of margin fish from his right hand edge, using meat over groundbait to net carp to 9lb despite suffering lots of foul hooked fish and missed bites while Andy was left rueing a switch to the margins that gave him little to show for his efforts after catching so well shallow on the long pole line.

“I have to admit I had a bit of trouble sleeping the night before after I’d drawn the peg at the gala dinner,” Zac said. “So many people fancied it and obviously it was a great draw but brilliant pegs don’t fish themselves and there was always the chance that it wasn’t going to happen for me. With a few hours to go that was how it was looking but I guess I just about did enough in the end. I still can’t believe how close it was and that I’m actually the winner!”