How Andy Bennett made history...

A rousing comeback in the second half of this year’s Fish O’Mania Final saw Andy Bennett become the first angler to secure back-to-back titles in the competition’s history, earning him that slice of history and the £50,000 winner’s cheque.

Andy Bennett become the first angler to secure back-to-back titles in the competition’s history

Fishing in autumnal conditions on the Island Lake at South Yorkshire’s Hayfield Lakes, Guru/Blake’s Bait man Andy, who qualified for the final automatically as defending champ, seemed out of it at the halfway stage. Then the carp turned up and a run of fish on the bomb helped him to make his move. The Manchester man finished with 40-100 from peg 10, enough to fend off runner-up Luke Sears on next-door peg 9, who took 33-850.

Strong winds made pole and waggler fishing all but impossible and many of the finalists, Andy among them, went down the quivertip and short pole route.

With two and a half hours gone, though, he seemed to be well out of the reckoning, with triple Fish O’ champion Jamie Hughes seemingly in control.

However, the fish vanished from Jamie’s peg and a group of big carp settled in front of Andy and Luke. The fourth hour turned into a golden 60 minutes, propelling last year’s champion into the lead, albeit a slender one of just a few kilos.

With Luke snapping at his heels and Andy’s peg suddenly seeming lifeless, he felt one more big carp would get the job done, and sure enough, with 15 minutes left the tip went around and the fish he desperately needed was in the bag, along with the title! Andy takes up the story...

Hours one and two

“In the opening two hours I caught seven kilos while the leaders were on 20-odd kilos, so I was well behind. Even though it was windy I could fish shallow on the long pole, but it was looking grim, bar a massive change. I needed some fish in front of me.”

Mid-match

“Until halfway through, the peg seemed dead. I managed a carassio on the waggler, but this was my only bite on the float. Luke to my right had been catching, so I began feeding more heavily to try and draw some of his fish towards me. I went from loosefeeding six 8mm pellets to double pouching 15 pellets at a time and finally I began to catch on two red eight-millers.”

A run of fish on the bomb helped him to make his move

Golden spell

“The next 90 minutes were really good, but I still felt I couldn’t catch the leaders up. Then my bank runner Paul Holland told me that a lot of the leaders had stopped catching, and that I was still in with a shout.”

A nervy end

“With an hour to go, I was three kilos ahead of Luke, then the peg died and I couldn’t buy a bite. Luke only needed one big fish to overtake me and he lost two in that final hour, a cause for panic on my part! I needed one more fish to put enough of a cushion between us. With 15 minutes to go, I got it.”

The final reckoning

“Even now, it surprises me that I won, because the peg had no form. It’s not a victory for patience or coolness, it’s more down to chance that the fish stayed where they did. Because my tactics were right, I felt that if I had a number of fish to work with, I was in with a chance, nothing more. To win back-to-back finals is a dream – I guess the next question is, can I make it a hat-trick? Who knows! As champion I won’t have to qualify next year, but at Hayfield any peg is capable of winning.”