Whincup victorious in £70,000 peg-to-peg thriller!

Jon Whincup earned himself £70,000 and the title of Maver Mega Match This Champion 2016 with a blistering display of commercial carp fishing at Maver Hayfield Lakes.

The Peterborough angler posted a record-breaking 105.75 kg (233.1lb) catch of carp to 12lb in an incredible match that saw a remarkable 1,123.82kg of fish was caught by the 24 competitors.

That equalled an average weight of 46.826kg (103.2lb) per man, together with the largest prize fund ever paid out in a UK fishing competition. 

Spectators on the Island Lake at the Doncaster venue were treated to a real tussle between Jon on peg 49 and Jamie Hughes on adjacent peg 51. Although many thought double Fish O’ champion Jamie had the edge, the scales showed that he fell just short with 93.925kg as Jon’s earlier run of big fish stole the show.

“It’s unbelievable really, it’s everything I’ve worked for over the past 20 years of fishing,” beamed Jon. 

“This is what we all go fishing for now, to win something big like this. It was the simplest match I’ve ever fished, but I thought I’d blown my chance in the last hour. I actually had a big lead, but I didn’t know about that at the time. 

“This definitely makes up for last year, when I sat between first and second place in the final.
It just didn’t happen for me. I was so close to the action that I felt how much I wanted it, so I got on with it again this year and it’s all come good now!” he said.

Within minutes of the start, it became obvious that the 2016 Match This was going to be something special. Carp were coming out all over the place, with Simon Skelton, on peg 57, getting off to a flyer and Jamie Hughes surging into the lead at the close of the first hour on the feeder. But Jon’s pole line was becoming stronger and stronger and in the second hour he put an estimated 70lb of carp in his keepnets, cementing his place among the front runners. 

Despite his swim going quiet in the last hour, when Jamie piled on the pressure, the damage had already been done. It was an enthralling battle between the pair that left spectators unsure which way to look!

“I knew Jamie was catching – we could hear what was going on over the Tannoy – but I didn’t looked round once for the first four hours. I told myself to concentrate on my float, as every bite could result in a crucial big fish. In the last hour my peg started to go a bit funny and I was foul-hooking fish. I only caught three or four,” said Jon. 

“Then I was looking round and it was the most tense hour’s fishing of my life. Of all the times to have a bad hour, why did it have to be now? Luckily, I had a 10lb carp right on the whistle, although I didn’t actually need it. 

“I said before the match that somebody would catch on the short pole all day, and thankfully it was me! 

“I’d like to thank my sponsors Frenzee and Bait-Tech and my long-suffering partner, Ivy. She sat behind me all day in the rain and she said she couldn’t bear to watch at times!” he smiled.

Jamie’s late rally helped him to the runner’s-up cheque of £5,000 and Maver’s own Simon Skelton was third and secured £3,000 with his 81kg 950g catch.

Best weight on the other side of the lake was by England star Des Shipp, but his fourth-placed 65kg 300g was only good enough for one of four £1,000 section prizes! 

Result: 1 J Whincup, Frenzee/Bait-Tech, 105-750; 2 J Hughes, MAP/Bag ‘Em, 93-925; 3 S Skelton, Maver UK, 81-950; 4 D Shipp, Preston Innovations/Sonubaits, 65-300; 5 D Shires, Garbolino Lindholme, 60-245; 6 A Power, Preston Innovations/Sonubaits 59-425; 7 R Brennan, Garbolino, 57-550; 8 S Openshaw, Lingmere, 56-100; 9 M Godfrey, Drennan Barnsley, 54-175;
10 D Burley, Champion Feed, 48-157; 11 L Bamford, Notts, 47-225; 12 S Davis, West Malling Angling, 43-375; 13 D Brown Jnr, Poplars AC, 40-250; 14 J Ashwell, Maver Midlands, 40-200; 15 R Harold, Matrix, 39-000; 16 A Playford, Dersingham AC, 38-675; 17 S Fry, Garbolino, 30-625; 18 P Cook, Maver, 29-325; 19 M Arnold, Decoy Lakes, 28-100; 20 J Smalley, Decoy Lakes, 26-800; 21 A Richards, Browning, 25-350; 22 G Bell, Lakeland Fishery, 24-075; 23 P Stone, Spro/ Gamakatsu, 14-300; 24 M Jones, Tredegar AC, 13-925. 

Fish for a golden £50,000 with new big-match series

QUALIFIERS IN 2017

March 4: Decoy Lakes, Cambs
March 11: Coleman’s Cottage, Essex
March 18: Larford Lakes, Worcs
March 25: Viaduct Fishery, Somerset
April 1: Monk Lakes, Kent
April 9: Larford Lakes, Worcs
April 15: Westwood Lakes, Lincs
April 22: Heronbrook Fisheries, Staffs
April 23: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
April 26: Partridge Lakes, Cheshire
May 6: Viaduct Fishery, Somerset
May 13: Lindholme Lakes, Doncaster
May 17: Decoy Lakes, Cambs
May 24: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
May 27: Barston Lakes, West Mids
June 3: Gold Valley Lakes, Hants
June 10: Lindholme Lakes, Doncaster
June 17: Larford Lakes, Worcs
June 23: Partridge Lakes, Cheshire
July 1: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
July 8: Larford Lakes, Worcs
July 15: Heronbrook Fishery, Staffs
July 19: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
July 29: Tunnel Barn Farm, Warks

Angling Times has teamed up with the creator of some of the richest matches in history to launch a competition in which the winner will scoop a guaranteed £50,000.

The new event is the brainchild of fishery owner Phil Briscoe, who is inviting anglers to take part in the Golden Reel contest for a prize pot of at least £62,000.

A series of 24 qualifying matches will be staged at some of the best commercial fisheries in the country, where the winner from each will make it through to the grand final at Phil’s own Larford Lakes complex in Stourport on August 19, 2017.

The winner of the individual open-to-all competition, of which Angling Times is the media partner, will then scoop the £50,000 first prize. 

The runner-up will win £5,000, with third place taking £3,000. Four section winners will pocket £1,000 apiece.

Phil, who was behind the incredibly successful Maver Mega Match This event has pledged that the Golden Reel – which is a totally separate competition – will be a huge hit with anglers and that the prize pot could be even bigger if the qualifiers sell out.

“I’ve been involved in creating and running big matches for 20 years and there’s already a huge buzz surrounding the Golden Reel,” Phil told Angling Times.

“The national spread of the qualifying matches means that everyone will have a match taking place at a fishery within manageable travelling distance.

“If the qualifiers begin to sell out, the prize pot will increase. Big-money matches like this are not only great for anglers that want to compete for incredible prizes like this, but they also serve to boost the sport’s profile, which is what fishing deserves.”

Tickets for each of the qualifiers (listed above) cost £50, and anglers wishing to book their place can do so from Monday, September 19 via the website at www.goldenreelangling.co.uk

Preston Innovations-backed match ace Andy Power, who has won the Maver Mega Match This Final and taken the UK Championships title twice, is one of the top matchmen who are supporting Phil’s new event.

“I’m right behind this competition, and I know there will be so many anglers that will jump at the chance to compete in another match with a massive first prize,” he said.

“The beauty of this competition is that anyone who gets a ticket to fish one of the qualifiers has a chance of winning the £50,000 top prize.”

TV giant BT Sport covers all of angling’s major competitions, and Phil Briscoe hopes that the Golden Reel will be included in its schedule.

Respected angler and TV presenter Rob Hughes has been involved in the coverage of countless big-money events, and is a driving force in getting angling on to mainstream television.

“The launch of the Golden Reel won’t just come as music to the ears of anglers that will be queuing up to fish the qualifiers,” said Rob.

“It also proves how the profile of the sport is being raised all the time.

 “This is what will get fishing more and more coverage on TV as we move forward.” commented Rob.

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).

England girls finish fourth in Spain

Ladies World
Championships (Sat & Sun)

River Guadiana, Merida, Spain (15 teams)

Result: 1 Poland, 33pts; 2 Spain, 35; 3 Italy, 39; 4 MAP England, 52; 5 France, 70; 6 Czech Republic, 74; 7 Hungary, 76; 8 Belgium, 79; 9 Croatia, 95; 10 Finland, 97;  jt11 Portugal and Netherlands, both 101; 13 Russia, 104; 14 Serbia, 113; 15 Slovakia, 131.

England’s quest to be crowned Ladies World Champions ended in frustrating fashion as the girls finished a red hot weekend in Spain in fourth place.

They finished 13 points from taking bronze, well clear of the fifth-placed team, after being unable to make a dent in the overnight leaders Spain and second-placed Poland who swapped places on day two.

Poland were crowned champions with host nation Spain in second and Italy third, leaving England, backed by tackle firm MAP, next best. 

Managed by Dave Brooks, the team of Wendy Locker, Helen Dagnall, Kayleigh Smith, Julie Abbott, Sam Sim and Abbi Kendall were ultimately just off the pace required when faced with catching masses of small carrasio in the river.

“Fourth place is the worst place to finish, but I feel a little sorry for the girls because they had the tactics spot on. They fell down by perhaps not attacking the river enough,” said outgoing Angling Trust international competitions director Dick Clegg. “There were millions of tiny carassio around 40g apiece to catch and it developed into a bit of a fish race where you couldn’t afford to fall behind. In some sections we were just 10 fish off scoring more points.

“There were also very few carp to catch as a get out of jail fish – 15kg was a great weight and if you could snare a 3kg carp you’d do a world of good. However, they never showed all week or across the weekend.

 “The team fished it spot on with a short line at 6m and then the whip to hand, aiming to catch a fish on every drop-in.”

The match also marked the end of an era for Wendy Locker, who retired after 23 years. 

Scotthorne wins Wychavon Champs

THE RESULTS

Hobgoblin Championship (Sat)
Warks Avon, Evesham (73 pegs)
Result: 1 C Dicks, Maver, 10-12-0; 2 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 8-6-0; 3 A Scotthorne, Drennan Sensas, 7-12-0; 4 M Derry, Sensas, 7-0-0;
5 B Blowing, Gloucester, 6-10-0.

Wychavon Championship (Sun)
Warks Avon, Evesham (73 pegs)
Result: 1 Alan Scotthorne, Drennan Sensas, 17-3-0;
2 L Gardener, Shakespeare Bait-Tech, 15-8-0;
3 W Swinscoe, Drennan/Bait-Tech, 14-7-0;
4 W Raison, Daiwa/Old Ghost, 12-0-0; 5 D Davies, Drennan/Van Den Eynde, 11-14-0.

Match Fishing Team Champs (Mon)
Warks Avon, Evesham (70 pegs)
Result: 1 S Pallett, Sensas WB Clarke, 9-2-0; 2 S Willsmore, Daiwa Dorking, 7-8-0; 3 W Raison, Daiwa Dorking, 7-0-0; 4 N Crooks, Browning Ossett, 6-1-0; jt5 A Scotthorne and J Dent, both Drennan Barnsley Blacks, both 5-14-0.
Team: 1 Daiwa Dorking, 61pts; 2 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 43 (superior weight); 3 Matrix Image, 43; 4 Matrix Dynamite Baits Trentmen, 42 (superior weight); 5 Drennan Oxford, 42; 6 Shakespeare Bait-Tech, 42; 7 Kamasan Starlets A, 42; 8 Kamasan Starlets B, 41; 9 Sensas WB Clarke, 37; 10 Bailey’s of Warwick, 33; 11 Daiwa Gordon League, 32;
12 Browning Ossett, 30; 13 Drennan Leicester Sensas, 24; 14 Sensas Black Country, 20.

August Bank Holiday weekend saw a star-studded line-up for the Evesham Angling Festival. 

And after three days of action the silverware went the way of international class acts and the best team in the UK.

England aces Callum Dicks and five-times World Champ Alan Scotthorne won the Hobgoblin and Wychavon Championships respectively on the town stretch of the Warks Avon, while the all-conquering Daiwa Dorking side signed off the festival with team honours in the Bank Holiday Monday match.

Maver man Callum was first to triumph, weighing in 10-12-0 on the Saturday from end peg 73. Rob Wootton followed with 8-6-0 for second spot as the clear river saw the match turn into a roach-dominated event.

Sunday saw colour in the river after overnight rain and Alan Scotthorne drew peg 46. The Drennan/Sensas man targeted the slabs and a great early part of the match saw him home with 17-3-0, ahead of Shakespeare’s Leigh Gardener on 15-8-0.

“With rain the day before I thought there might be some skimmers and pommies to catch, and if there were any bream in the area they’d normally be found around my peg,” Alan said.

 “I balled in 12 balls of Sensas 3000 Gros Gardons Fine, 3000 Magic and brown crumb mixed 50/50 with Terre de Riviere and grey leam holding casters, dead pinkies and a lot of hemp. 

“I was targeting bigger fish, so every half-hour I topped up aggressively with two big balls over the top.”

Fishing a 2g float at 11m run through with a longish hooklink to lay some line on the deck and presenting a steady bunch of bloodworm or pinkie hookbait, the opening 90 minutes brought three bream and four skimmers before the river began to clear.

“After that it was a case of picking off little fish on bloodworm, catching what I could,” Alan continued. “At the end of the day, if you catch 17lb at Evesham you won’t be far off winning something! 

“It’s been a super weekend for me, as I was third on the Saturday match and then joint fifth in the team match on Monday – and my Barnsley team finished second overall.”

That left Monday’s team match to be decided and Dorking, riding on the crest of a wave after their record-making World Club Champs victory, crushed all before them with a 61-point tally.

They ended up 18 points clear of Drennan Barnsley Blacks, with Matrix Image third. 

Individually, Sensas WB Clarke man Steve Pallett won with 9-2-0, followed by Dorking and England duo Simon Willsmore and William Raison on 7-8-0 and 7-0-0 respectively.

Perkins – the new champ

A brilliant 40-620 of bream sealed the individual National title for Matrix Dynamite Trentmen’s Rob Perkins.

Drawn on B17 (permanent peg 8, Holme Marsh Weir), Rob landed 22 slabs to 6lb using a 60g large cage feeder at 55 turns.

“I was casting regularly to put down lots of bait and it took an hour to get a bite. After that I caught fish in spurts of twos and threes. There were loads of bream in the area, and they came in, mopped up the bait and wandered off again!  

“I was behind the angler on peg 5 for most of the match, but caught and overtook him in the last hour. It’s everybody’s dream to win a National and this was definitely my day!” he said.

Rob fished a size 18 hook with half a dendrobena tipped with a maggot as bait, packing worm and caster into the feeder.
Result

1 R Perkins, Matrix DynamiteTrentmen, 40.620; 2 S Bryan, Daiwa Gordon League, 30.350;

3 A Dixon, Lincs County, 23.120; 4 W Parker, Swindon Isis AC, 19.840; 5 A Henry, Scunthorpe Tackle, 17.450; 6 M Perkins, Derby Fed, 16.800.

Donavan and Ridge are Northern Carp Cup champs

Chris Donovan and Craig Ridge are the 2016 Northern Carp Cup champions following a dominant display at Wyreside Lakes Fishery.

After a sluggish start, the pair caught seven fish for a total weight of 106lb 3oz on Sunnyside Two at the seven-lake complex.

Fishing from peg 1 on the Road Bank, Chris and Craig banked all but one of their fish in a hectic spell between 10.30am and 7pm on day two of the 48-hour match. 

They also caught the biggest fish of the weekend, a 24lb 10oz common.  

“They had all sorts of weather, from strong wind, to heavy rain, to bright and hot sunshine,” said organiser Belinda Coxon.

With the fish well spread out, eight of the 12 pairs caught a total of 22 carp. Second place went to Simon Bury, who fished without partner Steve Blow, with four fish for 66lb 15oz, only just ahead of Dan Robson and Shane Fletcher, who also caught four fish for a total of 65lb 11oz.

The winners collected £2,000, with second place netting £1,000 and third £500. The event, along with other British Carp Cup events, will be screened on BT Sport this November.

Barnsley storm to National Victory

Drennan Barnsley Blacks swept to victory in this year’s Angling Trust Division One National on the River Trent.

The Yorkshire outfit had to be content with third place in 2015 but they settled the score this time around, walking away with the title thanks to an impressive 380-point total.

Conditions leading up to the event had been ideal but the weather took a turn for the worse come match day, with the 450 entrants forced to battle against gale-force winds.

Peior to the match hours of practice had been put in by the teams to try to develop a winning plan, but Barnsley Blacks captain Glenn Lawrence admitted that everything they had learned went out of the window on the day. 

“We had been doing a lot of floatfishing on the river, but the wind was so bad that we knew there was going to be hardly any fish caught on the pole, waggler or stick float as presentation would be nigh on impossible. 

“We only caught one fish on the float between us!” he said.

Rather than enforce a strict team plan, the decision was made to allow the squad – which included such big names as Alan Scotthorne and Lee Kerry – to fish their pegs as they saw fit.

That trusting approach paid dividends, with every member finishing in the top 15 of their 45 peg sections, with Will Freeman and Matt Godfrey among their best performers.

“Every peg on the River Trent is different and when you have anglers of that calibre you know that they are going to be able to come up with a plan that will give them the best chance of doing well.

“That is exactly what happened and we are absolutely delighted to have won the Division One National.”

Barnsley’s success leaves them one step closer to making their way into the history books, with the team now just one National win away from matching the eight titles recorded by the legendary Leeds DASA side.

The victory also gives them the chance to represent the UK in the 2017 World Club Championships, the venue for which will be revealed in the coming months.

Several other star teams, including the formidable Daiwa Dorking, were on show at this year’s National, but local knowledge proved key to landing the framing spots.

Lincoln & District AC took the runners-up spot after they accumulated 367 points, with Scunthorpe back in third on 345 points.

Result: 1 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 380pts; 2 Lincoln & District AC, 367; 3 Scunthorpe Tackle, 345; 4 Daiwa Dorking, 341; 5 Derbyshire Angling Fed, 326; 6 Browning Hotrods, 314; 7 Starlets AC,  308; 8 Lincs County, 300; 9 Daiwa Gordon League, 293; 10 Winterton AC, 290.

River Trent match record shaken

"If I hadn’t broken around 20 hooklinks on the snags I would have smashed the river record out of sight,” said match fishing ace Paul Goulding, following an amazing contest on the Trent.

As it was, Paul still came agonisingly close to the five-hour target when he banked a catch weighing 177lb 7oz.

He was fishing a swim that he described as being ‘four feet deep with five feet of fish’ during a contest on the famous waterway at Holme Marsh.

The classic combination of a groundbait feeder teamed with a worm hookbait saw him hook a fish on his very first cast, and from the on the Daiwa Dons angler from Worksop never looked back.

“I knew I was on the right peg, especially when I netted 10 bream in as many casts. I was even getting bites before the feeder had a chance to hit the deck,” Paul told Angling Times.

“It was absolutely incredible. This guy carrying a deck chair came up and parked himself behind me. He told me he fishes the river all the time, and he said ‘you don’t mind if I sit behind you, do you?’ 

“I said ‘not at all, but can you do me a favour and go and borrow another net off of someone… and he kindly did just that.”

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Paul, as an underwater snag cost the loss of what he estimates to be more than 20 fish

Had he landed those he would have smashed the current five-hour River Trent record that stands at 192lb 8oz and was taken by Mick Vials in August last year.

Despite the frustration,Paul stuck with his trusty feeder rig in throughout the match in order to keep the bites coming. 

It consisted of a 6lb Daiwa mainline, a 4lb hooklink and a size 14 Drennan Super Spade.

A feeder packed with groundbait and chopped worms with a single dendrobaena on the hook saw him land more than 50 bream in the incredible catch, which is his biggest ever from a river.

“There’s no doubt in my mind I would have had over 250lb if I hadn’t had to contend with that snag, but how can you complain about a day’s fishing like that?” Paul continued.

“The guy who sat behind me who I talked about earlier said he’d never seen anything like it before, and I speak for both of us when I say that neither of us probably ever will again.”

Playford powers to the Match This final

The road to the 2016 Maver Match This final is rapidly reaching its conclusion after the penultimate two qualifiers were decided.

Adam Playford, at Decoy Lakes, and Steve Openshaw (page 64), at Tunnel Barn Farm, were the latest anglers to secure their spot for the huge money final at Maver Hayfield Lakes on September 3. 

Both anglers recorded huge 200lb-plus catches of F1 carp on caster shallow tactics, a technique which has been dominating many commercial fisheries this summer.

A top class field turned out for the midweek qualifier at the prolific Decoy Lakes in Cambridgeshire, but the match wasn’t without its drama. 

Dersingham AC man Adam won with 208-9-0 from peg 29 on Beastie, taking full advantage of the pegs either side of him not being drawn. 

But it could have been so different as third-placed Andy Bayley (Daiwa Dons) had enough weight in the four keepnets he used to topple this from peg 23. 

But he exceeded the 50lb limit in three of them and was given an official recording of 164lb 2oz, instead of his actual 219lb.

“Andy’s pole was in my line of sight and I knew he’d caught really well,” said Adam.

“I’ve fished here quite a bit, so I used a clicker and tried not to go over 50lb in any of my nets. 

“I started on the Method feeder to the island with pellets and had a 10lb carp first chuck. Then I caught a few smaller ones before it died, so I went onto my 13m shallow line where I’d been firing casters. I caught well here for an hour, but I’d been throwing casters down to the tree to my left with a view to catching shallow there too as it’s deep and snaggy. I spent the rest of the match on this close line with heavier gear, catching mainly F1s and barbel,” he said.  

With the much fancied Strip Lakes failing to produce any catch in excess of 150lb, it paved the way for Beastie Lake to take four of the top five places in the match. Winner Adam fished 11 hollo elastic, a 0.11m hooklength and a size 18 hook with banded caster in open water and a 12-16 Middy Shockcore, 0.15mm hooklength and size 16 hook in the snaggy margins. He fed sparingly with just three pints of casters over the match. 

Result

1 A Playford (Dersingham AC) 208-9-0;
2 A Szczupak (Decoy Lakes) 170-11-0;
3 A Bailey (Daiwa Dons) 164-2-0; 4 A Geldart (Matrix/Dynamite) 147-14-0;
5 R Lidgard (Sturgeon Baits) 145-6-0.

Records tumble at Arran’s Lake with 1,514lb match winner

THE RESULT

1 Michael Jones – 1,514lb
2 Michael Corsini – 1,341lb
3 Nathan Gooderham – 1,020lb
4 Douglas Richardson – 947lb
5 John Hague – 928lb
6 Louis Johnson – 612lb

The biggest weight in the history of world competitive fishing has been taken at a colossal 1,514lb.

Arran’s Lake in Essex has a reputation for producing monster catches in summer, but even the most ambitious of expectations were obliterated when Michael Jones netted more than 350 carp averaging 4lb during a six-hour contest.

That wasn’t the only talking point on the day, because Michael Corsini took what is now the second-biggest match weight anywhere in the UK, an incredible 1,341lb for runner-up spot. And spare a thought for sixth-placed Louis Johnson, who didn’t win a penny despite bagging 612lb.

Warm temperatures and a gentle ripple greeted the field on the day. The match was split into two three-hour events with a weigh-in at half time to conform with fishery rules.

Using pellet 5m out, Michael Jones put 705lb in the net in the first session, stepping up his efforts after the break to collar another 809lb.

Runner-up and match organiser Michael Corsini relied on corn close in and recorded 582lb in the first half and 759lb in the second. He told Angling Times: “We all knew that big catches were going to be on the cards, but never in our wildest dreams did we expect weights like these.

“It was a literally a fish-a-chuck and by the end of the match I was so exhausted that I felt like I’d run a marathon!

“You couldn’t get the bait in quickly enough and during each half I had 10 keepnets in the water to conform with weight limits, reducing the amount of space I had to fish into.”

News of the huge catches has divided opinion in the match angling world. 

Some people are claiming that the big-weight culture has gone too far, but Michael disagrees with the criticism.

“People have this perception that fish are dragged in on stupidly heavy tackle and in bad condition, but that couldn’t be further than the truth,” he said.

“I use 0.21mm line and a sensible elastic. It’s all about the technique of getting fish in, rather than piling on a ridiculous amount of pressure that could cause them damage.

“The fish are always breeding, which shows they are happy in their environment, and the owner regularly nets out smaller carp to create space for the bigger ones. 

“Sensible rules and good fishery management are applied, and I’d say that Arrans is just a special and unique fishery.”

Several other matches are set to be staged in the coming months, with a winter league also pencilled in at the complex.

You can find out more or book a spot by calling Michael on 07522 149186.