Birthday boy’s Pike Champs joy

The 2016 Pike Championships results

1 Andrew Muirhead, Cromer, 21lb 1oz (two fish)
2 Wayne Lees, Oxfordshire, 16lb (two fish)
3 Jack Taylor, Stoke-on-Trent, 14lb (one fish)
4 Diniz Rodrigues, Cromer, 13lb 12oz (one fish)
5 Paul Lenton, Doddington, 13lb 2oz (two fish)
Kevin Roads, Alderminster, 11lb 2oz (one fish)

A cheque for £1,400 and the 2016 Angling Trust Pike Championships trophy was an unexpected but pleasant reward for birthday boy Andrew Muirhead.

The pike fanatic, from Cromer, Norfolk, celebrated his 52nd birthday with two fish totalling 21lb 1oz, including the day’s biggest pike of 18lb 1oz. 

Fishing peg 24 on Cambridgeshire’s Bevill’s Leam, an area known locally as Glassmoor Bank, Andrew had to wait 90 minutes for his first run of the match, but after recasting a dead roach to the drain’s far margin the float was off again in two minutes. 

“I gave the rod a hefty strike and immediately knew it was no jack pike – but the fight from the 18-pounder was rather disappointing,” said Andrew.

Things could have been very different had third-placed 12-year-old Jack Taylor not lost a potential match winner. 

The youngster, from Stoke-on-Trent, caught a 14lb pike then, like the winner, saw his float dip again from a second fish.

“I saw the fish briefly in the clear water. It was a much better fish than the 14-pounder, but unfortunately it let go and I lost it,” said Jack.

Incredibly, he hooked the fish again moments later, but in a cruel twist of fate, he lost it again. Consolation came in the form of third place and the prize for top junior. 

In between Andrew and Jack was British Pike Fishing Squad member Wayne Lees with two pike for a combined weight of 16lb, including a 13lb 4oz fish.

On a day of heavy rain, an early-morning frost and strong winds, another four double-figure fish were recorded as well as a host of smaller fish.

Match organiser Ted Rowe commented: “Despite the horrendous weather conditions throughout, the 2016 Pike Champs has been another roaring success and I’d like to thank the Angling Trust for its sponsorship, my wife Ann for helping to organise the event, all the match stewards, and Whittlesey AA’s Dave White for the venue.  

“For me, though, the story of the day was young Jack landing a double-figure pike to come third in the match, beating off some very strong competition.

“Hopefully news of his success will spur on other juniors to take up this great sport of ours.”

Dave White, vice president of Whittlesea Angling Association, added: “Even though the conditions were poor and the fishing very hard, Whittlesey AA are proud to be able to hold the Championships on one of our many waters.” 

Perch are Ancholme deciders

Mouncey League
River Ancholme, Cake Mills (32 pegs)

Perch are the target fish on the river now as the roach are yet to arrive in numbers. 

Drennan Barnsley Blacks star Simon Fields topped this latest round with 8-0-0 of fish to 1lb off peg 32. The former Division One National champ caught on chopped worm and caster fished at 11m. 

Second went to Paul Cannon on 6-4-0. Leading the league is Wayne Easter on 33 points, one in front of Rich Pulford.

Result: 1 S Fields, Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 8-0-0;
2 P Cannon, Mosella, 6-4-0; 3 P Iveson, Scunthorpe, 5-14-0; 4 K Harrison, Scunthorpe, 5-0-0; 5 I Parkinson, Scunthorpe, 4-14-0; 6 C Camburn, Scunthorpe, 4-4-0.

League: 1 W Easter, 33pts; 2 R Pulford, 32; jt3 R Bent,
G Tock and G Bunnage, all 28.

Preston and Barnsley head to Spanish final

Sunny Spain awaits the anglers of Preston Innovations Telford and Drennan Barnsley Blacks after the two star-studded sides won through from the qualifier for the new World Club Feeder Championships event.

Their prize is now the chance to be crowned inaugural champions next summer.

Although the event at Barston Lakes was fished by only seven teams, organisers are hoping that number will grow in the coming years, with the prize being a weekend of feeder-only action against the best teams in Europe.

And England have a great chance of bagging gold given the strength of angler who will be heading out in 2017.

The Preston Innovations side of England Feeder boss Tommy Pickering, Adam Wakelin, Mick Vials and Will Freeman plus former Ladies World Champ Emma Pickering and ex-Fish O’ champ Neil McKinnon, won but only on total weight. They tied with Barnsley and Daiwa Dorking on 17 points apiece, their 124-8-0 tally getting them over 40lb in front. Barnsley pipped Dorking by just over 3lb.

“The venue is the River Jucar at Fortaleny in Valencia when there will be 30 teams,” said Tommy.

“There weren’t a lot of sides fishing but we just needed to get the qualifiers off the ground, so it was all a bit last minute but it’ll grow. It’s all feeder, feeder and more feeder in the UK at the moment, everywhere you look.”

The winners only just got away with it as, from a commanding lead at the midway stage, they saw their advantage ebb away.

“We were lucky as we thought the fish would move on to a short line at around 18m but they went the opposite way and pushed out,” Tommy explained. “We weren’t ready for that, but others were and I thought at the end that we might not even have qualified. The plan was to fish a small open end feeder with single maggot at around 35m and then come short where we’d filled it in with leam and joker. It worked to an extent!

“I had an easy match, winning with 66-8-0 from peg 55. There’s no Method feeder or pellet allowed, so I fished a little groundbait feeder holding joker and pinkies with single maggot on a size 18 and caught 15 F1s, 13 skimmers and two carp. I think Steve Ringer summed it up best. He said that nobody had the perfect plan. We all got some things correct but missed a few tricks here and there.”

Result: 1 Preston Innovations Telford, 17pts (124-8-0); 2 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 17 (83-10-0); 3 Daiwa Dorking, 17 (80-4-0); 4 Ringer Baits, 19; 5 Daiwa Gordon League, 22; 6 Derby Railway, 22.5; 7 Stoke MG, 25.5.

New Feeder Champs all set for 2017

Feeder fishing is the method of the moment.

Feeder fishing is set to become even more popular, following talks of the launch of a huge national event to celebrate the tactic.

In the wake of big competitions like the Feeder Masters and the triumphs of the England Feeder team managed by Tommy Pickering, bosses at the Angling Trust are drawing up plans to create an event which could be on par with the current National Angling Championships.

Team England Veterans squad man Joe Roberts and former England International manager Dick Clegg are two big names who have been discussing the plans after increasing demands by anglers and clubs that wish to see the creation of such an event.

Said Joe: “It’s still early days but we hope to create an event that could see as many as 200 anglers in 40 teams on the bank. 

“The recent launch of the World Club Feeder Championship means every nation has to find two clubs to represent them, and we think this would be a better way of qualifying for it than the system we have at present.”

This year’s qualifier for the World Club Feeder Championship was held last weekend and was won by Preston Innovations Telford, with Drennan Barnsley Blacks runners-up. Both qualify for the 2017 World final in Spain.  

The event was held at Barston Lakes in the West Midlands, but Joe believes the new version would require a much bigger venue if it was to go ahead: “Major events are quite difficult to organise in the UK because of the lack of venues able to cope with that number of anglers. The River Trent would meet all the requirements, and really suits feeder anglers,” he added.

New of the new event has been welcomed in the match fishing fraternity, and England International Feeder Team manager Tommy Pickering who said: “All the other nations who enter the World Club Feeder Champs have their own feeder national events, so it’s only right we should have one two. It would be a great spectacle,” he added.

Huge nets in amazing Wye champs

RESULT

1 Pete Goulding – 125lb
2 Lee Pritchard – 90lb 12oz
3 Matt Maginnis – 88lb 15oz
4 Steve Rowen – 86lb 11oz
5 Colin Harvey – 83lb 3oz   

WYE CHAMPS IN NUMBERS

84 Pete Goulding’s winning peg number in Eign A section
55 Number of double-figure weights recorded
230 Number of fish in Dave Harrell’s catch
2,159lb Total weight shared by the field
136 Number of anglers that fished the event

The River Wye has produced one of the greatest matches ever as competitors in the latest event shared in a massive 2,159lb weigh-in.

The annual Wye Champs is the first event of a hectic winter schedule on the prolific stretches around Hereford, and the season got off to a breathtaking start with a series of huge weights that were topped off by Pete Goulding’s incredible 125lb 6oz winning catch of chub.

Backing weights were equally impressive, with just shy of 60lb good enough to only sneak into 10th place.

The champion put his name into the history books thanks to an impeccable display of waggler and maggot fishing. Pete told Angling Times: “I have been trying to win this event for over 40 years and to do it in this fashion is just incredible.

“I drew a peg that can produce a few fish, but never in my wildest dreams was I expecting to land a three-figure catch from it. 

“The annual three-day festival is coming up this week, and that was a sellout within days. I could probably have sold double the number of tickets on offer – that’s how impressed people are by the Wye right now.”

Angling Times columnist Dave Harrell could have been forgiven for thinking he’d taken the glory with a 60lb bag of dace, but it turned out to be only good enough for ninth place. 

He said: “The river is really low, and while that always leads to big weights, none of us expected it to fish to this high standard.

“I’ve had a bite every chuck all day and that has only been good enough to win my section. The angler next to me had over 40lb of dace and didn’t win a penny!

“There are colossal numbers of small fish in the venue now, with loads of bonus barbel, chub and perch. It really was one of the greatest-ever river matches.”

Organiser John Pembridge believes the result is just the start of another golden period on the waterway, and he told Angling Times: “I have been running this event for 10 years but this is definitely the best one yet. Last year the entrants shared 1,400lb, so the fishing has clearly been much better this time round.

“The weights were just phenomenal and it wasn’t just one species that dominated – there was a 90lb barbel bag, dace catches over 60lb and hundreds of chub landed... on a low river.”

Matrix man takes the win at Coleman’s

Coleman’s Cottage Fishery
Wood Lake (32 pegs)

Tight pegging on the lake knocked weights back, but Richard Bond still needed 88-8-0 to win.

Fishing the pole with pellet and maggot at various distances from peg 17, the Matrix angler kept a steady run of carp and F1s coming throughout the session.

MAP’s Richard Chapman came second with 74-8-0 from peg 9.

Result: 1 R Bond, Matrix, 88-8-0; 2 R Chapman, MAP, 74-8-0; 3 T Curd, MAP/ Bait-Tech, 55-0-0; 4 T Martin, Colemans, 54-8-0; 5 J Fensom, Harlow Angling, 52-8-0; 6 D Smith, Colemans, 51-0-0.

Champ is back in final after Severn match

Angling Trust RiverFest qualifier
River Severn, Shrewsbury (55 pegs)

Reigning RiverFest champion Tom Lane has made it into this year’s final after clinching his zone on the Severn at Shrewsbury. 

Lee Harries won this one from peg 4 on the County Ground section, the DH Angling man taking a big chub on the feeder and plenty of dace on the waggler and maggot for 17-9-0.

Second, and also qualifying, was Scott Geens with 16-3-8. His catch included a 9lb barbel.

Joint third-placed Tom Lane weighed in 14-1-0 to secure his spot in the big-money contest.

Result: 1 L Harries, DH Angling, 17-9-0; 2 S Geens, Preston Innovations, 16-3-8; jt3 T Lane, Lane’s Tackle and E Warren, Preston Innovations, both 14-1-0.

Nick speeds to a win with 114lb Willows catch

Garbolino Lindholme Lakes Winter League (rnd 1)
Laurels, Willows and Bonsai Lakes (49 pegs)

The first of the Lindholme’s popular Winter League opens saw victory for prolific venue regular Nick Speed. 

Shimano/Dynamite-backed Nick was on peg 7 on Willows and fished the pole, both long and short on the deck with pellet, to take 114-10-0 of F1 carp to 2lb. 

In second place and heading a trio of
low tons was Barnsley Bait Co’s Les Marshall on Laurels 65, who recorded
101-9-0 of F1s and carp to hard pellet baits. 

Result: 1 N Speed, Shimano/Dynamite, 114-10-0; 2 L Marshall, Barnsley Bait Co, 101-9-0; 3 M Owen, Garbolino Lindholme, 100-12-0; 4 P Wright, Bag ‘em Matchbaits/Halkon Hunt, 100-10-0; 5 S Mazza, Garbolino Lindholme, 96-3-0; 6 B Fisk, Garbolino Lindholme, 90-9-0.

Big payday in Ireland for match ace Mark Pollard

Mark Pollard finished a mammoth month-long Irish festival campaign almost £10k better off after claiming a quartet of top-four finishes on a wide range of venues across the Irish Sea.

The Matrix/Dynamite Baits angler, one of the most consistent matchmen in the UK, stayed on after the recent World Pairs in mid-September to fish the Horseshoe Festival, Fermanagh Cup, Cootehill Festival and Muckno Autumn event, weighing in with a win, a second and two fourths.

The fishing was far from easy, with clear water and cagey fish presenting the ultimate test.

‘Polly’ kicked off with fourth place in the 65-peg Horseshoe on the Erne system around Enniskillen, and the same venue then hosted the 120-angler Fermanagh Cup, where he took second. Next Mark headed south to Cootehill and won the 105-peg event, before signing off with fourth at Muckno.

“The fishing was diverse,” he said. “The Erne system is a vast expanse of wild water with migratory fish, whereas the southern lakes are landlocked and a little more like what we’re used to in the UK.

“On the Erne the fish came in spells and when you caught two or three you were rubbing your hands thinking ‘here we go’, only to then not get a bite for half an hour! The clear water made the roach and hybrids cagey, while in the south, once you caught you kept on catching all day.” 

Tactics across the four contests were varied, and Mark revealed how one day the waggler worked best, while on another it would be short lining at 13m on the pole, followed by fishing the feeder 24 hours later.

“The bait bill wasn’t cheap and when you’re fishing for wild fish on big lakes, you need a lot of it to keep them in the peg,” he explained. “I’d feed up to four pints of casters and six bags of groundbait, but if you want to win big money on these festivals, you can’t do it on the cheap.

“It was also important to make the right decision on when to change methods. Typically I’d start on the feeder to let me feed up the pole line and then come off the tip after 40 minutes unless I was catching well. That was the good thing about the venues – the fish told you what would work and what wouldn’t.”

Big bream weights at ‘natural’ matches

The boom in natural-water match fishing shows no sign of stopping with big catches continuing to be landed up and down the country. 

Even though we’re now nearing the end of October, weights recorded in recent events on lakes and rivers have been highly impressive.

Up at Carr Mill Dam in Merseyside, anglers enjoyed a good day out at the St Helens Tackle & Bait Cancer Research Charity bash, with the kind-hearted rods raising over £1,000 for the cause. 

Wigan matchman Gary Ainscough won the enormous 126-peg event with 37-7-0 of bream and skimmers using Method feeder and pellet tactics from peg 101.

And in Scotland, Loch Ken hosted a two-day event where distance feeder tactics were the order of the day. 

Mac Stevens emerged triumphant with a combined 47-2-0 total, after winning the opening day of action with 27-2-0 of roach and skimmers. Phil Murphy topped day two with 34-4-0.

In the East Midlands, Ferry Meadows, near Peterborough, staged the Steel City Classic, where the strong field was topped by seasoned campiagner and patriarch of the Ringer dynasty Geoff Ringer with a superb 211-8-0 total, the bulk of which (148-6-0 of bream) was taken on day one on feeder and worm tactics from peg 114 on Overton Lake. On day two Dave Lawrence bagged 140-6-0 of bream on the feeder off Gunwade Lake to take second overall.

Meanwhile, the latest RiverFest qualifier visited a legendary, but now little-used match haunt, the Warwickshire Avon around Stratford, where Martin Ward booked his place in the final with 49-14-0 of chub on waggler and maggot tactics. 

Nearby Alcester tackle dealer Alan Stephens also qualifed, with 25-2-0 of chub on the float for second spot.

Three-day shoot-out on the Ure

Ripon Piscatorials Ure Festival

River Ure (36 pegs)

Weight was needed to decide the outcome of this three-day clash.

 Fred Prudham and Jim Taylor finished on four points apiece, Fred’s 37-11-0 giving him the nod over Jim on 21-2-0. 

Day one began with top spot for Martin Hope, who took 21-0-0 of roach, dace and chublets on stick float and waggler with maggot. Graham Skirrey took day two on 17-4-0 of chub to waggler and maggot before Chris Smith rounded things off by bagging the best weight of the week – 44-14-0 of chub and dace on waggler and bomb with maggot.

Day one result: 1 M Hope, Northern Angling Ripon, 21-0-0; 2 F Prudham, Medlock Bridge, 20-1-0; 3 S Newns, KL Tackle, 11-10-0.

Day two result: 1 G Skirrey, Mary’s Tackle, 17-4-0; 2 C Foyle, Ripon, 12-4-0; 3 F Prudham, Medlock Bridge, 10-8-0.

Day three result: 1 C Smith, Leeds, 44-14-0; 2 J Taylor, RSPS, 10-2-0; 3 R Pickles, KL Tackle, 7-12-0.

Overall: 1 F Prudham, Medlock Bridge, 4pts (37-11-0); 2 J Taylor, RSPS, 4 (21-2-0); 3 S Newns, KL Tackle, 5; 4 M Hope, Northern Angling Ripon, 6 (31-2-0); 5 G Skirrey, Mary’s Tackle, 6 (21-14-0); 6 S Taylor, RSPS, 6 (11-14-0).

Stunning silverfish in battle on Broads

Mead Sports & Leisure Broads Championships

Rivers Bure & Thurne (98 pegs)

A sell-out on the Broads saw some stunning silverfish sport with 20lb finishing nowhere. 

Winner Robert Hubbard bagged 57-12-0 and was crowned champion. 

The Daiwa Angling Direct man drew peg 10 on the Thurne at Potter Heigham. He fished chopped worm, caster and groundbait on the long pole to take around 40lb of roach, backed by half a dozen skimmers. 

Dave Rowe, on peg 4 at Martham also on the Thurne, came second with 32-3-0. He also fished worm and caster on the long pole for an equal split of roach and big skimmers.

Result: 1 R Hubbard, Daiwa Angling Direct, 57-12-0; 2 D Rowe, Daiwa Angling Direct, 32-3-0; 3 B Weavers, Sportsman’s, 30-4-0; 4 M Runacres, Deben, 28-12-0;
5 D Richardson, Daiwa Angling Direct, 28-0-0;
6 T Watling, Browning Hot Rods, 27-2-0.

White Acres clash is a five-day nail-biter

Winner James Dent kept them guessing right up to the final day.

The festival season at White Acres is over for another year. 

The closing Preston Innovations event sported a full house, all chasing a top 24 finish and a shot at winning the £25,000 Parkdean Masters.

Cleveland ace James Dent bagged first dibs by winning the five-day clash by virtue of a better dropped score after finishing in a three-way tie for top spot on 31 points. 

Joining him with a final tally of three section wins and a second were Rob Wootton and Lee Edwards, but MAP-backed James disposed of a section second while Rob could only bin a third and Lee a last to hand the prize to the Yarm angler.

Unusually, it didn’t take a score of four section wins to take the title, and that made the final result a whole lot closer. 

Any one of half-a-dozen anglers were in with a chance. James opened up on day one with a second in section, taking 80-11-0 from the split section of Trewaters, Acorn and Canal Lakes. 

Tuesday was much better, as the trip to Porth Reservoir saw him return with a maximum after winning the whole lake with 18-2-0 of roach and skimmers on long pole and chopped worm from peg 76.

James kept that momentum going on day three as Bolingey Lake peg 45 saw him miss out on winning the lake by 6oz. Luke Sorokin did that by the narrowest of margins. However, the section was safely in the bag thanks to 169-4-0 of carp taken by James on short pole and meat. 

On to Pollawyn Lake for day four, and James was now motoring, 61-6-0 of carp and skimmers on the pole seeing him win the section to sit on 31 points. A section win on the final day would give him a great chance but another split section on Twin Oaks and Trelawney saw him take second to make things nervy. Dropping only two points over the week, however, saw his consistency rewarded!

Overall result: 1 J Dent, MAP/Sensas, 31pts (dropping seven points); 2 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 31 (dropping six points); 3 L Edwards, Garbolino/ABC Baits, 31 (dropping one point); 4 A Power, Preston Innovations, 30 (dropping seven points); 5 P Canning, Frenzee, 30 (dropping six points); 6 A Leathers, Browning Hot Rods, 30 (dropping three points).

Andy Power takes All-Winners Final title

Andy Power triumphed at Viaduct Fishery.

It’s been another golden summer for the aptly-named Somerset bagger Andy Power.

Old Ghost UK Angling Champs glory was swiftly followed up with another £1,000 being added to his bank balance when the Preston Innovations star took the annual All-Winners Final event at Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery.

Fished by winners of open matches throughout the spring and summer at the Somerton complex, 68 anglers turned out for the straight shoot-out.

And Andy, who lives in Wells but has an enviable big match record around the UK, tipped a double ton on to the scales to take the cash.

From peg 105 on Cary Lake, Andy went down the meat route, fishing it on the long pole on the deck to pick off 23 carp well into double figures to finish with 226-11-0.

That gave him a winning margin of over 33lb from Steve Shaw’s 193-6-0 of carp off peg 115 on Campbell Lake.

Twenty four hours later it was the turn of the silverfish anglers to see what the fishery could produce with the opening round of the Silverfish Winter League. Sport was just as good from the roach and skimmers, Bobby Gullick opening up with 40-14-0 off peg 124 for victory on Campbell Lake.

That was a net of big skimmers plus roach on chopped worm and caster with groundbait at 14.5m. The same tactics gave Frenzee man Dan Squires second on 38-14-0 and frame weights were good too, with 32-10-0 needed to make the top six.

Elsewhere, the RiverFest bandwagon rolled on as the Trent at Burton hosted another big match, won by Bait-Tech’s Richie Reynolds with 19-5-0.

Two bream backed by roach on polefished maggot booked him a place in next month’s final. 

Second in the frame was England boss Mark Downes with 10-12-0 of small roach although, unfortunately for him, he was in the same zone as Richie and so missed out on the final!

Big changes for Fish O'Mania 2017

Check out our Fish o' Mania 2017 guide here and claim your free tickets! 

Fish O’Mania organisers have unveiled a series of major changes to the tournament, including a guaranteed ticket for every entrant.

The mega-money tournament is widely regarded as the number-one crown in match fishing but frustrations have grown as a result of the unpredictable lottery that dictates how tickets for the qualifiers are distributed.

In a bid to guarantee every angler at least one ticket to the heats, organisers are set to scrap theballot system, and are currently working on a brand new format.

Changes have also been made to the final, with 28 anglers instead of the usual 16 set to battle it out on Cudmore Fisheries’ Arena Pool in 2017. 

And that’s not all. Fish O’Mania is set to go global for the first time in its history, with plans to run four overseas qualifiers out of a total of 28. The winner of each will go straight through to the final, as the controversial semi-final that was introduced this year is being abolished.

Fish O’Mania owner Matchroom Sport believes the overhaul will spell an even brighter future for the competition, and company chief Barry Hearn told Angling Times: “Fish O’Mania remains the biggest and best event in match fishing, and 2017 is going to be a very exciting year for the tournament.

“The qualifiers have been amended due to feedback from the competitors, and the system for obtaining tickets is also overhauled, giving everyone at least one of the 3,920 tickets on offer and possibly more.

“Scrapping the semi-final seemed like the right thing to do, and expanding the final on the Saturday makes sure everyone gets to go to the party.

“Having international qualifiers will also add to the event, as we plan to grow the Fish O’Mania brand across Europe.”

A whopping £50,000 will once again be handed to the overall winner, and this year’s champion Andy May is looking forward
to defending his title under the new format. 

He said: “I loved every minute of this year’s final and I think the increased number of anglers next year will make it a really exciting event for both competitors and spectators.

“Every match angler in the country wants a shot at winning Fish O’Mania and I think it’s great that the organisers are working on a way to guarantee everyone a chance to get into the limelight.”

Tickets are set to be made available in the early part of next year, with full details of the brand new allocation system set to be revealed in the coming months.

Whittle joins battle for RiverFest crown

Yet another big name has been added to the RiverFest final after the latest heat on the River Severn ended in thrilling fashion.

With barbel, chub and small silverfish all present in the Bridgnorth section, it was anyone’s guess what attack would be most effective, but river fishing expert Hadrian Whittle’s big-fish gamble paid off.

The Kamasan Starlets man drew peg 30 and used the pellet feeder in the hope of having the odd bite. He got just that with a brace of barbel and three chub giving him a winning total of 19-12-0.

He didn’t have it all his own way, though, with Liam Darler – who was in the same section – piling on the pressure. He ultimately fell just short with 18-3-0 that was made up of two barbel and a chub from peg 28.

The two other anglers to qualify were Zone B winner Rich Duke, who landed 14-0-0, and Zone C champion Geoff Maguire with 14-8-0.

RiverFest action was also on show on the River Thames at Clanfield, where another full house was forced to struggle in the blustery conditions.

Only two men broke the double-figure mark. Topping the pile at the end of a tough five hours was Deron Harper on peg 8 with 11-8-0 of silvers taken on floatfishing tactics.

Second – and also going through – was Andy Johnstone with 10-2-0 from peg 43. The final qualifying spot was secured by Nick Early from peg 27.

Six more heats will be staged in the coming weeks before the big final takes place on the River Wye in Hereford on November 19 and 20. 

Sellout predicted for new £50,000 winner-takes-all series

The creator of a big-money match series has set his sights on a sellout after hundreds of tickets were snapped up within days of the official launch.

Angling entrepreneur Phil Briscoe gave the angling calendar a major boost last month when he unveiled the brand new Golden Reel tournament, promising that the champion would walk away with a minimum £50,000 first prize.

With several other established big-money events such as Fish O’Mania and Maver Match This already on the agenda, question marks arose as to whether there was room for another competitor – but those doubts have been instantly quashed.

Early ticket sales have shocked the organisers, and Larford Lakes boss Phil told Angling Times: “We always expected the event to be popular but we never thought we’d sell as many tickets as we have in the first few days.

“The response has been fantastic and it’s clear that the Golden Reel has created a lot of excitement.

“I think we can surprise a few people and quickly become the number one tournament on offer in the UK.

“It’s early days yet, but I see no reason why the competition won’t be a sellout.”

The grand final will be staged at Larford Lakes on Saturday, August 19, 2017, with the winners of the 24 qualifiers battling it out for the title. Plans have also surfaced for a separate one-off contest to take place on the Sunday of the same weekend.

“We are planning a tackle village where the top manufacturers can display their latest gear, and those exhibitors will have the chance to enter a special four-man team event,” added Phil.

For details or to buy tickets visit www.goldenreelangling.co.uk

Black Country lads nick Division Two National by just a point

Angling Trust Division 2 National (Sat)
Birmingham/Fazeley Canal (28 teams)

Team result: 1 Sensas Black Country AS, 205pts; 2 Matrix Halifax CRFT, 204 (weight); 3 Drennan Oxford, 204; 4 Browning West Midlands, 202; 5 Drennan NW, 201; 6 Sensas Dams & Lock, 197; 7 Sensas Strike Angling, 192; 8 Maver Midlands, 187; 9 Scunthorpe Blue, 170; 10 Browning Central, 164; 11 Scunthorpe Dynamite Baits, 161; 12 Maver Coleman’s Bait & Tackle/Matchpack, 157; 13 Canal & River Trust AC, 154 (weight); 14 Tubertini Apollo, 154; 15 Browning Wickford, 153; 16 Slaithwaite DAA, 147; 17 Colin Barlow AC Sale, 134; 18 Stoke-on-Trent AA, 128; 19 Sensas Coleman’s Bait & Tackle, 124; 20 Long Eaton Federation, 117; 21 Tang Hall MG, 106; 22 Tring Anglers, 102 (weight); 23 Notts AA, 102; 24 Coleman’s Cottage Fishery, 96; 25 Littleport AC, 90; 26 Listerhills Old Boys AA, 79; 27 Chelmsford Angling, 73; 28 Washington & Harraton AC, 70.

Sensas Black Country made their in-depth knowledge of the Fazeley Canal worth its weight in medals as they won the Division Two National crown by a single point.

The local lads, most of whom live within a 20-minute drive of the venue, are all regulars on the canal and the feeling was that if they got a half decent draw they could ‘do a job’ in captain Mark Hardman’s words. 

Promotion, though, was their main aim, and they felt that their mass of experience should bring home the bacon.

“There are 192 pegs on the Dams & Lock stretch and we fish the Summer League each year with two teams, but this year we rotated the lads around the various areas so they could all get a feel for it,” Mark said.

“We knew almost every peg that was in, but of course, they don’t always fish as you think they might. I looked at the draw and it was steady, no screaming flyers but importantly, only one shocker in G section where I thought our lad would do well to get a handful of points.

“Bream were likely to show as conditions were perfect but the boys knew that whether they had to ship in 250 little fish or go for bream, they could do it – that’s where knowing the water so well comes into play,” Mark continued. “We did, however, think that the fish were sick of seeing chopped worm so we based a lot of our bonus fish work around just casters alongside the more standard squatt and groundbait fishing for little fish.”

The general plan for Black Country was to fish a short line near the keepnet for a few perch while their other lines settled, then go three-quarters of the way across in 2ft or 2ft 6ins of water for bread-and-butter roach, perch and gudgeon on squatts. Big-fish lines went at the same range of 11m but at angles just into the deeper boat track with double caster as hookbait.

“We knew that if we drew a peg with skimmers or bream we’d need to spend a good amount of time trying for them, whereas in an out-and-out small-fish swim it was a case of heads down and keep something going in the net with the odd look for a bonus,” Mark revealed. 

“We got back to HQ and from half of the side we’d scored 130 points, so we reasoned that 210 or 220 would see us in the top five and promoted. 

“When the results were read out, Browning West Midlands, who we thought had done really well, were only fourth so for a moment I did think that we might not have made the top 10! Simon Nickless soon told me to stop being so daft and reckoned we might have won it! 

“So we’re in Division One on the Shropshire Union Canal next summer, and that’s another canal we know really well. Our deal with Sensas has really helped us and we’ve now got the perfect mix of experienced old heads and some great youngsters coming through,” Mark added.

Big fish decide 2016 Carp Cup winners

The big fish came out to play for the final of this year’s British Carp Cup at Branston Water Park in Staffordshire.

Three thirties were caught and two anglers broke their personal bests in the 48-hour event, which pits the winners of the Northern, Southern and Midlands Carp Cups against each other.

The title was won by experienced pair Callum Gutteridge and Karl Palmer, who landed five fish for 107lb 3oz.

Ashley Izzard and Darren Pearse came second with two fish for 56lb 14oz, including a 32lb 9oz mirror for Darren. 

Paul Butler and Kevin Durling, who stormed into an early lead, came third with three fish for 52lb 2oz.

All the fish came during daylight hours, including a 32lb 14oz common to Ricky Dummer, fishing with his brother Billy. In all, 17 carp were caught at the 29-acre gravel pit at an average of over 18lb.

This year’s team event was won at a canter by DNA Baits, who had three pairs in the final.

Andy powers ahead for UK Champs title

Preston Innovations star Andy Power joined a select band of anglers with his second Old Ghost UK Angling Championships victory in a nail-biting final round at Barston Lakes.

Scoring eight points across the four-match series, the Somerset angler tied on points with Dale Shepherd, but tallied 210-558 against the 204-713 of Maver man Dale to win the £4,000 top prize and get his name etched on to the famous claret jug alongside his 2013 victory.

Sitting on six points heading into the final match, former Match This champ Andy drew in the same section at the Solihull lake just pegs away from his rival. Dale duly won his section to finish with eight points, Andy taking second to bring weight into play with just six kilos in it.

“I had reservations about Boddington Reservoir. I was told it was peggy and hard fishing,” Wells-based Andy said. “Round one at Lindholme couldn’t have gone any better but I came back down to earth with a bump on the Glebe with a fifth in section, and I thought I’d blown it. My only hope was to win my section in the final two matches.”

Boddington gave Andy a section win after drawing a reasonable area and so it all boiled down to Barston. With his nearest rivals also suffering at Boddington or the Glebe, Andy was leading by one point.

“When Dale drew peg 124 I thought it was game over. That peg is a guaranteed section win so I was fishing for second. If I could do that, I felt I’d win on weight,” he continued. “Pellet waggler gave me six big carp plus a few F1s but at the whistle I had no idea where I’d finished.

“Dale had won the section and people reckoned Greg Norris had caught 80lb while I thought I’d got 75lb – but as it turned out I beat Greg into second by 2lb and did it on weight.”

The final round was won by Geoff Vallance with 61-225 off peg 18 on the river bank. The Preston Innovations Delcac man went for broke on the Method feeder all day for a weight, but with little to show and just half-an-hour remaining he plopped the feeder into the margins and brought his total weight of carp to approximately 125lb. “That effectively won me the match and the £1,000 prize!” said Geoff.

Result: 1 Geoff Vallance, Preston Innovations Delcac, 61-225; 2 Adam Rooney, Guru, 55-325; 3 Paul Holland, Guru, 51-000; 4 Dale Shepherd, Maver, 48-547; 5 Phil Canning, Frenzee, 44-850; 6 Paul Hiller, Daiwa Dorking, 36-796.

Final league: 1 Andy Power, Preston Innovations, 8pts (210-558); 2 Dale Shepherd, Maver, 8 (204-713); 3 Chris Barley, Dynamite Baits, 10; 4 Andy Kinder, Maver/Marukyu, 12 (172-324); 5 Zak Brown, Preston Innovations, 12 (150-215); 6 Adam Wakelin, Preston Innovations, 12 (141-511).