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. 

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.