Broken pole not enough to stop £1000 match win
Bait-Tech’s Gareth Lennox ended his weekend £1,000 better off after winning the Fish O’Maniac Final at Devon’s Stafford Moor complex.
He saw off the 17 other finalists on Tanner’s Lake with 173-2-0 of carp, the win coming despite Gareth snapping his pole.
After a qualifying match the day before, the 18 finalists lined up and Gareth got peg 20 from the bag.
Starting on pellet short he caught only a few skimmers. That meant a change to fishing at 16m down the margins to pick off a few carp – then he broke his pole!
With no spare section, he picked up the bomb rod and cast down the edge with worm on the hook over loosefed pellets.
It worked like a dream as the peg got stronger the longer the match went on to see him home. The win follows Gareth qualifying for the Golden Reel Final – quite a productive spell!
A broken pole didn’t stop Gareth from securing the win at Stafford Moor
Second on peg 16 was England ace Des Shipp, who went for a pellet attack at 6m and in the margins to land carp for 157-1-0.
Result:
1 G Lennox, Bait-Tech, 173-2-0; 2 D Shipp, Preston Innovations, 157-1-0; 3 L Werrett, Middy/Bait-Tech, 155-12-0; 4 A Lee, Banstead, 153-2-0; 5 A Allen, Stafford Moor, 133-13-0; 6 M Heard, Stafford Moor, 126-11-0.
The winning catch
Match Fishing Is Changing - Reader Letter
“I’m not an avid match angler but I do follow the scene with interest and watch out for the results in Angling Times each week.
“Two things have stood out recently, the first being the increase in attendances at matches on natural waters since lockdown ended.
“Maybe match anglers have outgrown those stock pond commercials and are returning to fishing events that offer a real challenge.
“Okay, some of the catch weights might not be headline-makers but they usually make for close competitions.
There has been an increase in attendances on natural water matches
“The second thing I discovered was that Jamie Hughes keeps getting through to the Fish O’Mania final each year – this time marks his ninth final in a row.
“I don’t know how he does it, but there’s no denying he’s got a serious talent there and I’ll be cheering him on come the day of the final.”
Jamie Hughes just keeps winning. There’s no denying he’s got serious talent.
Letter sent in from Alex Ross, Lancashire
Send us your letters and pics to: atletters@bauermedia.co.uk
First visit to the venue and a big match win!
There are those who swear that an intimate knowledge of a venue is a must for success, but Lee Kerry showed that’s not always the case by winning the latest Angling Trust RiverFest qualifier on the River Weaver – on his first visit to the North West waterway!
Lee Kerry knows a thing or two about catching bream (Southfield image)
Having booked on at the last minute, Lee weighed in 46-15-12 of bream and skimmers to cruise to victory from Kevin Hall on 25-7-0. Lee was helped by drawing a great peg, but good pegs don’t fish themselves.
“I don’t get the time in summer to fish RiverFest but I saw a few tickets for sale and had heard that the Weaver was fishing well, so fancied a go,” Lee says.
“I drew peg 2 on what’s called the old river, a good swim. It gets pleasure fished a lot, is wide and deep and a known bream area. There was a feeder and a pile of pellets in the peg when I got there, so that told me all I needed to know!”
Picking one line to fish the feeder at 30m, Lee used one as a negative swim with small baits and finely chopped worms through the feeder, the second being more positive with corn, 2mm pellets and rougher chopped worm fed. Kicking off on the negative line, he then moved on to the positive once he felt a few fish were about.
The rig that won
“The opening hour was slow, but I could see some bream rolling so I kept the faith and once I got a bite, things got better and better,” he continues.
“By resting and rotating the swims, I had a great three hours catching around 25 fish before things fizzled out in the last hour. From people walking about, though, it seemed that no-one else was catching that well in the match, but you never know on a river with bream – it’s possible to catch 50lb in an hour!”
Hundreds sign up to 'Super National' match
A NEW competition is to be launched this summer to fill the void left in the match fishing calendar by the cancellation of the Division 1 & 2 Nationals.
The Great Yorkshire Teams of Ten will take place on the New Junction and Aire and Calder Canals on Saturday, August 16, and initial demand for tickets has been impressive as anglers from across the nation have rushed to sign up.
The event, which some people are dubbing the ‘Super National’, is the brainchild of match organiser Paul Caygill, who reveals that 200 participants are already signed up.
“We noticed there was a big space in the match calendar after the Nationals were cancelled and, knowing that many anglers will have already booked time off work, we thought we’d try to sort something out,” Paul explains.
“The match is open to anyone, and we’ll have teams from both Division 1 and Division 2 battling it out on two of the finest venues the country has to offer.”
The two canals in question played host to last year’s Division 1 National, and catch returns were impressive, with more than 100 double-figure weights being put to the scales, and no blanks recorded by the participating anglers.
“We’ve already got 20 teams of 10 fishing, and these aren’t just local lads either – they’re from all over the country – so it should be a brilliant match on a very impressive venue,” Paul adds.
The match will fill the void left by the cancellation of the Div 1 & 2 Nationals
400lb bag smashes Larford Lakes record
Mikey Williams crushed the opposition to win the recent Golden Reel match at Larford Lakes with a venue record weight of 401-8-0, booking himself a return visit to Larford in September for the final and a crack at winning £50,000.
His end peg 30 on the grass bank of the Match Lake had no angler to his right until the opposite bank, and pegs to his left were not drawn. That meant more fish to draw into his own peg.
“They seemed too far up in the water to catch them on pellet, so I put two dead red maggots on the hook to get a slower fall of the bait,” Mikey says.
“After 55 minutes I had 127lb on my clicker. After 90 minutes, though, the carp drifted off to the space on my left.
I needed to get them back in my peg.“I started lashing in casters at 13m, fishing two maggots shallow on the same rig I’d used to mug early on, and I caught another 150lb in the next two hours, but the lad opposite me was bagging as well, so I wasn’t having it all my own way.”
By fishing corn over groundbait to both margins, in the final 15 minutes alone he had 44lb of carp from the left-hand side, which proved to be the better of his edges. “It was solid with fish!” he says.
Larford is on fire at the moment
Biggest F1 ever landed!
The biggest F1 ever recorded has been caught by a carp angler from a Lancashire club water.
David Williams got a huge shock when he netted the colossal 13lb 8oz specimen during a recent carp fishing trip. The fish is considerably bigger than the assumed ceiling weight of F1s, which normally grow to a maximum of about 6lb.
A cross between crucian and common carp, F1s were first farmed 30 years ago to provide year-round sport on the growing commercial match scene.
Simon Hughes, who created the breed, tells Angling Times:
“That is definitely an F1, and by the looks of it it’s one of ours.
“It’s the biggest I’ve heard of, so it’d be a record as far as we’re aware.”
There has never been an official British record for F1s and Simon said the biggest he had previously encountered were around the 9lb-10lb mark.
David (46) caught the new unofficial British best while targeting specimen carp with a 14mm pop-up boilie on a chod rig.
“It gave me a proper scrap,”
said David, who weighed the fish on Reuben Heaton scales.
“When it came in I looked at the lateral line, and then saw no big barbules, and thought it had to be a huge F1.
“My friend had one weighing 10lb 6oz from the same water last winter, so I knew there were a handful of big ones in there.”
David Williams and the unofficial F1 record
Big match win confirmed on long drive home
Such are the effects of social distancing measures in match fishing that sometimes winning anglers don’t know they’ve won until an hour after leaving to go home. That’s what happened to Andy Power in a recent Fish O’Mania qualifier at Tunnel Barn Farm.
Rules state that anglers must pack up and leave immediately after weighing in, and after putting 238-6-0 on to the scales the Preston Innovations man did just that, thinking that he hadn’t won. A text 90 minutes into his journey back to Somerset told him he actually had!
“I had a bit of luck, as Luke Bamford went over the weight limit in one of his keepnets,” reveals Andy.
“He’d have won the match easily otherwise!”
Andy’s plan for his peg 5 on Extension Pool draw was based around casting shallow and then fishing tight across to the reeds on the island.
Three hours in on the shallow line at 6m using banded caster he’d caught really well, an estimated 150lb of F1s. When this slowed up, he went out to the reeds with banded 4mm pellet to take around 80lb of carp and F1s in the final two hours.
Andy Power (pictured) had no idea he had won the match until 90-minutes into his drive home.
Nationals won't go ahead in 2020
Fish O’Mania and RiverFest will go ahead this year, but the historic Division 1 and 2 Nationals will not, the Angling Trust has revealed.
A few months ago the idea of any matches being fished seemed far-fetched, so the release of the Trust’s Coarse Competitions calendar this week will be welcome news to the nation’s match anglers.
However, concerns about social distancing mean the Division 1 and 2 Nationals, events that often draw over 500 participants, have been cancelled. It was a tricky decision for the Trust to make, but John Ellis of the Canal and River Trust is fully behind it:
“I’m a huge supporter of our national championships, but deferring both these events for 12 months is a sensible decision that I know most anglers will support.”
The Division 1 & 2 Nationals won’t be taking place this year.
Anglers celebrate after Government lifts ban on competitive fishing
THE final piece in the jigsaw of angling’s full return slotted into place this week after Government gave the green light for competitive fishing to return.
Pleasure anglers received consent to return to the banks three weeks ago, but social distancing guidelines banning big gatherings of people meant that many fishery regulars and matchmen were unable to follow suit.
This has now all changed, however, after the Angling Trust successfully argued that match fishing deserved special dispensation as entrants could socially distance at all times, including at the draw and weigh-in.
The news came as a huge relief for Britain’s commercial venue owners, and the reaction from anglers has been overwhelming, with many fisheries struggling to cope with the instant demand for pegs.
At Somerset’s Viaduct Fishery the phones started ringing off the hook as soon as the announcement was made. Manager Matt Long says:
“We expected anglers to get involved, but we didn’t anticipate selling every ticket for our first batch of matches within 10 minutes! It shows that lots of people are itching to get back.”
Euphoria aside, the welfare of visiting anglers remains a priority for venue owners, and safety protocols have been introduced.
Matt Long adds:
“Everyone’s pegs will be drawn for them. Entrants will be asked to keep away from the weighing-in area.”
Similar provisions have been made at Partridge Lakes in Warrington, where technology is set to play a role in making sure safety guidelines are followed.
Owner Barbara Ikin says:
“Anglers will book on and pay for their peg using an online system and all payouts will be done via bank transfer. It means that everyone can get back to match fishing and stay safe.”
The news has been welcomed by Britain’s top matchmen, among them former Fish O’Mania champion Andy May, although he was keen to sound a note of caution.
“I can’t wait for the buzz of competing again, but Covid-19 hasn’t gone away,” he says.
“It’s important we follow the rules at each fishery to make sure angling continues to be held in high regard by the public.”
The green light has been give to competitive fishing
Time to give Dick Clegg a Knighthood - Reader letter
It sometimes annoys me how little recognition angling gets from the country’s bigwigs.
If an England football manager had as much success as Dick Clegg had as manager of our national fishing side, he’d have been knighted by now (Angling Times, April 21).
I know that he has been awarded an MBE and an OBE, but I still don’t think that’s enough to mark the contribution he’s made.
Quite simply, he took the side from also-rans to number one in the world and kept them there for 17 years. I bet that our England football bosses can only dream of picking up six world titles. Even one would be a start.
Mark Lester, Nottingham
Dick Clegg guided England to be the best in the world
‘What I wish I’d known at 20’ - Adam Rooney
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, so for this series, we asked some of angling’s stars what nuggets of wisdom they would share with their 20 year-old selves and why. It makes interesting reading...
Adam Rooney - former starlets ace and boss of guru tackle
“When I look back at my fishing at the age of 20, there were clearly things that I should have done differently. One of my biggest flaws was setting up too much gear and this often made me late for the start of contests.
“I’d regularly fish the White Acres festivals with top anglers such as Richie Hull and Gaz Stanley and although I experienced success there, I would certainly have a lot more rods and top kits out than pretty much anyone else!
“It all boiled down to a lack of confidence in certain areas on my attack, but I now know that you need to focus on a select few methods that you feel that you’ve mastered. If you stick to your guns with these, they tend to work more times than they fail. One of the best ways to realise what your faults are is to surround yourself with anglers who are proven winners.
“Fishing with Richie taught me so much. I’d take time out from actually fishing and sit behind him, taking note of every little detail. He was the best by a mile at commercial meat fishing and by quizzing him almost constantly I managed to master the tactic.
“It’s so tempting to rush to the lakeside and start fishing as quickly as you can but if there are local experts on site, take a little time to have a chat with them. There’s no doubt that small amount of time will make a massive difference to the amount you catch when you finally wet a line.”
Starlets were quick to recognise the talent of a young Adam Rooney.
The trophy that put Adam on the road to big-time match fishing success.
World Champs cancelled!
Match fishing has been struck the ultimate blow with the cancellation of the Men’s World Championships, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was scheduled to be held in Italy in September, but world match fishing governing body FIPSED has had to pull the plug, consigning the event to the same fate as the World Feeder, Ladies, Youth, Disabled, Veterans, Masters and European Champs. The likely outcome seems a full postponement of all these until 2021.
“I think there are plans to have the Veterans and Feeder events fished in October, but as for everything else, it’s been scrubbed,” said England boss Mark Downes.
“I’ve pressed for things to be carried over a year, so that we are fishing the venue in Italy that we’re supposed to be on in a few months’ time when we return in 2021.
“Everything is still a bit up in the air at the moment, but at least we have clarification and can begin to plan for next year. It’ll feel odd come September, not getting ready for a World Champs!”
Action from a previous fishing World Champs
Giant reservoir match to raise thousands for the NHS
WELSH angler David Healey is trying to raise thousands of pounds for the NHS through a massive fishing match… and he wants you to fish it!
The 35-year-old from Cwmbran reached out to anglers on Facebook to see who would participate in a fundraising fish-off on the 434-acre Llandegfedd Reservoir in Wales, and within just a couple of days more than 150 people had signed-up!
The 434-acre Llandegfedd Reservoir will host the epic match
He’s now calling for other anglers to step forward, alongside tackle manufacturers, to help sponsor a potential raffle on the match day.
“The response has been unbelievable and it’s fantastic to see that anglers want to show their respect and support for NHS staff,” David says.
“I will confirm a date when the lockdown has been lifted, but hopefully we can raise at least £2,000 for the NHS, which has given us such a great service during the battle against Covid-19.
“With the assistance of my mates Rob Skellet and Adam Toomey, we have the potential to make this the biggest natural water fishing match in Welsh history.”
Organiser David Healey
Get involved
If you’re interested in taking part or would like to donate a prize, email Dave at davidjohnhealey@gmail.com.
Fishing legend set to publish his life story
Rather than spend the lockdown sorting out his tackle, angling legend Tommy Pickering has been busy fulfilling his long-term ambition of writing his autobiography, filled with tales of a glittering match fishing career.
Tommy hard at work writing his fishing tales
Set to be called The Bionic Bleaker, after Tommy’s nickname gained from his ability to rapidly catch small fish, the book will include tales of big matches in the 1970s and 1980s through to his recent experiences as England feeder team boss.
“I’ve been on about doing it for years,” Tommy tells us,
“I didn’t want it to be a glorified tale of my life, so I’ve kept it honest. I’m about 200 pages in so far.”
Tommy with a bream
Yorkshire matchmen plan to get more kids fishing
A GROUP of veteran Yorkshire match anglers is planning to run a series of events for junior anglers after the Covid-19 lockdown as part of a drive to get more youngsters into the sport.
The forward-thinking initiative, which is being headed up by 66-year-old Kev Holvey, has been granted free use of Moorfields Fishery in Goole to host the matches, and tackle has been donated by local anglers for the youngsters to use on the day. The lucky participants will also be able to keep the equipment once the sessions are finished.
Kev, who ran a similar series of events last winter until fisheries were forced to close, said:
“We’ve already collected a vast amount of kit from supportive anglers and there is certainly a desire for these sorts of events. Over the winter we had around 20 kids and their parents attending each match. The kids love it, and at the start of each session we name each one of them after an angling superstar. They can get quite feisty if you get it wrong, saying things like, “No, I’m Bob Nudd today!”
For more information and to sign up for ‘Kev Holvey’s Coaching For Kids’, please visit his personal Facebook page.
Record-breaking venue reopens doors
The Earlswood Engine Pool in Solihull was the original British big-weight water but back in 2017 the venue was drained and emptied of fish after reports of invasive catfish emerged. Now, the pool has been re-stocked and is open for fishing, with local anglers rubbing their hands in anticipation of more bagging days.
Duncan Clarke, manager of Solihull Angling Centre, told us:
“We’re all so pleased that the pool has re-opened and can’t wait for the matches to start again in a few months’ time.
“I fished it for years, through its bream days in the mid 90s, to when they stocked it with carp. I’d never seen so many fish – it was biblical!”
No fewer than five tonnes of carp were introduced between 1999 – 2000, but after being emptied these fish were moved.
The reservoir is now undergoing a new stocking programme, as John Ellis of the Canal and River Trust reveals:
“By 2021, subject to approval, approximately 40,000 F1s averaging 8oz each will be introduced, which should make for interesting fishing. There is potential to hold Let’s Fish events, as well as expanding the Boddington Classic.”
Licence 'levy' could send our boys to the World Champs
THE COUNTRY’S top anglers face the prospect of missing out altogether on this year’s World Championships unless a solution can be found to the ongoing funding crisis.
Twelve months on from the furore that saw former sponsor Drennan cut ties with the national set-up, England’s Men’s Float Team are still without financial support and will have to dig into their own pockets and find around £2,000 each if they are to make it to the event, which is being held on Italy’s River Mincio in September.
However, one possible answer could lie in the adoption of a funding model that is common in the rest of Europe, as England regular Des Shipp revealed:
“In France and Italy, anglers pay a small premium on top of their licence to support international match fishing. It’s a simple solution yet in England we don’t do this.
“Imagine what we could do with an added 50p on the rod licence fee. All of our teams would be sorted – not just the Men’s Float Team, but the Ladies, the Disables, Veterans and Youth Teams as well – with money to spare!” he said.
And it’s not just the England team who are struggling for cash, as Welsh ace Lee Edwards explained:
“To be honest, we’re in a dire situation. Not only are we short of sponsorship, but our manager also stepped down a year ago and hasn’t been replaced yet.”
“Fishing in the UK has gone down a commercial route, and individual events are far more popular than team ones. I just can’t see anglers donating as it doesn’t suit their personal fishing, unlike in Europe where team fishing is the focus.”
The pegs to draw in the winter league final
If you’re in a team heading for this month’s Angling Trust Winter League Final, there will be only one thing on your mind right now – practice!
But ahead of the big day on the Fen Drains and Decoy Lakes, working out where exactly you’ll fancy being drawn is a tricky job.
There were big matches across both venues recently, and although leading weights were as good as ever, the real tale was told well down the list on the harder sections, which didn’t benefit from the brief spell of frosts following on from what has been a mild winter so far.
Of course, much can change between now and the end of February, but one thing is certain – to do well as a team you’re going to need a slice of luck at the draw to avoid some real duffers and be on pegs that give you a chance.
On Decoy, Daiwa old hand Simon Wheeler won the open comfortably with 130-1-0 of carp from peg 22 on Six Islands Lake, a noted winter draw, using pellet and corn on the long pole – so there’s one to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, 24 hours earlier, the strip lakes took centre stage.
They hosted the bomb and feeder-only Golden Rod qualifier and Elm Lake peg 13 served up victory for Maver man Graeme Wall. He took 72-6-0 of carp and F1s using Method feeder tactics, while on the neighbouring Cedar Lake Stu Fotheringham bagged second place.
However, looking at previous finals, the winner has come off a different lake almost every time, so who really knows?
It’s a little more straight-forward on the drains and the plum area is the Twenty Foot Drain around Chain Bridge near March, which is easily outfishing its more illustrious neighbour – the Old Nene. Graham Welton was there in the latest round of the HAJAC League and bagged a winning 32-12-0 of roach and small rudd on whip tactics. Rob Hewison was second on the next peg with 29-6-0.
Pressure can often play a part on these small Fenland waters, but it’d be a brave man to bet against the Twenty Foot not throwing up the winner. Let’s just hope your skipper hands you Chain Bridge on the big day!
Feedermasters tickets sell out in record time!
THE SOARING popularity of feeder-based match angling was underlined this month when tickets for Feedermasters sold out in a record-breaking 45 minutes.
At 10am on January 15 thousands of super-keen matchmen descended on the event’s Facebook page to book their place on one or more of the 20 qualifiers available, but after just 15 minutes three-quarters of the tickets had been snapped up!
“It was unbelievable to witness,”
said Feedermasters organiser and 2019 champion, Lee Kerry.
“After just 30 seconds some qualifiers had sold out and at one stage around 300 people were trying to buy tickets for just a single event. In the end it took around 45 minutes for the full 1,200 to sell out!
“Part of the success can be attributed to the fact that we didn’t want to be too greedy, so offered just 60 spaces per qualifying event. We pride ourselves on offering balanced fishing matches which give every competing angler a chance to qualify.
“It’s an incredible feeling to see how popular this competition has become, and it certainly proves that there is a massive demand for feeder-based matchfishing.”
To many, the uncomplicated nature of feeder fishing is the reason behind the competition’s overwhelming success, with anglers requiring minimal tackle to be able to compete on an equal footing.
Angling Times Match Editor Richard Grange said:
“It’s no surprise to me that feeder fishing matches are so incredibly popular, and becoming even more so. When you compare Feedermasters to say, Match This or Fish O’Mania, the difference is substantial.
“Firstly, you only have to win your zone to qualify, not the whole match, so you have more chance at the draw.
“Secondly, the amount of tackle required and setting-up time are both drastically reduced, and thirdly, fishing the feeder is so much easier than slapping and tapping at 16m for carp, for example.
“Finally, there is less choice for the feeder angler when it comes to big events to fish, so anglers tend to go for the ‘biggie’ and that’s Feedermasters.”
Thousands of bleak landed in amazing Wye match
Of all the fish you can be plagued by in a match, bleak have to be the worst of all – but try telling that to Steve Maher and Trevor Chalk after they whipped out literally thousands of these tiny fish to take first and second on a rising River Wye recently!
You see bleak don’t weigh much and often take a bait intended for roach and chub but faced with a river that came up several feet during a winter league round at Hereford, the two men got stuck in with whip tactics to weigh in 46-8-0 and 33-4-0 respectively.
The match saw Steve finish the day standing up to fish owing to the rapidly rising levels while Trevor was adamant there were fish topping behind his box such were the sheer numbers of bleak in his swim, Trevor counting 1,250 fish in his final tally, so god only knows how many Steve ended up with!
“The peg I drew – 92 – has been brilliant for roach and dace on a normal river and I did begin fishing for them but soon got plagued by bleak and caught next to no roach,” Steve said.
“That made my mind up after half an hour to go all-out for bleak on a 3m whip with maggot and they got bigger as the match went on and came shorter too. However, I had to keep moving my seatbox back up the platform with the rising water and in the end, I threw everything on top of the bank and stood up to fish with 90 minutes to go.”
“This wasn’t quite as good, but the big bleak kept coming and after catching solidly for four hours and at the end I was genuinely interested in just what they’d all weigh so to win the match with them was satisfying and rewarding for all the hard work!” he added.
Trevor was further down the stretch at peg 64, a noted bleak peg that was full of fish from the word go and he went for them straight away, aiming to catch a big weight with a 1,000-plus fish target fishing the whip at 2m and 270 of them in the opening hour was on the pace, a speed that never relented as he finished with well over four figures in terms of fish numbers and second in the match.
