Match results 20th/21st December

MIDWEEKS/SATURDAY

NORTH

Bait-Tech/Frenzee Hayfield Lakes

Little & Big Adam’s Lakes (18 pegs)

Result: 1 S Sanders, Highgate AC, 125-4-0; 2 J Wilde, Colmic, 121-13-0; 3 G Wilde, Fishing Republic, 71-9-0; 4 R Fowler, Fishing Republic, 68-11-0; 5 M Bissel, Angel AC, 54-9-0.

Brookside Fisheries

Snake Lake (26 pegs)

Result: 1 N Butterworth, Cheshire Angling, 35-4-0; 2 Stu Conroy, Kamasan/Sensas, 31-10-0; 3 M Pleavin, Lionel’s Tackle, 30-10-0; 4 T Barlow, Maver NW, 30-0-0; 5 Steve Conroy, Drennan NW, 23-2-0; 6 C Blakeley, Garbolino Elton, 22-2-0.

Climax Wold View Fishery Vets (Tues)

Ultimate Lake (18 pegs)

Result: 1 C Withers, Wold View, 16-12-0; 2 D Ruffle, Wold View, 9-4-0; 3 K Hill, Wold View, 6-8-0.

Climax Wold View Fishery

Gold Lake (15 pegs)

Result: 1 G Chapman, Wold View, 21-4-0; 2 C Mack, Hull Angling Centre, 20-0-0; 3 R Bryant, Wold View, 15-12-0.

Cudmore Fisheries

Arena & New Pool 1 (17 pegs)

Result: 1 S Jones, Team Cudmore, 66-3-0; 2 B Gilchrist, Team Cudmore, 63-11-0; 3 A Rogers, Team Cudmore, 61-6-0.

Highfield Fisheries Over 60’s (Fri)

Beech Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 T Shields, Ted Carter Preston, 13-12-0; 2 N Cox, Highfield, 13-4-0; 3 P Connelly, Rochdale Angling, 10-0-0; 4 T Clark, Ted Carter Preston, 8-10-0.

Highfield Fisheries Over 60’s Rover (Weds)

Oak & Beech Lakes (12 pegs)

Result: 1 K Anderton, Highfield, 18-12-0; 2 T Shields, Ted Carter Preston, 18-4-0; 3 P Smith, Fylde Angling, 16-8-0.

High Heyes Fishery Rover

All lakes (10 pegs)

Result: 1 P Banks, Izaak’s MG, 16-6-0; 2 I Blakeley, Matrix Leigh Tackle & Bait, 14-8-0; 3 C Gorrell, Ted Carter Southport, 10-0-0.

Lingmere Fishery Over 50’s (Weds)

Both lakes (17 pegs)

Result: 1 J Tatton, Chester Tackle Locker, 70-3-0; 2 I Hughes, Egremont Ferry, 62-11-0; 3 M Turley, Lingmere, 50-12-0; 4 G Edwards, Lobol AC, 50-0-0.

Lingmere Fishery Christmas Match

Both lakes (24 pegs)

Result: 1 T Moran, Vine Baits, 37-0-0; 2 S Openshaw, Lingmere Tackle, 36-4-0; 3 J Hughes, Maver/Bag ‘Em Baits, 34-12-0; 4 J Power, Cammell Lairds, 31-12-0.

Meadow View Fisheries OAP & Disabled (Thurs)

Linnet Pool (19 pegs)

Result: 1 R Hignett, Shaw’s Tackle, 33-9-0; 2 D Ockwell, Leigh Tackle & Bait, 27-0-0; 3 S Leith, Meadow View, 18-0-0; 4 P Barwell, Widnes Angling Centre, 17-10-0.

Meadow View Fisheries OAP & Disabled (Tues)

Lark Pool (19 pegs)

Result: 1 T Lovatt, Gilder’s Tackle, 71-7-0; 2 R Hignett, Shaw’s Tackle, 37-12-0; 3 D Williams, Team Dallam, 24-4-0; 4 P Barwell, Widnes Angling Centre, 14-10-0.

Mirfield AC Calder & Canals League

Aire & Calder Canal, Altofts (44 pegs)

Result: 1 D Wilkinson, Selby, 20-5-0; 2 T Rymer, Leeds, 11-7-0; 3 G Jones, Maver Newman Scott Quaker, 8-9-0; 4 M Highe, Mirfield Willy Worms, 8-0-0; 5 P Close, Mosella Quaker, 5-15-0; 6 I Newby, Bradford No 1 AA, 5-0-0.

League: 1 N Hirst, 70pts; 2 D Armitage, 69; 3 M Highe, 65; 4 I Newby, 63.

Mouncey League (final round)

River Ancholme, Brigg (22 pegs)

Result: 1 W Easter, Scunthorpe, 15-10-0; 2 S Richardson, Scunthorpe, 10-12-0; 3 P Dimmock, Scunthorpe, 9-11-0; 4 D Padley, Brigg, 8-8-0; 5 G Tock, Selby, 8-6-0; 6 A Houlton, Lincs County, 8-4-0.

Final league: 1 S Williamson, 53pts; 2 R Pulford, 52; 3 W Easter, 50.

Northallerton DAC

River Swale, Scruton (27 pegs)

Result: 1 B Stephenson, Darlington, 11-9-0; 2 P Miller, Aireborough, 9-4-0; 3 P Bendelow, Woodland Tackle, 5-9-0; 4 K Warburton, Northallerton, 5-2-0.

Oaks Lakes

Cedar Lake (17 pegs)

Result: 1 C Hall, The Oaks, 40-8-0; 2 D Smith, Bait-Tech, 33-5-0; 3 B Poland, The Oaks, 28-11-0; 4 R Minikin, Sonu Baits, 27-0-0; 5 D Birdsall, The Oaks, 24-12-0; 6 L Hawksworth, Daiwa Cleveland Angling Centre, 23-3-0.

Oaks Lakes (Weds)

Ash, Beech & Sycamore Lakes (10 pegs)

Result: 1 I Bayley, Woodland Tackle, 78-1-0; 2 C Hall, The Oaks, 47-12-0; 3 B Poole, The Oaks, 25-4-0; 4 L Hawksworth, Daiwa Cleveland Angling Centre, 16-3-0.

Oaks Lakes (Thurs)

Cedar Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 C Hall, The Oaks, 55-11-0; 2 M Bailey, Garbolino Elton, 49-5-0; 3 R Minikin, Sonu Baits, 44-9-0; 4 L Hawksworth, Daiwa Cleveland Angling Centre, 42-8-0.

Old Bank AC (Weds)

Battyford Canal (15 pegs)

Result: 1 M Taylor, Matrix Halifax, 9-2-0; 2 C Lees, Calder Anglers, 4-14-0; 3 P Duffy, Tri-Cast Calder, 4-2-0; 4 S Wain, Matrix Halifax, 3-1-0; 5 K Marshall, Tri-Cast Calder, 2-10-0; 6 T Barlow, Maver NW, 2-4-0.

Old Hough Fishery (Tues)

Boulders & Goose Lakes (14 pegs)

Result: 1 B Clarke, Old Hough, 22-13-0; 2 M Dawes, Old Hough, 19-15-0; 3 K Knight, Old Hough, 17-10-0; 4 P Johnson, Old Hough, 17-7-0; 5 B Morris, Old Hough, 15-13-0.

Old Hough Fishery

Upper & Lower Benbo Lakes (21 pegs)

Result: 1 C Jackson, Old Hough, 24-3-0; 2 M Rowlands, Old Hough, 23-0-0; 3 R Rawsthorne, Ashton Angling Supplies, 22-13-0; 4 M Pass, Old Hough, 20-11-0; 5 I Illingworth, Old Hough, 19-9-0; 6 D Booth, Tri-Cast, 16-15-0.

Partridge Lakes Winter League (round five)

Covey Canal Lakes (44 pegs)

Result: 1 M Rogerson, Preston Innovations/Ashton Angling Supplies, 61-4-0; 2 S Parry, Daiwa/Guru/Bait-Tech, 60-15-0; 3 P Coyle, Preston Innovations, 58-5-0; 4 M Reed, Garbolino Elton, 50-14-0; 5 M Kearney, Tri-Cast Highfield, 44-8-0; 6 D Shaw, Maver NW, 43-1-0.

Teams: 1 Daiwa/Guru/Bait-Tech, 14pts; jt2 Garbolino Elton and Team Horse, both 14.

League: 1 Daiwa/Guru/Bait-Tech, 68pts; 2 Garbolino Elton, 79; 3 Team Horse, 84.

Partridge Lakes

Covey Canal Lakes 5 & 6 (21 pegs)

Result: 1 G Mannion, Partridge Lakes, 28-4-0; 2 J Jones, Garbolino Elton, 27-14-0; 3 D Brown, Pocklers AC, 27-10-0; 4 G Lindsay, Low Hills AC, 23-4-0; 5 A Dawson, Rochdale Angling Centre, 22-4-0; 6 F Prudent, Partridge Lakes, 22-3-0.

Partridge Lakes Rover (Thurs)

All lakes (25 pegs)

Result: 1 P Mahoney, Dino Floats/Bait-Tech, 79-10-0; 2 L Addy, Drennan NW, 55-6-0; 3 R Rigby, Gilder’s Tackle, 55-5-0; 4 S Walsh, Partridge Lakes, 53-10-0.

Partridge Lakes OAP & Disabled (Mon)

Spey & Marsh Canal Lakes (17 pegs)

Result: 1 R Kinsella, Widnes Angling Centre, 68-1-0; 2 J Ormisher, Leigh Tackle & Bait, 31-11-0; 3 E Battersby, Leigh Tackle & Bait, 28-9-0; 4 D Brighouse, Izaak Walton, 26-3-0.

Partridge Lakes (Tues)

Spey, Willow & Piper Lakes (26 pegs)

Result: 1 J Cheetham, Widnes Angling Centre, 48-5-0; 2 T Worrall, St Helen’s Angling, 41-1-0; 3 A Bennett, Daiwa/Guru/Bait-Tech, 37-11-0; 4 M Rogerson, Preston Innovations/Ashton Angling Supplies, 32-14-0.

Partridge Lakes OAP & Disabled (Weds)

Covey Canal Lakes (58 pegs)

Result: 1 S Kelly, Ray’s Tackle, 30-10-0; 2 D Olly, Olly Motors, 27-0-0; 3 A Hughes, Partridge Lakes, 23-13-0; 4 R Busfield, Partridge Lakes, 21-12-0.

St Helen’s AA (Mon)

Carr Mill Dam (14 pegs)

Result: 1 D Allsop, St Helen’s Angling, 13-10-0; 2 G Rigby, St Helen’s, 10-9-0; 3 L Addy, Drennan NW, 10-1-0. 

Thornhill AC

Calder & Hebble Canal, Dewsbury (15 pegs)

Result: 1 M Sharpe, Thornhill AC, 4-5-0; 2 A Turner, Slaithwaite DAC, 2-7-0; 3 L Simpson, Tri-Cast Calder, 1-12-0; 4 R Haigh, Thornhill AC, 1-7-0; 5 F Harrison, Sensas Walton, 1-1-0; 6 D James, Thornhill AC, 0-7-0.

Viking Fishery

Hawk Pond (13 pegs)

Result: 1 T Davis, Hemsworth, 72-12-0; 2 K Squires, Hull, 42-3-0; 3 R Summerscales, Ossett, 38-0-0; 4 L Fenwick, Howden, 28-1-0; 5 G Watson, Viking, 22-3-0; 6 S Conlon, Viking, 17-2-0.

Wigan DAA (Weds)

Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Wigan Pier (21 pegs)

Result: 1 D Wells, Tri-Cast Rochdale, 11-9-12; 2 J Nicholson, Chorley MG, 5-4-12; 3 L Williams, Hindley MG, 4-7-8; 4 S Wharton, Gidlow MG, 3-15-0; 5 M Hargreaves, Bolton, 3-11-8; 6 J Hall, Bolton, 3-3-8.

Wigan DAA

Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Heaton’s Bridge (24 pegs)

Result: 1 G Marchant, Wigan MG, 3-6-0; 2 C Cliffe, Ted Carter Preston, 3-1-2; 3 S Wilson, Lancs MG, 2-15-12; 4 C Sharples, Hindley MG, 2-11-0; 5 A Whalley, Sensas NW, 2-9-4; 6 S Wharton, Gidlow MG, 2-8-12.

Woodland Lakes,

Skylark & Wagtail Lakes (27 pegs)

Result: 1 V O’Connor, Woodland Tackle, 50-12-0; 2 A Dargue, Mosella Quaker, 41-10-0; 3 D Hudson, Woodland Tackle, 21-0-0; 4 C Tidball, Woodland Tackle, 19-15-0; 5 K Golightly, Woodland Tackle, 19-13-0.

Woodland Lakes Over 50’s (Mon)

Partridge & Wagtail Lakes (18 pegs)

Result: 1 J Donald, Woodland Tackle, 35-6-0; 2 J Kent, Woodland Tackle, 19-7-0; 3 K Fryatt, Woodland Tackle, 19-6-0; 4 P Fletcher, Woodland Tackle, 12-0-0.

Woodland Lakes (Weds)

Skylark & Kestrel Lakes (23 pegs)

Result: 1 J Gadd, Woodland Tackle, 74-0-0; 2 J Taylor, RSPS, 48-0-0; 3 J Maddison, Mosella Quaker, 46-12-0; 4 V O’Connor, Woodland Tackle, 44-0-0.

MIDLANDS

Alvechurch Fishery (Thurs)

Horseshoe Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 M Workman, Alvechurch, 72-1-0; 2 S Edwards, J & P Tackle, 71-8-0; 3 R Stone, Alvechurch, 53-15-0; 4 D Kennedy, Alvechurch, 46-4-0; 5 L Davis, Alvechurch, 39-10-0; 6 L Ayres, Alvechurch, 33-1-0.

Barford Lakes Rover

Match & Plesasure Lakes (22 pegs)

Result: Jt1 M Hendry, Dereham and T Bollingbroke, Attleborough, both 70-15-0; 3 D Cooper, Norwich, 55-6-0; jt4 B Smith, Stalham and B Bygraves, Norwich DAA, both 51-9-0.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery

Bridge Pool (14 pegs)

Result: 1 P Bagshaw, Team Frenzee, 69-12-0; 2 A Sellars, R&R Sports, 62-10-0; 3 M Jackson, Sheffield, 52-1-0; 4 T Butt, Sheffield, 32-4-0.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery Veterans Winter League (Thurs)

Moat Pool (28 pegs)

Result: 1 A Payling, Peg One Angling Centre, 63-8-0; 2 D Clegg, DJK Floats, 55-7-0; 3 P Bagshaw, Team Frenzee, 46-4-0; 4 S Twigg, Leegem Angling, 43-13-0; 5 D Owen, New Packet Inn, 38-9-0.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery Veterans (Mon)

Bridge Pool (12 pegs)

Result: 1 D Sellars, Sheffield, 43-8-0; 2 D Sewell, James Maude Linden, 39-2-0; 3 R Brooks, Leegem Angling, 27-14-0.

Decoy Lakes (Tues)

Beastie Lake (23 pegs)

Result: 1 T Dawson, Bait-Tech, 80-3-0; 2 R Pauley, JVAC, 46-8-0; 3 N Baxter, Bag ‘Em Baits, 44-10-0; 4 R Goodson, Decoy, 40-4-0.

Decoy Lakes

Beastie Lake (14 pegs)

Result: 1 S Pell, Spalding, 59-15-0; 2 N Baxter, Bag ‘Em Baits, 45-10-0; 3 D Carlton, Decoy, 40-4-0; 4 A Bates, Bait-Tech, 30-10-0.

Janson’s Fishery Santa Special (Weds)

All lakes (42 pegs)

Result; 1 P Elvin, Janson’s, 82-8-0; 2 K Dale Janson’s, 62-3-0; 3 R Smith, Janson’s, 56-1-0; 4 A Bullimore Janson’s, 51-15-0; 5 G Edwards, Janson’s, 51-8-0; 6 B Sandom, Janson’s, 42-12-0.

Janson’s Fishery (Thurs)

Donut & Tomo’s Pools (18 pegs)

Result: 1 J Larder, Janson’s, 91-0-0; 2 E Waterfall, Carlton, 69-13-0; 3 K Daws, Mansfield, 64-12-0; 4 J Brocklesby, Janson’s, 59-12-0; 5 B Blewitt, Janson’s, 43-6-0; 6 C Mason, Janson’s, 38-10-0.

Janson’s Fishery

Donut & Tomo’s Pools (14 pegs)

Result: 1 B Blewitt, Janson’s, 51-1-0; 2 S Draper, Lakeview Select, 43-6-0; 3 P Orton, Janson’s, 40-6-0; 4 N Ballaam, Grantham, 37-12-0; 5 G Woodcock, Middy, 26-13-0; 6 R Bexon, Janson’s, 20-7-0.

Little John Lakes (Weds)

Robin Hood & Maid Marion Lakes (22 pegs)

Result: 1 S Keyworth, Little John, 72-5-0; 2 M Wesselby, Little John, 61-12-0; 3 R Marlow, Little John, 55-9-0; 4 G Westwater, Bag ‘Em Baits/MAP, 41-9-0; 5 G Eden, Mansfield, 41-2-0; 6 G James, Little John, 30-2-0.

Little John Lakes Vets (Fri)

Friar Tuck Lake (22 pegs)

Result: 1 G Eden, Mansfield, 37-4-0; 2 P Tatley, Little John, 15-8-0; 3 M Kirkland, Notts, 13-4-0; 4 S Keyworth, Little John, 12-14-0; 5 M Smith, Woodhouse Angling Centre, 11-11-0; 6 G Bennett, MAP Mansfield, 11-0-0.

Little John Lakes Fur & Feather

Robin Hood & Maid Marion Lakes (25 pegs)

Result: 1 G Kitchener, Little John, 35-13-0; 2 M Crewe, Little John, 35-12-0; 3 S Keyworth, Little John, 27-4-0; 4 G Westwater, Bag ‘Em Baits/MAP, 26-5-0; 5 D Crewe, Little John, 23-0-0; 6 J Smedley, Little John, 15-4-0.

Manor Farm Leisure

Boundary & Middle Pools (15 pegs)

Result: 1 S Partington, Arthur’s Angling Supplies, 30-4-0; 2 C Woodward, Smithy’s Angling, 27-8-0; 3 N McKinnon, Preston Innovations, 24-8-0; 4 F Donachie, Colmic Airon, 22-6-0.

Moorlands Farm

Bank, Moors & Island Pools (29 pegs)

Result: 1 M Henshall, Foster’s, 52-8-0; 2 C Munslow, Moorlands, 44-3-0; 3 P Hadlington, Club 2000, 42-14-0; 4 J Bagley, Steven’s Tackle, 37-9-0; 5 C Hill, Mosella, 33-2-0; 6 D Williams, Halesowen RBL, 31-1-0.

Moorlands Farm (Tues)

Silver Pool (16 pegs)

Result: 1 B Tandy, Moorlands, 69-0-0; 2 M Watson, Daiwa Gordon League, 66-4-0; 3 B Drew, Bewdley, 44-12-0.

Moorlands Farm (Weds)

Bank & Island Pools (18 pegs)

Result: 1 M Watson, Daiwa Gordon League, 79-11-0; 2 R Phillips, Moorlands, 39-4-0; 3 P Bailey, Moorlands, 21-0-0.

Nathan’s of Derby Silverfish League (round five)

Rycroft Fishery (30 pegs)

Result: 1 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 26-0-0; 2 P Cooke, Derby, 23-0-0; 3 W Swinscoe, Drennan/Bait-Tech, 16-11-0; 4 A Taft, Nathan’s of Derby, 15-4-0; 5 D Lawrence, Mill Tackle, 13-6-0.

League: 1 R Wootton, 84-0-0; 2 A Taft, 78-0-0; 3 M Hall, 65-13-0; 4 J Eccles, 60-0-0; 5 P Turner, 58-6-0.

Nisa (Weds)

Dynamite Baits Makin’s Fishery, Lake 2 (16 pegs)

Result: 1 I Hughes, Browning Central, 21-6-0; 2 T Sanderson, Angling Man, 11-10-0; 3 J Adamson, Nisa Feeders, 8-10-0.

Nisa (Thurs)

Dynamite Baits Makin’s Fishery, Lagoon Pool (26 pegs)

Result: 1 J Shirley, Lane’s Bait, 50-12-0; 2 S Skelton, Maver, 40-0-0; 3 C Harrison, Bailey’s of Warwick, 38-6-0; 4 J Adamson, Nisa Feeders, 20-0-0; 5 G Wood, Swan Baits/Sconezone Floats, 19-12-0; 6 D Shaw, Stoke, 17-8-0.

Packington Somers

Molands Mere Pool (16 pegs)

Result: 1 I Keywood, Solihull Angling Centre, 29-10-0; 2 D Hartshorn, Swan Baits, 27-12-0; 3 S White, Kobra Feeders, 23-7-0; 4 S Edwards, Packington, 20-6-0; 5 A Wooding, Solihull Angling Centre,19-3-0; 6 S Smith, Kobra Feeders, 18-6-0.

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools (Mon)

Beech & Hawthorn Pools (15 pegs)

Result: 1 M Jameson, Boldings, 72-0-0; 2 P Hemmings, Monkhall, 46-7-0; 3 M Foan, Oakengates Angling Centre, 39-10-0; 4 E Bancroft, Rod & Gun, 37-5-0.

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools (Weds)

Sycamore Pool (14 pegs)

Result: 1 M Keene, ABC, 64-14-0; 2 T Foster, Boldings, 54-9-0; 3 H Williams, Weston Pools, 54-6-0; 4 M Jameson, Boldings, 52-1-0. 

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools (Thurs)

Chestnut & Sycamore Pools (35 pegs)

Result: 1 H Williams, Weston Pools, 59-3-0; 2 M Foan, Oakengates Angling Centre, 50-12-0; 3 C Holmes, Mid Severn Angling, 42-11-0; 4 P Evans, Boldings, 40-15-0.

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools

Beech & Oak Pools (21 pegs)

Result: 1 K Emlyn, Oakengates Angling Centre, 46-11-0; 2 S Hall, Oswestry, 42-6-0; 3 C Reynolds, Bilston Angling Centre, 38-15-0; 4 D Brown, Maver Midlands, 38-14-0.

Sherwood Forest Fishery (Tues)

Sherwood Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 B Elliott, Sherwood Forest Fishery, 28-11-0; 2 J Urruty, Alfreton Angling, 13-15-0; 3 G Hiley, Sherwood Forest Fishery, 11-1-0; 4 D Nicholls, Notts AA, 10-9-0; 5 S Richards, Sherwood Forest Fishery, 10-8-0.

Sherwood Forest Fishery (Weds)

Holmedale Lake (11 pegs)

Result: 1 A Lakey, Worksop Angling Centre, 60-3-0; 2 M Langton, Sherwood Forest Fishery, 42-6-0; 3 N Shipman, Sherwood Forest Fishery, 33-8-0.

Starlets Northfield Veterans AS (Tues)

Preston Innovations Woodland View, Front & Back Deans Pools (33 pegs)

Result: 1 D Adcock, Northfield, 60-0-0; 2 L Evans, Kidderminster, 37-8-0; 3 D Bates, Solihull, 25-12-0.

Starlets Packington Somers Vets (Tues)

Molands Mere & Little Geary’s Pools (45 pegs)

Result: 1 E Keene, COVPAC, 33-6-0; 2 N Davies, Packington Vets, 21-4-0; 3 R Atkins, Solihull Angling Centre, 19-10-0; 4 B Calcott, Lane’s Bait, 17-12-0.

Suffolk Water Park Silverfish Only

Match Lake 1 (15 pegs)

Result: 1 K Gooderham, Browning Wickford Angling, 14-4-0; 2 N Larkin, Nisa Feeders, 12-15-0; 3 D Howling, Suffolk Water Park, 11-4-0; 4 N Gooderham, Bait-Tech, 6-5-0; 5 R Baker, Suffolk Water Park, 6-4-0; 6 R Watson, Nisa Waveney, 6-3-0.

Tri-Cast Weston Pools Over 55’s (Weds)

All lakes (15 pegs)

Result: 1 M Ellis, Weston Wagglers, 28-7-0; 2 M Craddock, Dougie Speed, 27-10-0; 3 N Platt, Weston Pools, 23-9-0.

Tri-Cast Weston Pools Over 55’s Rover (Fri)

All lakes (12 pegs)

Result: 1 J Tatton, Chester Tackle Locker, 50-2-0; 2 R Perrin, Weston Pools, 49-2-0; 3 C Diamond, Eddie’s Bait Supplies, 43-12-0.

Tri-Cast Weston Pools

Canal, Weir & Jack’s Lakes (31 pegs)

Result: 1 R O’Connor, Drennan NW, 50-6-0; 2 J Andrews, Weston Pools, 40-8-0; 3 C Parry, Tri-Cast Weston, 39-0-0; 4 M Dawes, Drennan NW, 36-8-0; 5 C Gladwin, Weston Pools, 35-12-0; 6 A Amos, Drennan NW, 30-10-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm (Mon)

Extension Pool (17 pegs)

Result: 1 D Lutwyche, Hawkesbury, 24-10-0; 2 P Hancocks, Birmingham, 22-14-0; 3 A Lines, Banbury Gunsmiths, 22-10-0; 4 W Sweetman, Tunnel Barn Farm, 19-6-0; 6 S Birch, Northfield, 17-3-0; 6 A Harper, Tunnel Barn Farm Colts, 13-10-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm Over 50’s (Tues)

High Pool (28 pegs)

Result: 1 C Newton, Smithy’s Angling, 39-1-0; 2 K Turner, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 39-0-0; 3 D Pope, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 32-6-0; 4 W Sweetman, Tunnel Barn Farm, 31-10-0; 5 R Notley, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 30-10-0; 6 D Kingerlee, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 28-2-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm (Weds)

House Pool (16 pegs)

Result: 1 A Wakelin, Preston Innovations, 81-9-0; 2 P Canning, Solihull Angling Centre, 70-5-0; 3 A Harper, Tunnel Barn Farm Colts, 53-5-0; 4 D Tresigne, Colmic, 42-2-0; 5 P Hancocks, Birmingham, 40-14-0; 6 P Heaven, Greyhound AC, 36-1-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm Vets (Thurs)

Canal, Club & Jenny’s Pools (53 pegs)

Result: 1 D Kingerlee, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 82-6-0; 2 D Rowberry, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 77-11-0; 3 P Lewis, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 55-10-0; 4 M Grayson, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 61-4-0; 5 J Stockton, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 53-3-0; 6 J Wills, Tunnel Barn Farm Vets, 50-3-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm (Fri)

Canal Pool (17 pegs)

Result: 1 D James, Mosella, 78-9-0; 2 A Hark, Tunnel Barn Farm, 63-15-0; 3 J Brown, Maver Gold/Bag ‘Em Baits, 58-13-0; 4 D Hancocks, Birmingham, 51-13-0; 5 C Chamberlain, Tunnel Barn Farm, 43-15-0; 6 G Sadler, Daiwa, 39-4-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm

New Pool (23 pegs)

Result: 1 P Caton, Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, 45-8-0; 2 S Pulsar, Middy, 44-12-0; 3 S Kinch, Dynamite Baits, 40-12-0; 4 P Wrighting, Daiwa/Guru/Bag ‘Em Baits, 46-4-0; 5 S Ringer, Daiwa/Guru, 33-7-0; 6 S Huggins, Dynamite Baits, 32-3-0.

Westwood Lakes Over 50’s Christmas Match (Thurs)

Falcon Lake (32 pegs)

Result: 1 P Clark, Ruskington AC, 66-14-0; 2 R Wells, JVAC, 64-6-0; 3 S Gregory, Miracle Baits, 61-12-0; 4 R Robinson, Ropsley AC, 60-12-0; 5 P Raynor, Westwood Lakes, 57-12-0.

Westwood Lakes (Tues)

Falcon Lake (14 pegs)

Result: 1 M Cook, Westwood Lakes, 74-9-0; 2 J Kedzierski, Westwood Lakes, 66-1-0; 3 P Scott, Westwood Lakes, 58-9-0.

Willow Lakes

Match Lakes (19 pegs)

Result: 1 G Eden, Mansfield, 72-4-0; 2 P Kimberley, Team Zimba, 42-4-0; 3 P Arndt, Grantham, 40-4-0; 4 M Wesselby, Newark, 34-8-0; 5 A Birkin, Phil’s Bait & Tackle, 20-8-0; 6 C Williams, Newark, 17-8-0.

SOUTH

Alders Farm Fishery Christmas Bonanza

Pines & Ash Lakes (32 pegs)

Result: 1 R Brain, GOT Baits, 165-6-0; 2 M Greene, Daiwa/Old Ghost, 129-7-0; 3 T Price, GOT Baits, 91-11-0; 4 B Smith, Luton AC, 85-13-0; 5 M Denton, Drennan Oxford, 81-8-0; 6 P Bardell, Maver Milton Keynes, 78-12-0.

Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery (Thurs)

Campbell Lake (12 pegs)

Result: 1 A Oram, Dynamite Baits, 74-9-0; 2 J Butcher, Wiltshire Angling, 64-2-0; 3 G Powell, Maver, 51-15-0; 4 C Dyer, Langport, 33-2-0.

Top silverfish weight: T Gilbert, Wiltshire Angling, 19-2-0.

Coleman’s Cottage Fishery

Wood Lake (14 pegs)

Result: 1 F Thomas, Browning Wickford Angling, 105-8-0; 2 Z Lari, Ipswich, 59-0-0; 3 T Hayden, Coleman’s Cottage, 51-0-0; 4 P Binks, Colemans Bait & Tackle, 45-8-0; 5 G Bridge, Browning Wickford Angling, 41-8-0; 6 J Thompson, Cross Drove, 34-0-0.

Coleman’s Cottage Fishery (Tues)

Wood Lake (23 pegs)

Result: 1 P Binks, Colemans Bait & Tackle, 110-0-0; 2 P Cooper, Dynamite Baits, 84-12-0; 3 P Steward, Browning Wickford Angling, 62-12-0; 4 G Hollick, Felixstowe, 51-0-0; 5 C Booth, Cariers RAPS, 43-12-0; 6 D Hutchinson, Maver Coleman’s Bait & Tackle/Matchpack, 42-0-0.

Dynamite Baits Oakfield Fishery (Weds)

Red Kite & Swallow Lakes (15 pegs)

Result: 1 J Rogers, Frenzee/GOT Baits, 65-8-0; 2 B Alder, Oakfield, 49-4-0; 3 J Emerson, Top Tackle, 48-11-0; 4 R Llewellyn, Dynamite Oakfield, 33-11-0; 5 R Wall, Dynamite Oakfield, 31-4-0; 6 G Worrall, top Tackle, 29-4-0.

Dynamite Baits Oakfield Fishery

Red Kite & Swallow Lakes (15 pegs)

Result: 1 N Read, Dynamite Oakfield, 53-3-0; 2 R Bassett, Banbury Gunsmiths, 43-2-0; 3 J Rogers, Frenzee/GOT Baits, 30-4-0; 4 P McLoughlin, Dynamite Oakfield, 22-13-0; 5 M Pollard, Shimano/Stanjay Tackle, 22-7-0; 6 T Michaels, Dynamite Oakfield, 19-13-0.

Gold Valley Lakes Christmas Match

All lakes (81 pegs)

Result: 1 G Hellier, Gold Valley, 80-8-0; 2 R Carroll, Cove AC, 60-0-0; 3 A Thomas, Kennet Ospreys, 59-4-0; 4 J Young, Gold Valley, 50-12-0; 5 P Kay, Drennan Bordon Angling, 44-0-0; 6 C Kampa, Godalming, 40-12-0.

Lake John (Weds)

Top Lake (20 pegs)

Result: 1 M Parris, Lake John, 45-8-0; 2 M Scanlon, Oakwood Angling, 39-0-0; 3 M Luther, Rib Valley Angling, 25-8-0; 4 S Clark, Maver Image, 23-8-0; 5 B Everitt, Redbridge Lakes, 18-12-0; 6 C Bartlett, Lake John, 17-12-0.

Lake John

Bottom Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 K O’Brien, Lake John 12, 31-0-0; 2 T Pennycook, Lake John, 27-0-0; 3 M Amos, Angling Direct, 25-0-0; 4 C Vandervliet, Drennan/Bowler’s/Bait Tech, 23-0-0; 5 T Stanley, Lake John, 21-8-0; 6 D Carr, Drennan, 20-0-0.

Monk Lakes (Weds)

Lake 2 (15 pegs)

Result: 1 F Brown, Sensas SE, 107-8-0; 2 M Reece, Monk Lakes, 55-8-0; 3 B Luck, Monk Lakes, 50-0-0; 4 L Goodwin, Medway Tackle, 48-0-0; 5 B Upperton, Monk Lakes, 44-0-0.

Monk Lakes Silverfish Only

Puma Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 P Hamlyn, Preston Innovations Delcac, 30-4-0; 2 G Vallance, Preston Innovations Delcac, 23-0-0; 3 J Sene, Maver Cardinals, 19-6-0; 4 D Gladwin, Preston Innovations Delcac, 19-2-0; 5 S Hill, Garbolino, 16-2-0; 6 S Cottingham, Maver Cardinals, 16-0-0.

Puddledock Farm (Weds)

Snake Lake (16 pegs)

Result: 1 D Harold, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 66-8-0; 2 T Schiniou, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 45-0-0; 3 R Harold, Angling Direct, 43-0-0; 4 S Mould, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 32-8-0.

Slough House Lake Silverfish Only (Weds)

Bulphan (18 pegs)

Result: 1 G Night, IOD, 37-6-0; 2 J Hunt, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 27-14-0; 3 S Gibson, HMD, 25-3-0; 4 S Spooner, Bowler’s, 21-12-0.

Tyler’s Common

Ash & Willow Lakes (25 pegs)

Result: 1 G Manoli, Angling Direct, 114-12-0; 2 J Taylor, Bait-Tech, 112-0-0; 3 D Harold, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 101-0-0.

SUNDAY

NORTH

Aston Park £1,000 Silverfish Winter League (round five)

Split & Lily Ponds (32 pegs)

Result: 1 A Kirk, Maver, 18-1-0; 2 P Madeley, Aston Park, 13-14-0; 3 D Riley, Aston Park, 13-12-0; 4 D Hooper, Mosborough Tackle Box, 12-8-0; 5 R Wilson, Aston Park, 12-7-0; 6 N Nicholson, Aston Park, 11-10-0.

Barton Kingfishers Autumn League (final round)

Grange Park, Kingfisher & Heron Lakes (28 pegs)

Result: 1 D Mountford, Grimsby, 46-13-0; 2 P Hewitt, Grange Park, 40-7-0; 3 M Dalton, Sheffield, 39-14-0; 4 B Horsfall, Grange Park, 30-13-0.

Final league: 1 P Maddison, Winterton, 39pts (match wins); 2 M Day, Winterton, 39; 3 J Bradley, Barton Kingfishers, 37.

Blundell’s Fishery Rover

All lakes (32 pegs)

Result: 1 G Whalley, Bait-Tech, 49-14-0; 2 M Hassell, Stalybridge Angling Supplies, 32-13-0; 3 D Wood, Hazel Grove Angling Centre, 27-3-0; 4 K Webster, Urmston, 26-8-0; 5 M Wright, Gilder’s Tackle, 22-14-0; 6 M Rudd, Rochdale Angling Centre, 19-10-0.

Bob-Co Yorkshire Winter League

Yorkshire Ouse, Hunter’s Lodge, Linton, Aldwark, Thorpe Underwood and Widdington (80 pegs)

Result: 1 J Wilkinson, Aireborough, 5-5-0; 2 S Machell, Aireborough, 5-0-0; 3 B Jeffries, Leeds, 4-15-0; 4 T Guthrie, Halifax, 4-14-0; 5 S Holt, Aireborough, 4-7-0; 6 P Austin, Barlby Village Stores, 4-0-0.

Teams: 1 Angler’s World Holidays, 61pts; jt2 Barlby Village Stores, Tackle 2U, Aireborough and Leeds, all 49.

League: 1 Tackle 2U, 7pts; 2 Angler’s World Holidays, 10; jt3 Mirfield AC and Barlby Village Stores, both 19.

Brookside Fisheries

Snake Lake (24 pegs)

Result: 1 M Pleavin, Lionel’s Tackle, 50-14-0; 2 N Butterworth, Cheshire Angling, 38-12-0; 3 S Conroy, Kamasan/Sensas, 38-8-0; 4 J Howarth, Tri-Cast Highfield, 33-14-0; 5 S Knowles, Ted Carter Southport, 31-6-0; 6 R Whiteman, Cheshire Angling, 28-0-0.

Brighouse AA Christmas Cheer

Brighouse Canal (25 pegs)

Result: 1 C Ellis, Tri-Cast Calder, 5-15-0; 2 P Duffy, Tri-Cast Calder, 5-0-0; jt3 T Darcy, Ryburn and D Finnegan, Calder Angling Supplies, both 3-2-0; 5 S Avinou, Tri-Cast Calder, 2-12-0; 6 S Mitchell, Matrix Halifax, 2-5-0.

Cunneries Fishery Winter League (round three)

S Canal Lake (21 pegs)

Result: 1 C Robinson, Ted Carter Preston, 35-6-0; 2 A Lord, Cunneries, 29-4-0; 3 D Connell, Ted Carter Southport, 26-5-0; 4 T Murphy, Darwen Loyals, 18-10-0; 5 S Howarth, Ted Carter Preston, 17-0-0; 6 M Taylor, Darwen Loyals, 15-9-0.

Doncaster Fishing Centre Winter League (round six)

Garbolino Lindholme Lakes, Oasis Lake (30 pegs)

Result: 1 A Bailey, Daiwa Dons, 32-0-0; 2 S Clegg, Doncaster Fishing Centre, 30-15-0; 3 P Yates, Drennan, 24-13-0; 4 K Feast, Daiwa Dons, 24-10-0; 5 P Riley, Doncaster Fishing Centre, 21-12-0; 6 K Bridley, Rossington, 19-6-0.

League: Jt1 P Yates and A Bailey, both 7pts; 3 T Bray, 8.

Hampton Springs Fishery Silverfish Only

Alice Springs, Rock & Willows Pools (27 pegs)

Result: 1 A Spencer, Chester Tackle Locker, 25-0-0; 2 C Davis, Chester Tackle Locker, 19-14-0; 3 J Daives, Chester Tackle Locker, 19-10-0.

Heronbrook Fisheries

Canal, Match & Meadow Pools (46 pegs)

Result: 1 D Lockett, Stoke-on-Trent, 65-14-0; 2 P Lees, Gilder’s Tackle, 58-8-0; 3 R Randell, Rugeley, 46-3-0; 4 G Lees, Gilder’s Tackle, 430-2-0; 5 P Mellor, Heronbrook, 40-10-0; 6 S Wiliamson, Reddish AC, 39-0-0.

Meadow View Fisheries

Lark Pool (21 pegs)

Result: 1 D Williams, Team Dallam, 61-11-0; 2 E Dalton, Meadow View, 38-0-0; 3 B Dac, Edgeley Sports, 37-4-0; 4 P Barwell, Widnes Angling Centre, 28-0-0.

None Go Bye Farm Fishery

Middle Pond (17 pegs)

Result: 1 T Peters, Tri-Cast Calder, 15-6-0; 2 I Sutcliffe, Tri-Cast Calder, 12-11-0; 3 S Weston, Matrix Halifax, 12-2-0; 4 C Kendall, Middy, 10-11-0; 5 S Webster, Tri-Cast Calder, 10-8-0; 6 D Briggs, Tackle 2U, 9-2-0.

Oaks Lakes

Ash, Beech & Sycamore Lakes (21 pegs)

Result: 1 D Smith, Bait-Tech, 84-10-0; 2 B Poole, The Oaks, 61-6-0; 3 T Watson, Mosella Quaker, 60-12-0.

Partridge Lakes

Covey Canal Lakes (56 pegs)

Result: 1 C Mayor, Drennan NW, 42-7-0; 2 P Tickle, St Helen’s Angling, 41-11-0; 3 B Bush, Lingmere, 37-5-0; 4 R Priestley, Maver NW, 34-15-0; 5 R Rigby, Rochdale Angling, 34-8-0; 6 C Scott, Garbolino Elton, 33-5-0.

Ripon Piscatorials Christmas Match

River Ure, Nab - Bishop Monkton (36 pegs)

Result: 1 M Hope, Northern Angling Ripon, 5-8-0; 2 K Weighell, DH Angling, 3-0-0; 3 P Miller, Aireborough, 1-14-0; jt4 A Scaife, Parklands and D Robson, Tackle Box Kippax, both 1-13-0.

Rosemary Wood Fishery

Moss Lake (29 pegs)

Result: 1 A Dewhurst, Fisherman’s Tackle, 77-4-0; 2 Phil Dewhurst, Burscough Angling Supplies, 64-14-0; 3 Pete Dewhurst, Burscough Angling Supplies, 48-12-0; 4 J Dewhurst, Rosemary Wood MG, 37-9-0; 5 C Bowland, Rosemary Wood MG, 36-6-0; 6 T Joynson, Liverpool AS, 34-10-0.

St Helen’s AA

Carr Mill Dam (21 pegs) 

Result: 1 S Stott, Farnworth Tackle, 23-14-0; 2 D Bennett, Preston Innovations, 17-12-0; 3 J Fletcher, Fisherman’s Way, 11-6-0; 4 J Hines, Saints, 10-8-0.

MIDLANDS

Angling Direct Silverfish Pairs (round two)

Sion Farm Fishery (40 pegs)

Result: 1 G Albutt, Matrix/Bait-Tech, 27-2-0; 2 P Watts, Bait-Tech, 22-7-0; 3 G Clarke, Smithy’s Angling, 18-7-0.

Pairs: 1 P Watts and G Albutt, 4pts; 2 R Cooksey and P Jones, 6; 3 Glynn and Gary Clarke, 10.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery Teams of Four Silverfish League (round four)

Moat, Bridge & Croft Pools (40 pegs)

Result: 1 L Hewison, Wheato’s Hotshots, 54-3-0; 2 B Holmes, Matrix Dynamite Baits Trentmen, 29-11-0; 3 K Baxter, Daiwa Drawbags, 22-12-0; 4 L Barratt, Kelly’s Store, 20-1-0; 5 G Tomlinson, Wheato’s Hotshots, 17-15-0.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery

Reed Pool (14 pegs)

Result: 1 N Vernon, Gainsborough, 61-15-0; 2 M Edgecombe, Leegem Angling, 45-6-0; 3 S Gray, Worksop, 43-2-0; 4 W Lomas, Leegem Angling, 38-11-0; 5 D Robbins, Leegem Angling, 33-10-0; 6 S Robbins, Leegem Angling, 32-11-0.

Froggatt’s Pools

Lodge & Marlpit Pools (18 pegs)

Result: 1 K Woodfield, Tubertini Ludlow, 71-5-0; 2 D Silk, RDAS, 70-8-0; 3 P Goulding, Woody’s Tackle, 67-7-0.

Guru/Bag ‘Em Baits Individual Winter League

Decoy Lakes, Beastie Lake (20 pegs)

Result: 1 C Barley, Dynamite Baits, 78-0-0; 2 N Baxter, Bag ‘Em Baits, 59-12-0; 3 S Godfrey, Decoy, 49-8-0.

Lakeview Fishery

Reef, Oasis & Lagoon Pools (27 pegs)

Result: 1 S Ward, Nottingham, 57-4-0; 2 P Cooke, Leicester, 53-10-0; 3 B Greenbury, Finedon AS, 53-8-0; 4 S Butler, Lakeview Select, 43-5-0; 5 K Daws, Sensas, 43-4-0; 6 S Draper, Lakeview Select, 42-8-0.

March DAA

Old River Nene, March (90 pegs)

Result: 1 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 28-3-0, 2 R Hewison, Sensas Mark One, 23-4-0; 3 B Wiggington, Bait-Tech, 22-11-0; 4 S Colclough, Browning, 22-5-0; 5 S Merry, Bait-Tech, 21-13-0; 6 M Campion,  Maver Coleman’s Bait & Tackle.Matchpack, 21-13-0.

Moorlands Farm

Meadow & Bank Pools (32 pegs)

Result: 1 M Watson, Daiwa Gordon League, 47-0-0; 2 M Jones, Old Bear, 38-3-0; 3 P Little, Colin Pace Academy, 37-4-0; 4 P Hadlington, Club 2000, 32-3-0; 5 I Mills, Robin’s Timber, 27-4-0.

Packington Somers Winter League (round four)

Geary’s Level, Molands Mere & Little Geary’s Pools (60 pegs)

Result: 1 L Richards, Packington, 71-12-0; 2 P Canning, Solihull Angling Centre, 47-11-0; 3 I Crossman, Browning Central, 33-7-0; 4 S Smith, Kobra, 33-6-0.

 League: 1 L Richards, 9pts; 2 J Newton, 14; 3 M Brayfield, 17; 4 C Newton, 18.

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools Fur & Feather   

Chestnut, Sycamore, Willow & Larch Pools (70 pegs)

Result: 1 S Mottram, Drennan NW, 66-8-0; 2 D Craggs, Maver Midlands, 60-4-0; 3 S Rogers, Oakengates Angling Centre, 59-1-0; 4 M Keene, ABC, 52-13-0; 5 M Skelton, Oakengates Angling Centre, 51-10-0; 6 S Richardson, Maver Midlands, 51-5-0. 

Sensas Canal Masters (round two)

Grand Union Canal, Loughborough (55 pegs)

Result: 1 A Wells, Drennan Leicester Sensas, 11-450; 2 C Hughes, Kamasan Starlets, 5-400; 3 J Cunningham, Shakespeare, 4-730; 4 D Massey, Shakespeare, 4-700; 5 L Morley, Drennan Leicester Sensas, 4-200; 6 M Eustace, Bennett’s Bait & Tackle, 3-980.

Qualifiers: T Marshall, A Beasley, J Cunningham, A Cooper, C Hughes and A Wells.

Smithy’s Angling Fur & Feather

Lower Broadheath Pools (70 pegs)

Result: 1 S Smith, Smithy’s Angling, 92-2-0; 2 T James, Smithy’s Angling, 90-8-0; 3 G Clarke, Smithy’s Angling, 65-8-0; 4 ‘Rocky’, Smithy’s Angling, 57-1-0; 5 M Tracey, Smithy’s Angling, 56-8-0; 6 J Swain, Smithy’s Angling, 54-14-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm

Extension Pool (22 pegs)

Result: 1 S Ringer, Daiwa/Guru, 67-5-0; 2 P Caton, Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, 64-6-0; 3 A Parker, Mosella, 56-9-0; 4 C Hill, Mosella, 55-2-0.

Westwood Lakes

Falcon Lake (20 pegs)

Result: 1 L Morley, Westwood Lakes, 122-4-0; 2 A Swain, Sensas A4, 114-6-0; 3 P Harsley, Dave’s Peg, 103-3-0; 4 J Brooks, Middy, 93-10-0; 5 S Lane, Marukyu/Westwood Lakes, 78-7-0.

SOUTH

Alders Farm Fishery Winter League (final round)

Ash & Pines Lakes (40 pegs)

Result: 1 N Wooding, Rushden Angling, 133-9-0; 2 M Greene, Daiwa/Old Ghost, 95-11-0; 3 M McMillan, GOT Baits Red, 86-14-0; 4 R Quick, Chiltern AC, 86-6-0; 5 N Pringle, Brown’s Angling, 83-3-0; 6 L Cox, Rushden Angling, 81-12-0.

Teams: 1 Rushden Angling, 36pts; 2 GOT Baits Black, 26; 3 Chiltern AC, 22.

Final league: 1 GOT Baits Black, 187pts; 2 Rusden Angling, 140; 3 Got Baits Red, 134; 4 Chiltern AC, 127.

Coleman’s Cottage Fishery

Pathfield Lake (23 pegs)

Result: 1 P Binks, Coleman’s Bait & Tackle, 55-0-0; 2 T Edwards, Browning Wickford Angling, 43-0-0; 3 J Derry, Coleman’s Cottage, 40-0-0; 4 P Chambers, Browning Wickford Angling, 29-0-0; 5 M Brown, Browning Wickford Angling, 28-12-0; 6 F Jones, Dalston, 23-0-0.

Dynamite Baits Oakfield Fishery

Red Kite Lake (11 pegs)

Result: 1 R Wall, Oakfield, 46-7-0; 2 D Stratfull, Oakfield, 27-1-0; 3 N Reid, Oakfield, 18-14-0; 4 D Johnson, Oakfield, 17-8-0; 5 I Edwards, Oakfield, 17-6-0; 6 A Foulkes, Oakfield, 14-14-0.

Gillingham AA Winter Championship (round four)

River Stour, Deepwater - Rectory Straight (27 pegs)

Result: 1 A West, Gillingham AA, 8-0-0; 2 R Manns, Garbolino Blackmore Vale MG, 7-11-0; 3 P Henson, Gillingham AA, 4-9-0; 4 P Banfield, Gillingham AA, 4-8-0; 5 J Mills, Garbolino Blackmore Vale MG, 3-15-0; 6 T West, Gillingham AA, 3-7-0.

Gloucester Angling Centre Christmas Match

Gloucester Canal, Hempsted (47 pegs)

Result: 1 T Girdlestone, Frampton AC, 19-12-0; 2 N Baker, Maver Lobby’s Tackle, 14-10-0; 3 D Malpas, Gloucester Angling Centre, 13-10-0; 4 J Wellington, Gloucester Angling Centre, 11-12-0; 5 S Bryant, Gloucester, 8-4-0; 6 A Jane, Maver Lobby’s Tackle, 7-11-0.

Lake John/Angling Direct Winter League (round one)

Top Lake (26 pegs)

Result: 1 P Solen, Lake John, 28-12-0; 2 B Jarvis, Bisto/Lake John, 27-8-0; 3 A Gregory, Drennan Bordon Angling, 26-4-0; 4 G Lockwood, Mat’s Tackle, 26-0-0; 5 M Amos, Angling Direct, 23-8-0; 6 C Vandervliet, Bowler’s/Drennan/Bait Tech, 21-6-0.

Pairs: 1 P Solen and G Lockwood, 49pts; 2 B Jarvis and M Johnson, 39; 3 C Vandervliet and P Reddy, 38.

Medway Tackle Christmas Silverfish Match

Frant Lakes, Skirmish, Sunken Island, Car Park & Waterfall Lakes (26 pegs)

Result: 1 P Udell, Maver Cardinals, 31-8-0; 2 C Love, Willow Park, 29-4-0; 3 S Sanders, Preston Innovations, 26-12-0; 4 R Draisey, Edenbridge, 23-12-0; 5 I Lyndsey, Edenbridge, 21-8-0; 6 B Nesbitt, Advanced Pole Repairs, 20-12-0.

Monk Lakes Silverfish Only

Puma Lake (18 pegs)

Result: 1 P Wiltshire, Maver Cardinals, 29-10-0; 2 P Goodman, Preston Innovations Delcac, 25-2-0; 3 B Bathie, Vinyl Signs, 20-12-0; 4 P Hills, Maver Cardinals, 17-10-0; 5 B Chapman, Maver Cardinals, 13-12-0; 6 L Goodwin, Monk Lakes, 13-6-0.

Ockendon Bait & Tackle

Puddledock Farm, Snake Lake (46 pegs)

Result: 1 T Schiniou, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 115-6-0; 2 R Thomas, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 103-1-0; 3 G Rolfe, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 99-12-0; 4 J Penhaligon, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 78-9-0; 5 S James, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 76-8-0; 6 G Dack, Maver, 74-2-0.

Redbridge Lakes

Lake Daisy (10 pegs)

Result: 1 G McClair, Hollow, 11-14-0; 2 J Young, Redbridge, 9-8-0; 3 P Ali, Redbridge, 4-11-0; 4 T Parker, Usual Suspects, 4-6-0; 5 G Baker, Hollow, 4-0-0; 6 G Penny, Hollow, 3-12-0.

Wiltshire Angling Christmas Match

Bristol Avon, Barton Farm & Melksham (42 pegs)

Result: 1 S White, Chippenham, 22-5-0; 2 B Dukes, Garbolino Blackmore Vale MG, 7-1-0; 3 M Rayet, Maver Bathampton, 6-11-0; 4 G Matthews, Wiltshire Angling, 6-9-0; 5 C Fletcher, Maver Bathampton, 6-4-0; 6 M Harper, Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, 6-0-0.

You vote Ivan Marks the greatest canal angler of all time

The nation has spoken and the legendary Ivan Marks has been voted as the greatest canal angler of all time.

Officials from the Canal & River Trust launched a campaign in October to find out who was worthy of the accolade, listing 10 potential candidates for the title.

Hundreds of votes have since been cast and the much-loved former England international has now been honoured, with a majority 32 per cent of the votes.

Nobody else came close to stealing the title from ‘The People’s Champion’, with second placed Kevin Ashurst taking 21 per cent of the vote and Billy Lane came third with 10 per cent.

The award comes a week after the tenth anniversary of Ivan’s passing and his widow, Linda, believes the award is a fitting tribute. She said: “Ivan was a big fan of fishing canals and my son Chris and I are extremely moved and happy at hearing this result. We would like to thank everyone for taking the time vote for him.”

Canal & River Trust National Fisheries and Angling Manager John Ellis expected a tight race but admitted that Ivan’s popularity was clear from day one of the voting process. “Having won numerous local, regional and national championships, Ivan played a key part in changing the face of match fishing on canals, including embracing new tackle innovations, styles and techniques. 

“The Likely Lad from Leicester was a true inspiration to me and thousands of others and he thoroughly deserved to be the winner of this award.”

Voters were also asked to pick an angler they thought was worthy of praise that hadn’t been named on the initial list of 10, with Billy Makin just pipping the likes of Mark Pollard, Dickie Carr and Dave Berrow.

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New Canal & Rivers Trust Pairs Champs

Die hard canal anglers will have their own ‘RiverFest’ in 2015 following the announcement of dates and qualifiers for the Canals & Rivers Trust Pairs Championship.

Following last year’s pilot match, which saw just the one match fished on the Shropshire Union Canal at Soudley, 2015 will see anglers tackling 11 qualifiers on canals spread across the UK. In partnership with the Angling Trust, the Canals & rivers Trust will run qualifiers on venues such as the Kennet & Avon Canal, Beeston Canal and Gloucester Canal starting on April 12 with a 110 peg grand final to be held on the Birmingham/Fazeley Canal on Saturday October 24.

‘It’s been a long held ambition to see a major national event of this type launched on the canal network,” said Canals & Rivers Trust National Fisheries and Angling Manager, John Ellis. “I feel sure that many club anglers will fancy their chances on qualifying for the final on their own local patch and then who knows what might happen?”

Tickets for each match are priced at £20 per angler (£40 per pair) and will go on sale in early February through the Angling Trust. A 50 peg junior canal championship match will also be held on October 24. Venues and qualifiers are as follows:

Sunday April 12 - Grand Union Canal, Loughborough
Sunday April 26 – Shropshire Union Canal, Hodnet AC waters
Sunday May 3 – Grand Union Canal, Northampton area
Sunday May 24 – Kennet & Avon Canal, Devizes
Sunday June 21 – Gloucester & Sharpness Canal, Winget AC waters
Saturday July 11 – Aire & Calder Navigation Canal, Boothferry Aire & Calder Joint Canal Committee waters
Sunday July 26 – London Waterway venue to be confirmed
Saturday August 15 - Rochdale Canal, Heywood DAC waters
Saturday September 5 – Staffs/Worcester Canal, Wolverhampton AA waters
Sunday September 20 – Beeston Canal, Nottingham
Sunday September 27 – Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Wigan
FINAL: Saturday October 24 Birmingham/Fazeley Canal

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Riverfest sets its sights on £20,000 top prize

The organisers of the sport’s biggest river competition have launched a campaign to attract major sponsorship in a bid to realise the ‘ultimate dream’ of offering a £20,000 first prize to the winner.

Following the huge success of RiverFest, competition founder Dave Harrell this week revealed to Angling Times that he is working with event organisers the Angling Trust to attract a sponsor in order to make the 2015 event the biggest yet.

Dave believes that acquisition of major sponsorship from outside of the sport will allow the annual competition to reach its full potential by possibly growing the number of anglers in each regional qualifier from 60 to as many as 90 which will in turn substantially boost the individual prize pot that currently stands at an impressive £12,000.

“It’s my dream to eventually have a first prize of £20,000. This will take a lot of work, but we have already proved that the Angling Trust is capable of making some amazing things happen,” said Dave.

“The ‘trust’ has already put a pack together that will be sent out in order to attract interest from major companies outside of fishing.

“This competition is getting bigger and bigger every year and we are confident that there are businesses out there that will recognise the huge benefits of being associated with the success story that is RiverFest.”

Ben Thompson, competitions and performance manager for the Angling Trust, has been instrumental in the event’s success and has been at the forefront in producing its sponsorship campaign.

“We will sit down with Dave Harrell in the next few weeks to begin planning for 2015 and we will focus on securing a headline sponsor, reviewing the qualifiers and consider increasing the size of some of those qualifiers as well establishing a booking system that will meet the demand for tickets. We will be bringing news of developments to anglers early 2015.”

The Angling Trust is actively seeking sponsors for the competition, if anyone is interested in finding out more about this or other opportunities then please contact Ben Thompson at ben.thompson@anglingtrust.net

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England's best ever silverfish match!

A little-known venue that produced almost 1,000lb of roach and hybrids in a match has been described by competitors as ‘as good as Ireland’.

Hurworth Burn is on the outskirts of Hartlepool in the North East and is part of the River Skerne system, and was the stage for an incredible charity match where 31 anglers averaged no less than 29lb-per-man.

The five-hour contest was won by Maver Newman Scott’s Graham Jones, who fished a groundbait feeder with worm and maggot hookbaits at 25yds to take roach and hybrids for an impressive 46lb 11oz total.

It headed up an incredible string of weights with the top six anglers all weighing in over 40lb apiece.

“I’ve fished this venue for the last few years and it’s always good, but this was truly incredible! I visit Ireland twice a year and the sport was on par, if not better,” Graham told Angling Times.

“The venue is connected to the river at both ends where it must have been dug out many years ago and is around half a mile long and around 200yds wide.

“The fish were ripping the rod off the rest and I started on a size 14 hook, but in the latter stages I changed to a size 12 as the fish were so confident and I fed my way through over a kilo of worms through the feeder.

“It’s a shame that the fishing here is restricted and only a few matches a year are allowed.”

Mosella Quaker’s Chris Gowling was at the other end of the results table but even he described his day’s sport as ‘incredible’.

“I’ve never had a roach fishing session where I’ve weighed in 15lb of fish and didn’t come anywhere,” said Chris. “You normally get a hot few pegs or a productive area in silverfish matches, but this was off the scale because everyone’s swim held so many fish. It was dream fishing.”

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River match series plans

The resurgence of river fishing across the country continued this week with plans to launch the second major national running water competition in as many years revealed.

Following the huge success of RiverFest the new event is the brainchild of top-flight matchman and natural venue expert Michael Buchwalder. He has teamed-up with RiverFest founder Dave Harrell to discuss the idea after a post on social media site, Facebook, gained the interest of hundreds of anglers.

The duo are just two of several river experts that will now attend a meeting to discuss the launch of the four-match event that will be modelled on the popular UK Champs, which currently takes place on some of Britain’s most popular commercial stillwaters.

But with more and more anglers returning to river fishing and an increase in running water matches, Michael aims to stage the new brand-new event on venues such as the Wye, Severn, Thames, Trent and Avon.

“There’s no doubt that river fishing is making a huge comeback and there needs to be more big river matches. I’d give up fishing if I had to go to commercials all of the time!” Michael told Angling Times.

 “I posted the idea on Facebook and the response was amazing. Now that Dave is on board and we have a meeting lined up with loads of other river anglers I really think that we can get this competition off the ground.”

Michael wants to build on the success of Riverfest which, run by the Angling Trust,  launched last year and is the UK’s biggest river competition with a first prize of £12,000.

“Michael asked me whether I thought there might be sufficient interest to create a new four match river series along the same lines as the UK Champs and I gave him a very confident ‘yes’,” said Dave.

“There is a significant amount of interest all over the country from anglers wanting running water matches and more river matches are being created to satisfy this need. I for one would love to take part if it gets off the ground.”

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Fishfinders to be used in matches?

Fishfinders have been a common sight among specimen anglers for years – but they could soon be making an appearance on the match circuit according to one former Fish O’Mania finalist.

Essex-based rod Tony Curd has won countless contests during his career, using innovative ideas on numerous occasions to come out on top. And after recently getting his hands on the new Deeper Fishfinder, he instantly recognised the value it could have in events. The device can be hooked on to a pole rig and lowered in, showing information such as the contours and depth of your swim as well as the number of fish present on a mobile phone app that can be downloaded for free.

He said: “During the trial I tied it on to a heavy length of line and shipped my pole out to where I'd been catching from. I could see the pellets I was feeding falling through the water on my phone and it showed that every time I fed, more fish came in to the swim.

“It was also clear that some bigger fish were sat up in the water so I shallowed up and caught a number of large F1s.

“It could be a fantastic tool in matches in cool weather, helping you to locate a shoal of fish without having to spend an age searching your peg. It would definitely be very effective but I have to admit it’s inevitable that some places would ban it in matches,” he added.

One fishery owner that is open to the idea of such technology is Lindholme Lakes boss Neil Grantham. He told Angling Times: “I don’t have a problem with anyone who wants to come here and use this kind of equipment as long as it’s safe and doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s fishing.

“Fish shoal up as it gets colder and I can see the benefits of a fish finder and how it would be useful for anglers that want to locate them quickly.”

On the other side of the fence, however, is Westwood Lakes owner Alan Coupland. “Match fishing is about working your swim out and then attacking it,” he said. “This technology would take that element away and spoil things and we wouldn’t allow it in our contests.”

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Wigan win Division 2 National

Angling Trust Division Two National 2014
Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Wigan (31 teams)

Fished on their home water, there would have been a very stern examination of what went wrong if Wigan MG hadn’t come away from this National with at the very least a team medal but the Lancashire side lived up to their pre-match favourites billing to lift the silver trophy with a 273 point score, 28 clear of Sensas North West with Middy Dams & Lock finishing with 235 points.

However, even they were aware that being armed with up to date information and bags of experience on the canal would count for nothing if the draw dealt them some of the tough pegs on the match length, which even they admitted would see them struggle to come away with decent points.

Thankfully, the bag dealt only one worrying draw and only one of the 10 man team finished outside of the top six in their sections, the Wigan scorecard including section wins for Danny Martin and Kev Clarke plus seconds for Dave Edgerley and Ant Marsden, who was the angler that has drawn that hard peg but which he made short work of!

“We put a lot of time in and know the canal like the back of our hands and we knew that we set off as favourites as all through the practice matches people were telling us we’d win no trouble at all,” said winning captain Danny Martin. “We tried to play it down a bit because I didn’t want to put too much pressure on the lads. We knew we could win it and if we got a reasonable draw we’d do fine but that was my worry because the canal has a lot of bad areas that you just can’t do anything with, no matter how well you know the place.”

“After the draw we gathered round and went through what we had and worked out whether to fish for big fish, whether to use hemp and even if eels would play a part,” Danny continued. “We had one bad peg in F section but had the right man on the peg. Ant Marsden knows the canal better than most and can catch big bonus fish when needed, which was certainly the case here. He weighed in a bream and a big perch fishing lobworm to the far bank stick ups and came second in the section, which was a brilliant result from what could have been a disaster of a peg.”

Elsewhere, Wigan broke the match length down into three distinct areas. Sections A, B and C were all about catching skimmers and bream as there were few small fish and that meant fishing breadpunch for the first half hour as this is when the better fish normally showed and then changing to caster or squatt to drain every last fish from the peg.

“The remaining sections were about small fish work with groundait, squatt, pinkie and maggot plus a hemp line for roach, which we turned into a bread line later on when the hemp went off,” Danny revealed. “We felt that sections D to H would be fine for bites but that J and K would be tough because they’d been bad in practice. The problem was that on top of three opens a week, the canal has four 100 peg practice matches on it as well and that’s a lot of pressure, which can see a venue change a lot. That’s where experience came in as we see the place change through the year and know how to adapt.”

Eels came into play on sections D and E fishing worm down the middle mainly to rest other lines, the main catching area being at 13m where two balls of groundbait were fed at the start. Small skimmer, roach and perch were the targets after an opening blast on a big piece of breadpunch to look for a bream. Hemp was then used as another option to catch a bigger stamp of fish.

“In terms of weights, each section was different and on A, B and C we agreed on 1.5 kilos a man, upped to nearer 2 kilos on the middle sections and then a kilo on J and K,” Danny added. “There were some very, very good canal teams fishing and that’s why I didn’t think we’d have it all our own way. Liverpool fish the canal all the time as do Sensas North West and Team Eclipse are an experienced canal team so I expected all of them to push us close and even win if we weren’t on our game. Winning by 30-odd points seems a lot but that’s only three points per section and that’s nothing really – an odd skimmer or perch here and there.”

Team result: 1 Wigan MG, 273pts; 2 Sensas North West, 245; 3 Middy Dams & Lock, 235; 4 Winterton AC, 221; 5 Browning Northants, 214; 6 Maver Coleman’s Bait & Tackle/Matchpack, 211; 7 Matrix Halifax, 206; 8 Team Eclipse, 201; 9 Tri-Cast Rochdale, 198; 10 Matlock AC, 196.

There was a convincing win on the individual front as Eclipse AC man Perry Follows strolled to the gold medal with 13-400 of bream from peg A5 at Seneca, almost 10 kilos clear of runner-up John Boyko and he used some local knowledge to help him on his way to victory fishing pellets rather than the more usual worms and casters.

Drawing on the same section that he’d caught just over 1lb of little fish from in practice a few weeks earlier, the Rugeley man was fearing the worst once again but as he pushed his barrow past that peg there was relief and then excitement as he arrived at A5 to find far bank lily pads and a fishy-looking peg.

“I had a chat to one of the stewards who was a local lad while I was getting ready and he told me that there were always bream living close to the pads and that I had a chance, which pepped me up no end,” Perry said. “I kicked off on the team plan fishing squatt at 5m and caught a few perch but it slowed down after 45 minutes so I went across, where I always thought I’d catch the bulk of my fish anyway. I’d put in two lines up against the pads at 13m on top of the shelf in about 2.5ft of water, one at 10 0’clock with chopped worm and caster and the other at 2 o’clock where I fed micro pellets and casters. I half thought about groundbait here but decided to play it safe to begin with.”

The chopped worm line produced a few more small perch but some bubbles on the other long pole swim prompted Perry to change and fishing a 4mm expander pellet on the hook, he connected with a bream on his first drop in, which promptly saw him off in the lily pads! That saw him pick up a heavier rig and he never looked back!

“This rig had a 6-8 elastic, 0.11mm line straight through and a size 18 hook and I never lost another fish,” Perry explained. “I’d thought about fishing worm and maggot bit the steward told me that the bream on the canal love pellets and I had some with me as we’d seen this as a team in practice. I did change to a redworm later on as the pellet seemed to go off and this gave me five fish which were a bigger stamp, up to 3lb as well.”

“I could see the fish blowing all-day and after losing the first one, there’s always the fear of having ruined the peg but on the next put in I caught a 12oz skimmer, which was a big settler,” he continued. “The first bream arrived after around 15 minutes and it then took roughly 10 minutes between fish but when a bite came, you couldn’t miss it – it sailed away! The water was painfully clear though and I could see the bream when I hooked them but the shoal stayed put throughout and only in the last hour did it go completely dead.”

By then though, Perry had done the damage with a dozen bream between 2lb and 3lb, that skimmer and the perch, runner-up John being sat further along the section on A28 where he took a more typical canal net of 4-140.

Individual result: 1 P Follows, Team Eclipse, 13-440; 2 J Boyko, Winterton AC, 4-140; 3 G Robinson, Winterton AC, 3-800; 4 S Johansen, Team Eclipse, 3-590; 5 T Foster, Middy Dams & Lock, 3-380; 6 M Derry, Middy Dams & Lock, 3-340.

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England stars win World Pairs Champs in Ireland

Lakeland & Inland Waterways World Irish Pairs 2014 (70 pairs)

It’s been a hell of a summer for Rob Wootton and Adam Wakelin, the pair of Leicester lads winning World Feeder Championships gold for England back in July and then Rob taking the UK Champs crown just weeks ago and the two boys rounded off their campaign with this big money title in emphatic style, following in the footsteps of Cathal Hughes and Phil Jackson to win Ireland’s richest festival and earn their place in the history books.

In fact, it could be argued that it was all over bar the shouting from the midway point when Rob and Adam had opened up a massive lead over the chasing pack thanks to three brilliant opening days that saw them win each overall match between them with 20 kilo-plus weights, scoring that couldn’t be matched and with gave them enough of a cushion to hold off contenders if disaster struck in the final few days.

Not that it did though as the two men put into action a steady approach for Thursday and Friday, designed to ignore winning overall and increasing the lead, more to keep hold of what they had and keep all four hands firmly on the trophy.

It worked a treat too as the champions finished with almost 23 kilos in hand over last year’s runners-up Steve and Phil Ringer, who were quick to acknowledge how much damage had been done in those first few days and how the mountain facing them would ultimately prove too much to climb.

“We made the commitment to fish the pairs having spent so much time over here practising for the Feeder Champs,” Adam said. “The fishing was brilliant and Rob fished the pairs last year with Nick Speed and told me what an unforgettable week it was so I was in pretty quickly! I wouldn’t say we fancied winning it but we felt we knew how to judge the venues in terms of the tactics to be on and the species to go for at certain times, which was very similar to Iniscarra on the World Champs.”

Winning over 12,000 Euros including the 10,000 Euro top prize, Rob and Adam got off to a flier on day one with Shimano/Dynamite Baits-backed new UK Champion Rob winning the match with over 28 kilos of hybrids and skimmers from Bunerky Lake fishing the feeder with bunches of red maggot. Then Adam took over.

“I was on Church Shore at Garadice but conditions were so bright and calm that you never think you can catch a big weight of roach and hybrids as the weather is so un-Irish!” he said. “I fished much the same way as Rob and had 25 kilos of roach, hybrids and skimmers to win the match and then did the same with 27 kilos from Killydeas the next day! By that point we had a massive lead and I think partly felt we’d got it sewn up so long as we had no disasters and some massive weights weren’t taken. You can never say never on a weight only festival but we were bursting with confidence.”

Friday was forecast to be more Irish with wind and rain and both Rob and Adam had one eye on this, fearing some out of the blue bream weights to upset the applecart but the forecasters got it wrong, sun and light winds prevailed and the big weights never appeared to leave them the champions!

“Fishing over in Ireland in the build up to the World Champs helped us massively without a doubt,” Adam added. “There were times when you had to work out when to change to fishing for skimmers of bigger hybrids, just like on Inniscarra. Those fish may only feed in your peg for half an hour but you had to be on the button to make the change and cash in. Sitting and waiting for them all day didn’t allow you to catch the roach and small hybrids before and after the big fish turned up and if you ignored them altogether, you just couldn’t have any sort of weight to challenge with.”

Despite ending up second for the second year in succession, brothers Steve and Phil Ringer were still more than happy with their week’s work, earning them over 7,000 Euros and rounding off a summer that saw Steve crowned World Feeder Champion and Phil earn a team gold on Inniscarra Reservoir.

And in all truth, both thought any chance of catching winners Rob and Adam had gone by midway through the week with 40 kilos of catching up to day and the draw rotation not putting them on sections with any form for big weights, which would have helped them claw back the gap.

“Adam and Rob were so far ahead that it would have been miraculous to reel them in,” Phil said. “With two days to go we had our own battle on our hands to finish second as Grant Albutt and Jamie Hawkins and Bob Nudd and Darren Davies weren’t behind. It all boiled down the final day when they were in the same sections as us and in was a straight shoot out to keep our advantage that we’d built up and to keep them at arm’s length.”

“I think we also missed out when we were on the big weight areas,” Phil added. “We caught well but with 15 kilos against Adam and Rob catching 25 kilos and 28 kilos, you can see where the advantage was opened up so quickly. They had a mega first few days and I think that blew a lot of the competition out of the water but it was a weight only festival and it can change on the final day, which we were hoping for but deep down, I think we’d settled for second!”

Pairs result: 1 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits and A Wakelin, Preston Innovations, 160-630; 2 S Ringer, Daiwa/Guru and P Ringer, Ringer Baits, 137-020; 3 G Albutt, Matrix/Bait-Tech and J Hawkins, Guru, 127-820; 4 R Scott, Vale Royal Angling Centre and M Buchwalder, Preston Innovations, 124-940; 5 B Nudd, Browning/Van Den Eynde and D Davies, Drennan, 121-790; 6 C Hughes, Kamasan Starlets and N Hughes, Nathan’s of Derby, 115-090.

A by-product of winning the event overall in normally success in the Daiwa Cup too, this individual event running alongside the pairs and seeing the angler with the highest weight aggregate over the week lifting the glass trophy and winning the handsome cash prize plus vouchers for Daiwa Tackle – and Adam Wakelin was the man to get his name on the cup for 2014 with a comfortable victory on 93-510, almost 14 kilos clear of Steve Ringer.

“I can’t deny that we had a brilliant start to the week and on day one I was at Brackley Lake where I had 17 kilos of roach and hybrids on pole and caster for a brilliant day’s fishing and then it stepped up several gears and I just couldn’t believe how good the fishing was,” Adam revealed. “I had 25 kilos of roach and hybrids on the feeder from Glass House to win the whole day and then did the same at Killydeas on Wednesday with 27 kilos on the tip.”

“Lough Scur was next on Thursday and after the two previous days, I guess it was always going to be a bit of a come down but 14 kilos of roach and hybrids on the short pole with worm and caster was a lovely day’s fishing and did my bit for the pairs cause too,” Adam explained. “Friday was perhaps my worst day but hand on heart I wasn’t that bothered. I had around 9 kilos of hybrids and roach on the waggler from Lough Ross. To win the Cup is a great little bonus on top of the Pairs!”

Daiwa Cup result: 1 A Wakelin, Preston Innovations, 93-510; 2 S Ringer, Daiwa/Guru, 79-860; 3 R Scott, Vale Royal Angling Centre, 78-210; 4 G Albutt, Matrix/Bait-Tech, 777-950; 5 C Hughes, Kamasan Starlets, 77-880; 6 C Blurton, Ted Carter Preston, 75-190.

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Ridgemere AC lift Angling Times Bait-Tech Supercup

Angling Times/Bait-Tech Supercup 2014 Final
Barston Lakes, Main, Match & Daisy’s Lakes (15 teams)

Is local knowledge all it’s cracked up to be in team fishing? Ridgemere AC will have words with you if you doubt this after the Birmingham side dismantled all-comers to be crowned 2014 Supercup champions with a super display that owed a lot to knowing the lakes of Barston intimately.

Holding regular club matches on the lakes as well as fishing the recent Barston Masters series, Ridgemere came into the final well-armed with lots of snippets of information and known how for dealing with certain pegs and they put it all to the best of use by scoring 23 points and lifting the trophy by 10 clear points.

Closest to them were Bill’s Tackle on 33 points, who did at least have the satisfaction of improving on last year’s Barston final when they finished second from last, third going to North Yorkshire outfit Strayside Anglers on the same points but without the number of section seconds that Bill’s posted.

Ridgemere’s win maintained the dominance of West Midlands sides as DECCA AC were champs 12 months ago but the new kings are the ones everyone was talking about post-match after a great set of scores that owed everything not simply to fishing for the skimmers, which so many observers thought would provide steady points, but going for carp and F1 hybrids at the right time.

“We’re local, we fish Barston a lot and we came here today with a lot of confidence – some of the lads would have walked over broken glass to be here today, that’s how much they love fishing the place,” said Ridgemere skipper Aubrey Lovell. “However, today was a big final with some great teams so it was quite a bit different to what we’re used to when we come here. The fishing remains the same though and a couple of the team had qualified for the Barston Masters Final the day before and had some useful bits of information that paid off today.”

Two weeks ago, Ridgemere would have put a lot of faith in the Method feeder but seeing how the lakes changed, with the mass of skimmers on the Main Lake and the emergence of the pellet waggler as a key method, a few hand grenades were hurled into the middle of the team plan and that left the new champions with no solid plan as such. Pegs were analysed and some ideas worked out but the anglers would be firmly in control of how they fished their swims.

“We knew that the feeder had stopped working and that the waggler could catch fish in the right areas but we also knew that on the Main Lake, the skimmers might not feed for the full five hours and a couple of back up plans would be needed to catch a few better fish to get us over the line in the sections,” Aubrey said. “We felt the Match Lake would look after itself while the Daisy’s Lake was a real unknown quantity and any half decent score would do there. As it happened we got a great peg and Paul Hubbard scored five points, which was brilliant.”

Methods were mixed up on the Main Lake with Craig O’Brian winning his section on the pellet waggler, Paul Terry returning 53-14-0 of skimmers for section third from what looked on paper a tough draw in a corner and Neil Carless cracking 60lb to win. Backed up by Steve Daly with fifth on the Main Lake and nine points from Paul Ainsworth on the Match Lake, Ridgemere seemed to have one hand on the cup after just a few weigh ins but nothing in team fishing can ever be taken for granted.
“What we felt might happen did happen with two hours to go as the wind dropped and the sun came out – those skimmers stopped feeding,” Aubrey revealed. “That’s when the carp lines came into play and we knew once we drew which pegs gave us the most realistic chance of a big fish or two. If it didn’t, we carried on catching what we could.”

“To win is a terrific feeling – we’re a proper club that’s fished the Supercup since the start. We finished third at tunnel Barn Farm a few years ago and that really whet the appetite!” Aubrey finished.

For runners-up Bill’s Tackle there was obvious disappointment at finishing second but given they were second from last in 2013’s final, there was great progress and a feeling of close but no cigar from the Essex men.

“We live 200 miles away from the lakes, hadn’t practiced and only had a walk around last night – I don’t think we could have expected more,” said captain Danny Mason. “Our plan was all about skimmers, skimmers and more skimmers on the Main Lake fishing pellet and feeding little bits of groundbait short on the pole with the pellet waggler as a back-up. On the Match Lake we wanted a good peg and got it with peg 1 while Daisy’s wasn’t a lake you could plan for as no one seemed to know much about it!”

“We all agreed that small fish would give us a steady score so it was blinkers on, get you head down and catch what you can. A target of 100 fish would give us a good weight and it worked by and large but I think we missed out on a few bonus carp and F1s that would have given us a few more points – that’s where Ridgemere’s local knowledge came in,” Danny added.

Team result: 1 Ridgemere AC, 23pts; 2 Bill’s Tackle, 33 (section seconds); 3 Strayside Anglers, 33; 4 Stainforth Angling Centre, 38; 5 Mosborough Tackle Box, 41; 6 Burton Angling Supplies, 43; 7 Finedon AS, 45; 8 Poplett’s, 47; 9 Kinky Pellet Club Aston, 52; 10 Beaufort 21 AC, 54; 11 Devizes, 55; 12 Ashmole, 57; 13 Alliance & Leicester Liverpool, 63; 14 Guildford Angling Centre, 65; 15  Knighton Angling, 72.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better peg” was the frank admission of individual champion Stu Naylor as he was handed peg 22 on the Match Lake by his captain, a flier that provided second overall in last year’s final and which was to see the Derby angler go one better with top weight in 2014.

Weighing in 117-2-0 from the narrow snake lake, Stu took the day’s only 100lb-plus weight but it was close as Mosborough Tackle Box’s Gary Dodsworth chipped in with 91-10-0 from the peg on the dam wall of the Main Lake that saw Paul Holland take a massive 200lb in the UK Champs just days earlier.

Knowing little about the lake, Stu did however work out that the peg was highly fancied, being an end peg draw with a lot of room to his right but after a couple of hours of the match, things weren’t exactly going to plan.

“I’d planned to fish worm across to the far bank at 13m but was plagued by very small carp and couldn’t catch anything of a decent size,” he said. “After a few hours I decided to open up another line to the far side but further along with the hope that the better fish might be hanging off where I was fishing originally. It worked and I had a good little run of carp before that slowed up.”

Starting on worm head and feeding chopped worm and caster, Stu soon changed to potting in just groundbait and fishing a whole worm on the hook to pick off the better fish. Carp to 4lb responded but it was a change to the right and margin close to overhanging bushes that really kickstarted the peg.

“The edge was an obvious place to fish given the room I had and I went there with just short of two hours to go,” he explained. “I’d been feeding groundbait there and went in with a whole worm and enjoyed a steady few hours. The carp were decent with a few close to 10lb but the average a lot smaller. I think I had around a dozen down the side but was worried about peg 1 on the other side of the island to me as that’s reckoned to be a great peg too but I heard that the angler on there was struggling to catch in the edge.”

Individual result: 1 S Naylor, Burton Angling Supplies, 117-2-0; 2 G Dodsworth, Mosborough Tackle Box, 91-10-0; 3 S Hodgkinson, Burton Angling Supplies, 82-12-0; 4 D Theakstone, Poplett’s, 72-13-0; 5 N Carless, Ridgemere AC, 64-14-0; 6 R Hearn, Bill’s Tackle, 63-4-0.

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Fish O'Mania final goes silver!

Silverfish are set to dominate future Fish O’Mania finals after the owners of the host venue revealed they are preparing a total overhaul the current stocking policy.

Staffordshire’s Cudmore Fisheries has staged match angling’s most prestigious event since 2008, with numerous big catches recorded from Arena Pool since then.
In 2013, winner Jamie Hughes weighed in over 150lb to take the glory, but weights slumped this year, with eventual champion Andy Geldart needing just 44lb to take the £30,000 first prize.

Blueprints have now been drawn up to bring Cudmore back to its best, with officials set to remove all of the current stock and replace them with thousands of barbel, chub and ide.

Fishery manager Vic Spooner is confident that the move will boost catches and he told Angling Times: “Carp have been the predominant species in the past couple of years but we plan to drain the lake in October and all of the current stock will be removed and distributed between the other waters.”

“It is then a case of restocking with 3,000 chub, over 1,000 barbel and the same quantity of ide from our onsite fish farm. There will also be lots of roach, bream and a good head of carp but I wouldn’t expect them to be as important in matches as they have been previously.”

Although no deal has been signed yet, it is widely expected that the 2015 contest will once again be at the complex and two times Fish O’Mania champion Matt Hall has seen the venue go through various phases in recent years and he said: “A multi-species fishery will make for a great match. Carp will linger in certain pegs but silverfish will move around and an angler that is struggling in the early stages could easily get themselves back into the reckoning.”

“What is important though is the size of the fish because viewers want to see big fish that fight hard. When I won in 2009 it was mainly barbel around the 3lb mark and fish of this stamp would certainly fit the bill,” he added.

Fish O’Mania owners Matchroom sport have also thrown their support behind the development and Media Director Luke Riches said: “This is a very positive move, not only for Cudmore but for Fish O’Mania as well and I’m sure we’ll experience a great match next July as a result of this action.”

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Cameron bags Maver Match This win

Maver Mega Match This Final 2014
Maver Larford Lakes, Match Lake (24 pegs)

All too rarely match anglers have one of those days where everything goes to plan and they fish the perfect five hours but never does it seem to happen in the cauldron of big money finals – until Saturday when Chris Cameron turned in a faultless display to be crowned 2014 champion and earn himself a massive £60,000 pay day.

Weighing in 42-220 from peg 8 on the grass bank of the Match Lake, Chris judged his match well to keep the chasing pack at arm’s length once he took the lead after a couple of hours, picking off fish from several areas of his swim to keep the catch rate ticking over and his nose in front.

Key rivals seemed to be Andy Fulleylove sat almost opposite him on peg 16 of the burr bank and Lee Wright to Chris’s left but both slipped just off the pace at the final reckoning, Andy ending up third to bag himself £3,000 with Perry Stone coming from, nowhere with a late run of big margin carp to nip into second and take the £5,000 cheque with 37-460, close but ultimately not close enough to spoil the Cameron party.

Chris now joins the likes of Andy Power, Les Thompson and Zak Brown in winning UK match fishing’s premier event and plainly ranks the day as the best of his career, recalling how everything he did seemed to go to plan and produce fish. No tangles, no harsh words and no spells of panic; just a smooth match.

“At the gala dinner the night before I got peg 8, which is permanent peg 20 and I was very, very happy with that,” Chris said. “I did have concerns that the pegs to my right could be a bit better as they always seem to hold more fish and Lee Kerry and Jamie Hughes were on those so I saw them as a real threat. However, I’d fished the lakes the weekend before and actually drawn peg 19 so had a really good idea of how to fish the match and had also seen that strong winds we’ve been having had pushed a lot of fish away from the pegs to the right and closer to my swim. I just hoped that they were still there!”

Taking on board what the weekend before had shown, when he finished third on the whole lake, Chris took the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach, aiming to catch big carp as opposed to F1 hybrids and alternating between two pole lines, the tip and the margins but feeding would be minimal as he reckoned the fish in the lake preferred a little and often ploy compared to dumping the bait in.

“I kicked off with a banded 8mm pellet on the deck at 6m – smaller pellets get smashed up by the skimmers,” he revealed. “That gave me one carp of about 8lb and then it dried up so I went out to 13m with the same bait on the deck, feeding 6mm pellet with a toss pot and caught one F1 and a 4lb but I expected this to slow down and it did so while I was waiting, I began flicking 8mm pellets onto my bomb line at 25m out, an easy range to feed.”

After an hour, the 43-year-old was onto the tip, fishing bomb and banded pellet but with few indications and no fish, Chris sensed that the method wasn’t going to work. With not much else being caught around the lake, there was time and the chance to play the sit and wait game and that’s when the Method feeder came into play. Casting to the same spot with a feeder wrapped in micro pellets and a little Old Ghost Carp Match groundbait, Chris fished a yellow 8mm Ringer Baits Banded Allsort pellet and enjoyed a great hour, catching ten carp between 4lb and 8lb plus a few F1s to take the lead.

“Leading didn’t really affect me – in fact is helped because it told me that what I was doing was working!” he revealed. “I kept on that line and while waiting I fed a few pouchfuls of pellet on the 13m pole line with the plan to drop the bomb onto here late on. The margins were also going to be crucial and in an ideal world I’d have fished this for the last 90 minutes but when I tried there, only ant odd fish moved into the swim. I did nick four carp but I was waiting too long and the fish weren’t there in the right sort of numbers to make the wait worthwhile.”

Prior to going down the side, Chris had a look back on his 6m line and bumped two carp, telling him that some fish had turned up in the area. In an inspirational move he undearmed his Method feeder here and caught two big carp, working on the principle that the feeder doesn’t spook fish or give false bites like the pole can and you couldn’t argue with his logic!

“At the whistle I’d clicked 89lb to saw pretty close,” Chris said. “I’d always felt that Lee Wright and Andy Fulleylove were my rivals but had no idea that Perry had caught what he had! Once I took the lead I followed the scales round by 42 kilos is easily beatable on this lake so no chickens were being counted.”

“Once Perry had weighed in I could allow myself a smile and knew that I’d won it. It was one of the best days in my fishing career ever, one that worked – everything I did seemed easy and worked. There were some nerves, of course but I told myself that as long as I could keep catching and putting something in the newt then I would give myself the best chance I could.”

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New match allows anglers to use just 30 maggots!

What would you do if you were allowed just thirty maggots to fish a match with? That’s the dilemma facing competitors in a new type of event at two Yorkshire fisheries, Aston Park in Sheffield and Woodhouse Mill in Huddersfield.  The ‘Thirty Maggot Challenge’ consists of a one, two or three hour sprint to score points, with different species of fish worth various points.

The initiative has been launched in a bid to increase angling participation and organisers eventually hope to roll it out nationally across the UK and culminate in a grand final. Piloted by Steve Kelly and his Learn2Fish project at Woodhouse Mill, the matches have already proved a hit with anglers of all ages and abilities.

He said: “Our match record is 78 fish on 18 maggots and you also get points for every maggot you return at the end. When one of our older anglers dropped a maggot the air turned blue! It puts the fun back into fishing as matches are taken far too seriously these days. We’ve seen it encourage pleasure anglers who would never have considered competitive fishing before give it a go. We don’t allow keepnets to encourage those who might not own one to take part. Each one caught is logged by our volunteers on the bank,” he explained.

Every match features a 30 minute pre-baiting period in which an unlimited amount of bait can be introduced, but once the whistle goes only 30 maggots can be used. Steve said that this has really forced anglers to re-think their matches, with the volume of bait put in before the ‘all-in’ having to last for hours. Some even put it in a couple of different places. The concept was also introduced to Aston Park fishery last week by Angling Trust Talent and Competitions Officer Frankie Gianoncelli. The next events take place there on August 31 and September 3 and 6.

GET INVOLVED
For more info contact Frankie on 07800 855709 or Steve on 07811 314365. Both are looking for new fisheries to start the challenge.

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Drennan Barnsley Blacks win Division 1 National by a point

Angling Trust Division One National 2014
River Trent, middle & tidal sections (42 teams)

Plenty of teams have gone into a National as favourites but few come away with the silverware – not Drennan Barnsley Blacks though, who were the overwhelming top pick to win this year’s match on the Trent but in the end it came down a lost fish here and a small gudgeon caught there to give the South Yorkshire side the title by just a point from last year’s winners Shakespeare Superteam.

Scoring 336 points, Barnsley just edged out the West Midlands side with Daiwa Dorking taking the bronze medal on 316 points and as the results were read out, there was an almighty roar from Barnsley as not only did the win mean the title, to go with the Winter League crown won a few weeks earlier but it also gives them another shot at the big event that has eluded them for many years – the World Club Championships.

Having spent the past few weeks practicing intensely on the river, Barnsley had worked out what was a big fish draw and what wasn’t and with pegs in hand, skipper Glenn Lawrence and his boys sat down and soon realised the day would be a small fish one with feeder rods in search of bream and barbel only set up as a last resort.

“The river has been low and clear for a long time now and big fish unreliable,” Glenn explained. “We didn’t get any real fliers and with the bright sunshine, we agreed that it’d be a roach match fishing the float. Going into a match as favourites can be a real danger as you can almost know too much about the river and get carried away with your bread and butter point scoring. We were well aware of this and knuckled down to catch small fish, keeping something going into the net and returning with as big a weight as the peg was worth.”

Strong winds would rule out the pole for much of the team and they fell back on the waggler, making full use of the space between pegs to attack their swims with up to five pints of loosefed maggots and with an explosion of small dace in the river, Barnsley were sure of good catches, even on the harder tidal sections.

“The tide was running off all day and that always means a float match on there,” Glenn revealed. “Our scores weren’t quite as good on these sections as they were on the middle reaches but as long as we didn’t have a horrendous blow out here, we felt we could absorb a high 20 point score with good results elsewhere. When lads are coming back with 7, 9 and 10 kilo weights, you know you’re in with a great shout of winning.”

Star turns of the champions were Ian Bowman with a section win in C section, thirds from Simon Fields in E and James Dent in B sections and a fourth from Mick Vials in A section and with six of the ten anglers finishing in the top ten of their sections, Barnsley could have been forgiven for thinking that their win would have been more resounding than it was!

Shakespeare were left huddled around after the presentation studying the results and seeing where it all went wrong but losing by just a point, there wasn’t really a finger of blame to point anywhere and captain Tony Barker was philosophical in defeat, putting to down to one of those things and how team match fishing can be.
“It really is one of those things and I don’t think we’ll beat ourselves up about it,” he said. “We’ve lost to the favourites, who are a brilliant team but of course we fancied it this morning as we’ve got just as good a river team but being local to the river, I looked at our pegs and felt we’d have to pull out a superb result to win as the draw wasn’t screaming out at me.”

“We knew the pegs well, knew the methods that were needed but much would depend on the strong wind blowing down the river and how that would hamper fishing the pole or float,” he continued. “For some it was a day fishing for bream, for some roach and others catching what was there – I caught 4 kilos of gudgeon for example so it was never going to be a one method one species match as the Trent is too varied for that.”

Top performers for Shakespeare were Steve Williams with third in A section, James Robbins with the same score in J section and Spig Powlowski who won a strong F section featuring the likes of Darren Cox and William Raison.

Team result: 1 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 336pts; 2 Shakespeare Superteam, 335; 3 Daiwa Dorking, 316; 4 Kamasan Starlets, 276; 5 Daiwa Dons, 269 (weight); 6 Maver Image, 269 (weight); 7 Maver Bathampton, 269; 8 Lincs County, 263; 9 Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, 262; 10 Daiwa Gordon League, 257.

While conditions weren’t ideal for big nets of bream and barbel, there were areas where a few showed to produce the leading individual weights and while the tidal sections had largely been written off beforehand, it was one of these at Besthorpe which saw Phil Wintle earn his place in the record books with an 18-000 net of bream.

Drawing peg 33 in H section, the Maver Milton Keynes man added this title to the Division Three crown he win way back in 1988 on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, netting nine bream and a few skimmers on groundbait feeder tactics to finish a couple of kilos clear of runner-up Andy Anderson on 15-840 from B section.

“I hadn’t been up and practiced so the peg meant little to me but we’d gone with the plan of fishing for bream or barbel to begin with and seeing how it went,” said the 55-year-old from Northampton. “I saw a bream top before the start so was confident a few were about and within the first half an hour I’d caught two fish around 4lb apiece so that made up my mind to keep at it!”

Using a 3oz groundbait feeder packed with chopped worm, casters and micro pellets, Phil swapped between live and dead red maggots or two small worms on the hook, casting to midriver using a size 14 hook Tubertini Series 18, 6lb Maxima mainline and an 0.16mm hooklength, leaving the feeder in the swim for around five minutes at a time to ensure a good stream of bait was going into the peg.

“Even though the sun was out and the water was crystal clear, the fishing actually get better as the match went on and the only real problem I had was that the flow was strongest right in front of me so once I got a fish to within netting range, it was hard work to get them that final few yards,” he explained. “I broke two landing net handles in the process!”

Line bites and indications were numerous but when a bite came, it wasn’t hard to spot but what Phil wasn’t to know was that two fish for around 5 kilos in the last 15 minutes of the match effectively sealed the win.

Individual result: 1 P Wintle, Maver Milton Keynes, 18-000; 2 A Anderson, Clay Lane AC, 15-840; 3 I Pauley, Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, 15-130; 4 G Welton, Garbolino RAF, 14-380; 5 B Gibson, Sensas Mark One, 12-900; 6 M Harper, Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, 12-850.

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Heart rates of Fish O' finalists similar to those of top-flight athletes!

Scientists have revealed exactly what fishing for £30,000 can do to your body, as competitors in one of the closest Fish O’ Mania finals ever had their heart rates compared to those of top-flight athletes.

State-of-the-art heart rate monitors were fitted to 14 of the 16 anglers in this year’s Fish O’ Mania Final at Cudmore Fisheries in Staffordshire and the results have astounded experts as the heart rates of some of the competitors were similar to that of premiership footballers and cyclists.

The average resting heart rate of a healthy male can be anything between 50 and 100 beats-per-minute (BPM), but the monitors attached to front runners in this year’s five-and-a-half hour big money final saw their average heart rates recorded at 145 BPM.

The experiment was carried out by researchers at the University of Chester who discovered that when the eventual winner, Andy Geldart, and early front-runner Ashley Price were playing fish their heart rates soared up to 180 BPM - the same as those reached in sports such as athletics, football and rugby.

“All of the team were surprised by how high the competitor’s heart rates were, especially when they got a bite or were playing fish,” said Nick Dobbin of Chester University, who headed up the experiment.

“Obviously footballers are on the go for 90 minutes and are super fit so their heart rates are pretty high whereas anglers aren’t that active. But the big change came when the guys in contention were really under pressure which manifested itself in huge peaks in their heart rates.”

Fish O’ Mania winner Andy Geldart was also amazed by the findings. He admitted that even though the pressure of fishing a match of this magnitude was like nothing had ever experienced before, he had no idea he, and the other competitors around him, had heart rates compared to top flight athletes.

“This proves that just because we aren’t scoring goals or racing around a running track, it doesn’t mean that our sport doesn’t get the adrenalin and the heart pumping big time,” Andy told Angling Times.

The researchers also monitored the heart rates of the competitors in the Fish O’Mania International the following day whose heart rates were found to be considerably lower.

Key findings in numbers
- 180 – The highest peak heart rate (BPM) during the Fish O’Mania Final belonging to Ashley Price and Shaun Cooke
- 12.6 – litres of blood pumped out of the heart per minute with a BPM of 180.
- 90 – The lowest average heart rate (BPM) belonging to Kevin Dicks.
- 10 – Difference in percent between the Fish O’Mania finalists heart rates and the International Fish O’Mania competitors.

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Steve Gardener calls time on England career

One of England’s greatest ever match anglers has revealed he has called time on his international career after 27 glittering years at the top of his game.

Steve Gardener has been a familiar face in the national setup since he was handed his debut in 1987 and has played a huge part in helping his country secure 11 team gold medals at the World Championships during his distinguished career.

Despite still fishing big open events on a regular basis, he was left out of the latest team that is set to do battle in Croatia this summer and the Milo-backed star has now decided to retire from international duty.

Angling Times spoke to Steve to discuss an action packed career that was littered with success.

After 27-years of fishing for England your journey has finally come to an end – how do you feel about it?
I feel absolutely fine. I never took fishing for my country for granted and it was always a question of time as to when it would happen. Now it has been confirmed that it is all over I can sit back and enjoy cheering the lads on from home.

What were your greatest highlights during your England career?
There are so many to choose from but being selected for the squad for the first time in 1987 is up there. Dick Clegg called me and asked whether I fancied joining the team for the World Championships in Portugal and I said yes.  I came third in my section and we won team gold – it was a dream start.
Fishing in the World Championships on home soil at Holme Pierrepont in 1994 was incredible, as was the event in Italy in 2005 when Will Raison won gold and I took bronze.

There were a few disappointing moments as well – what was the lowest point of them all?
Every time you lose or the team doesn’t take a medal you hit a low point. The worst of them all would have been in Belgium in 2004.
The Swiss angler next to me hooked a big fish that ran out of his peg and as a result it didn’t count at the weigh in. That meant the French won the section and that in turn cost England the gold medal.

Could you have ever imagined your England career would have lasted this long?
I didn’t imagine for one minute I would have fished for my country for over two decades. Before my first call up, I never had any aspirations to get into the England team as I wasn’t sure I could handle the pressure. In all honesty, the nerves never disappeared and I still had them before the last World Championships I was involved in!
I’ve travelled the globe, fished with some of the best anglers in the world and been part of a squad that has kept the medals coming home. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Do you have any regrets?
People often ask whether not winning an individual gold medal irritates me, but it honestly never has. It was all about performing for the team and I was fortunate enough to gain a silver and a bronze individually. I always put 100 per cent in to preparing and fishing for my country and if I could do it all again I wouldn’t change a thing.

Who is the best angler you ever fished with?
I have been surrounded by a lot of world class anglers but without a doubt the best of them all is Will Raison. He has got the full package – he always gets his tactics and feeding right and he has the motivation and desire to be the best. I know for a fact he will eventually emulate the likes of Bob Nudd and Alan Scotthorne when it comes to individual gold medals.

How strong do you think the current England setup is?
There are a lot of talented juniors coming through such as Callum Dicks, Bradley Gibbons and Lee Kerry who have the potential to be world stars. They have all got great ability and if they remain committed and focused they will be selected for England time and time again.

What does the future hold for you?
I just want to keep going fishing and being competitive at a high level. I still spend hours preparing and everything has got to be perfect. One thing is for sure, this isn’t the end of Steve Gardener.

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International Angling Academy gets the go-ahead

Talented anglers are being encouraged to get involved in a brand new scheme that is aimed at unearthing national superstars of the future.

England legend Dick Clegg exclusively revealed to Angling Times earlier in the year that he was determined to create an International Angling Academy to support rising stars. His dream is now set to become a reality after the first session of the forward-thinking scheme was given the green light.

Juniors, veterans and ladies with aspirations to fish at the highest level can apply for a spot in the inaugural session on the Middle Level Drain in Kings Lynn on June 29.

It is expected to be the first of a long-running series, with highly skilled coaches, such as top matchman Steve Sanders and former veteran’s World Champion Joe Roberts, passing on their vast knowledge to help participants reach their full potential.

Officials at the Angling Trust gave the final go-ahead for the idea and Dick believes it will play a vital part in producing anglers capable of regularly winning gold medals in the future. He said: “England has a tremendous record in World Championship competitions and to maintain this I believe we need to use all this experience by creating an academy.

“People like Steve Sanders and Joe Roberts are among the world's best coaches and they are the ideal candidates to give advice on groundbait, rigs, presentation and all aspects of the rules relating to World Championship fishing.

“We hope this is the start of a process that will help us find exceptionally talented anglers that we aren’t yet aware of,” he added.

A limited number of places are available for the meeting, with interested parties required to email sandra.drew@anglingtrust.net with a short CV and be current members of the Angling Trust.

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Sunday matches June 8

NORTH

Bannister House Fishery
New Match Canal Lake (38 pegs)
Result: 1 P Bottomley, Coppull Anglers, 90-8-0; 2 L Murphy, Ted Carter Preston, 90-8-0; 3 K Owen, Firswood Fishery, 84-8-0.

Blundell’s Fishery Rover
Trio & Pine Pools (33 pegs)
Result: 1 S Openshaw, Lingmere, 146-2-0; 2 G Whalley, Bait Tech, 133-8-0; 3 D Swain, Mosella Garbolino, 102-14-0.

Bob-Co/Carp Vale Spring Series (round 13)
Match & Cyprio Pools (28 pegs)
Result: 1 O Hewitt, Bob-Co, 125-2-0; 2 D Wright, Leeds, 116-4-0; 3 G Watson, Carp Vale, 106-8-0.

Brookside Fisheries
Snake Lake (24 pegs)
Result: 1 M Pleavin, Lionel’s Tackle, 86-2-0; 2 J Battersby, Garbolino Elton, 77-6-0; jt3 D Bibby and R Whiteman, both Cheshire Angling, both 75-12-0.

Hall Lane Fishery
Bessie’s Lake (33 pegs)
Result: 1 S Shepherd, Ted Carter Preston, 114-0-0; 2 A Bennett, Daiwa/Guru/Bait-Tech, 102-4-0; 3 J Berry, Wigan Angling Centre, 91-4-0.

Heronbrook Fisheries
Meadow & Match Pools (34 pegs)
Result: 1 P Haines, Ultimate Pellet, 91-0-0; 2 P Sheehan, Team Mosella Garbolino, 82-6-0; 3 K Dennis, Ultimate Pellet, 81-8-0.

Highfield Fisheries
Oak Lake (18 pegs)
Result: 1 J Wardley, Ted Carter Preston, 35-10-0; 2 N Stretch, Gerry’s of Morecambe, 32-8-0; 3 P Devoys, Highfield, 28-8-0.

Hodnet MG
Shropshire Union Canal, Hinstock Wood, Goldstone & Soudley (42 pegs)
Result: 1 D Parry, Browning Lifestyle, 30-14-0; 2 R Cooper, Hodnet MG, 10-1-0; 3 S Broome, Bilston Angling Centre, 9-10-0.

Langwith Lakes
Kevin’s & Bethany’s Lakes (22 pegs)
Result: 1 H Bignall, Bag ‘Em Baits, 117-12-0; 2 T Bainbridge, Acomb, 84-2-0; 3 N Dixon, Goes Under Floats, 80-14-0.

Meadow View Fisheries
Lark Pool (23 pegs)
Result: 1 D Hancox, Cheshire Angling, 63-4-0; 2 R Salmon, Burt Baits, 47-0-0; 3 J Garside, Danny’s Tackle, 36-4-0.

Oaks Lakes
Ash, Beech & Sycamore Lakes (60 pegs)
Result: 1 A Nelson, Mosella Quaker, 115-4-0; 2 J Howarth, Maver Midlands, 101-2-0; 3 E Bridon, Maver, 83-1-0.

Oaktree Leisure 
Pond 4 (14 pegs)
Result: 1 G Pawlett, Oaktree, 72-0-0; 2 S Walker, Woodland Tackle, 64-8-0; 3 P Crombie, Oaks Lakes, 64-4-0.

Partridge Lakes
Covey Canal Lakes (85 pegs)
Result: 1 D Jowett, Maver NW, 94-11-0; 2 L Harrison, Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 79-3-0; 3 S Clegg, Saints, 76-2-0.

Rosemary Wood Fishery
Moss Lake (34 pegs)
Result: 1 A Dewhurst, Fisherman’s Tackle/Rosemary Wood MG, 122-11-0; 2 A Hartley, Rosemary Wood MG, 70-10-0; 3 C Smith, Lingmere, 67-4-0.

Scunthorpe DAA
Stainforth & Keadby Canal, Bonny Hale (50 pegs)
Result: 1 C Batchelor, Winterton, 33-4-0; 2 C Singleton, Tackle 2 Fish, 21-3-0; 3 A Gregory, Scunthorpe Tackle, 18-12-0.

Wigan DAA
Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Appley Bridge (32 pegs)
Result: 1 S Padden, Tri-Cast Highfield, 19-6-0; 2 B Moors, Bolton, 9-0-12; 3 G Martin, Tri-Cast Highfield, 8-7-0.

Woodland Lakes
Curlew Lake (21 pegs)
Result: 1 F Hayhurst, Woodland Tackle, 63-15-0; 2 M Crowe, Woodland Tackle, 48-9-0; 3 P Close, Mosella Quaker, 48-1-0.

MIDLANDS

Bait-Tech Westwood Lakes Teams of Three (round three)
Skylark & Osprey Lakes (42 pegs)
Result: 1 S Winters, Drennan, 160-12-0; 2 M Kirk, Westwood Lakes, 122-14-0; 3 J Kedjerski, Westwood Lakes, 119-10-0.
League: 1 Stampy’s Three, 40pts; 2 Maver/Bait-Tech, 41; 3 Matrix Dynamite Baits Trentmen, 50.

Bottesford DAA Canal Champs/Ted Stokes Memorial
Grantham Canal (55 pegs)
Result: 1 A Young, Bottesford DAA, 14-4-0; 2 J Brockway, Bottesford DAA, 13-7-0; 3 A Wright, Long Eaton Fed, 8-14-0.

Cross Drove Fishery
Hockwold (27 pegs)
Result: 1 J Barrowman, PW Angling, 88-12-0; 2 S Wheeler, Daiwa/Dynamite Baits, 85-10-0; 3 J Heaps, Popplett’s Tackle, 75-7-0.

Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery
Moat Pool (40 pegs)
Result: 1 M Watson, Leegem Tackle, 94-15-0; G Mumby, Team Frenzee, 93-9-0; 3 N Vernon, Gainsborough, 89-5-0.

Decoy Lakes
Willows Lake (27 pegs)
Result: 1 L Marlow, Corby, 160-7-0; 2 S Godfrey, Decoy, 144-13-0; 3 J Whincup, Frenzee/Bait-Tech, 117-11-0.

Lakeview Fishery
Canal, Marina & Oasis Pools (34 pegs)
Result: 1 Keith Daws, Lakeview Select, 71-9-0; 2 N Edwards, Lakeview Select, 67-10-0; 3 Ken Daws, Sensas Mansfield, 67-1-0.

Manor Farm Leisure
Boundary Pool (27 pegs)
Result: 1 R Merry, Arthur’s Angling Supplies, 72-8-0; 2 M Rawlinson, Middy/Preston, 56-4-0; 3 B Sutor, Astwood Bank AC, 48-8-0.

Moorlands Farm
Silver and Meadow Pools (38 pegs)
Result: 1 C Senter, Alan’s Tackle, 134-14-0; 2 C Hill, Mosella, 129-11-0; 3 M Watson, Daiwa Gordon League, 122-8-0.

Packington Somers
Molands Mere Pool (25 pegs)
Result: 1 A Findlay, Preston Innovations, 69-10-0; 2 S Edwards, Packington, 36-8-0; 3 S Smith, Kobra, 31-10-0.

Peterborough DAA
Ferry Meadows Lakes (36 pegs)
Result: 1 R Woodward, Chiltern Baits, 82-11-0; 2 M Greenway, Leicester, 38-14-0; 3 M Smith, Steel City AC, 29-13-0.

Preston Innovations Boldings Pools
Chestnut, Larch & Oak Pools (32 pegs)
Result: 1 G Emlyn, Oakengates Angling Centre, 144-4-0; 2 J Potts, Boldings, 122-11-0; 3 M Taylor, Shakespeare, 114-5-0.

Solhampton Fishery
Buzzard Pool (20 pegs)
Result: 1 C Jones, Solhampton, 184-12-0; 2 A Welding, Solhampton, 168-1-0; 3 M Howells, Solhampton, 119-5-0.

Tunnel Barn Farm
House Pool (18 pegs)
Result: 1 S Cantwell, Atomic, 180-6-0; 2 L Richards, Packington, 169-0-0; 3 D Elliott, Packington, 115-5-0.

SOUTH

Avon Valley Summer League (round one)
Sonu Baits Passies, Match & Pamela’s Lakes (60 pegs)
Result: 1 A Quarmby, Drennan Bordon Angling Blue, 109-0-0; 2 P Stone, Tubertini South, 87-0-0; 3 D Lewis, Drennan Bordon Angling Blue, 53-0-0.
Teams: 1 Drennan Bordon Angling Blue, 53pts; 2 Drennan Bordon Angling Green, 40; jt3 Arun Angling Red and Sensas A4, both 39.

Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery Spring League (round three)
Campbell, Cary & Lodge Lakes (55 pegs)
Result: 1 L Greenwood-King, Bait-Tech Viaduct, 203-2-0; 2 M Wynne, Bait-Tech Viaduct, 195-2-0; 3 I Exall, Frenzee South Wales, 160-11-0.
League: 1 A Neal, Frenzee/Bait-Tech, 6pts; jt2 S Tucker, Garbolino/Bait-Tech and N Ewers, Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, both 9.

Daiwa Gordon League
Gloucester Canal, Rea- Pilot (45 pegs)
Result: 1 S Williams, Maver Lobby’s Tackle, 23-2-0; 2 A Jane, Maver Lobby’s Tackle, 21-0-0; 3 D Davies, Drennan/Daiwa Dorking, 20-6-0.

Dynamite Baits Oakfield Fishery
Red Kite Lake (22 pegs)
Result: 1 G Thorpe, GOT Baits, 104-4-0; 2 R Young, Dynamite Oakfield, 63-13-0; 3 D Simons, Dynamite Oakfield, 44-14-0.

Jim Debnam Memorial
Lodden Lakes (24 pegs)
Result: 1 J Moody, Garbolino Blackmore Vale MG, 26-10-0; 2 J Shepherd, Haines Angling, 23-4-0; 3 A Dyke, Gillingham AA, 18-1-0.

Kevin Chapman Memorial
Fennes Fishery, Ash Grounds, Hill & Black Lakes (39 pegs)
Result: 1 S Cox, Cariers RAPS, 74-4-0; 2 D Carr, Drennan, 68-8-0; 3 M Johnson, Lake John, 58-4-0.

Monk Lakes
Lake 3 (24 pegs)
Result: 1 D Lock, Preston Innovations Delcac, 217-8-0; 2 M McMillan, Preston Innovations Delcac, 216-2-0; 3 P Wrighting, Guru/Daiwa/Bag ‘Em Baits, 157-10-0.

Ockendon Bait & Tackle
Puddledock Farm, Snake Lake (52 pegs)
Result: 1 D Swift, Matrix/Sonu Baits, 136-2-0; 2 S Spooner, Bowler’s, 100-2-0; 3 M Armfield, Ockendon Bait & Tackle, 86-14-0.

Oxford Summer League Practice/Mick Craig Memorial
Kennet & Avon Canal, Great Bedwyn (32 pegs)
Result: 1 M Herbert, Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, 10-10-0; 2 T Hobbs, Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, 10-0-0; 3 G Barclay, Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, 8-6-0.

Redbridge Lakes
Both lakes (15 pegs)
Result: 1 J Young, Redbridge 36-8-0; 2 M Phung, Bowler’s, 35-10-0; 3 P Storan, Redbridge, 29-8-0.

Rye DAS Club League (round four)
Royal Military Canal, College (48 pegs)
Result: 1 B Chapman, Maver Cardinals Green, 33-15-0; 2 T Relf, Iden Wood fishery Red, 30-14-0; 3 P Udell, Maver Cardinals Black, 19-9-0.
Teams: Jt1 Sensas SE Gold and Maver Cardinals Green, both 32pts; 3 Advanced Pole Repairs, 29.5.
League: 1 Sensas SE Gold, 133.5pts; 2 Advanced Pole Repairs, 124; 3 Sensas SE Marine, 122.

Summerhayes Fishery
Sellick’s & Lily Ponds (22 pegs)
Result: 1 T Magnall, Mosella, 81-5-0; 2 P Purchase, Sensas Thyers, 76-3-0; 3 M Heard, Summerhayes, 61-15-0.

Tommy Pickering sets new river record

Tommy Pickering has sensationally broken the match record on Ireland’s famous River Erne with 241lb of bream and hybrids.

The England feeder team manager took the mammoth bag on the penultimate day of the Mahons festival which he went on to win, taking him from 64th overall to 37kg ahead of the rest of the field overnight! Fishing the feeder under a bridge in the town of Enniskillen, Preston-backed Tommy landed 58 bream to 6lb and six large hybrids.

“It was just one of those rare red letter days and my second biggest catch ever,” said Tommy. “I missed a bite first cast then had a 4lb hybrid second chuck and it was just solid. People were timing me taking 20 – 30 seconds to hook a bream, it was daft at times, then I had to reel it back up through 30 yards of flow. The ironic thing is I’d not had a good week’s fishing up to that point with only 18kg on the board and I was told I was on a good roach peg. But the festival is done on weight so I decided to take a gamble and go for some bream on the feeder, hoping I might get 20 or 30kg. I set up just two tip rods. Then this happened, it was unbelievable!” he laughed.

Drawing peg 1 on the Sligo road section of the river, Tommy earmarked a midway crease to cast to and he was immediately into fish using a worm and maggot hookbait on a size 12 PR355 hook, a 3ft long 7lb hooklength, 0.12mm braid and a large 40g plastic feeder.  As he puts it, ‘you don’t fish light over here when you’re on fish!’ He got through four pints of casters, 1kg of worm and a tin of corn through his feeder, capping the ends with groundbait. The official weight recorded was 109kg 500g (241lb), which eclipsed the old best of 226lb, set on the opposite side of the river. This went a considerable way to helping Tommy win the festival, pocketing £2,000 for his efforts. It’s still some way short of his biggest catch, which of course is 323lb 11oz of bream from Skanderborg Lake in Denmark in the 1995 Embassy Pairs Final.

To see how Tommy Pickering broke the record, see Angling Times out Tuesday June 3.

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World Championships for UK?

England's hopes of hosting the World Championships took a step closer to becoming a reality this week after it was confirmed that a bid to host the international event has been launched.

A raft of medals have been brought back to our shores in recent years and that success has led to calls from some quarters of the sport to have the prestigious tournament staged on home soil.

These calls have now been answered after officials revealed they are supporting a proposal to hold the ladies world championships in 2017.

Although the process is at an early stage, the Middle Level Drain in Norfolk has been pinpointed as a suitable venue, and providing the strict set of criteria set by organisers, FIPSed, are met the application is likely to be a success.

Team manager Joe Roberts believes the opportunity offers the nation an ideal opportunity to shine. He told Angling Times: “All the major players in international coarse angling regularly host the World Championships and it’s about time we showed what we can provide on the big stage.

“Any World Championship venue must be 35m wide and have an access road behind and the Middle Level fits the bill. If this is a success then it opens up the door to hosting the disabled, veterans or maybe even the men’s World Championships in the future,” he added.

England team regular Emma Pickering took part when the ladies event last came to England in 2002 and is excited at the prospect of representing her country on home turf again. She said: “We won gold when it was last here and it was one of the best experiences of my career. If we could replicate that success again it would be amazing. It gives people the ideal chance to come down and support their national team and that gives everyone involved a boost.”

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