WELL, it had to go and 12-year-old Tommy Hancock once again belied his age and hammered the opposition into submission, setting a new match record for the Stoppos venue.
His 66lb 10oz of carp, bream and tench beat the old record by a considerable margin.
He fished his usual feeder with pellets and alternated between sweetcorn and luncheon meat on the hook, close in to the margins.
He switched to the pole as the match progressed, but still fished very close in — just four feet from the bank in three feet of water.
Runner-up in this excellent match was John Stevens with 51lb 12oz, and he lost 10 fish.
He caught on four sections of pole and fished the same baits as the winner to catch carp and tench.
Third place went to Mark Tomlinson, who fished the feeder and the good old fashioned Polaris sliding float. It worked well and earned him a weight of 40lb 13oz.
The latest River Trent Open proved a much bigger attraction than the previous match and, considering the weather and the state of the river, the result was not that bad.
Three sections were used — Sherratt’s Farm, Bailey’s and the Broadholme — but virtually all of the top weights came from the former, with the Bailey’s length proving something of a mystery as to just why it did not produce after such good weights in the previous match.
However, the winner was Ian Speedy with 9lb 4oz. He, like everyone else, had a mixed bag of fish, on a number eight stick float and 2AA waggler and red maggots fished over a bed of hempseed.
Second-placed Dave Mellor had to contend with a lady swimmer by his peg.
He also fished in a similar style — stick float to start with before switching to a waggler as the fish moved out later in the match. He finished with 7lb 12oz.
It is unusual to have a two-way tie for a placing, but on this particular occasion there was a three-way tie — all on 6lb 12oz.
Tony Marshall, Simon Mottram and Phil Williams all fished maggots under a stick float, the latter being the best weight from Bailey’s Meadow.
Prospects are looking very good for the Charity Open that will be fished on the same lengths on Sunday, September 5.
There is an excellent raffle after the match and all proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Research. Further details and tickets are available from Tony Vandome on 01283 512711.
There were also some very big weights in the latest Ferry Bridge Angling Club match fished at the prolific Thorpe Constantine Fishery.
It was not so much the big weight that won the match for Jason Dunn, it was the way he did it. Not only did he fish a foot from the bank in just a foot of water, but he caught all of his fish on potato! The last time I heard of anyone fishing potato as bait was in the mid-60s — and that’s giving my age away! He weighed in exactly 70lb and obviously knew exactly what he was doing.
On a more conventional bait system of casters and sweetcorn was Tim Kinson.
He weighed in 65lb 12oz for second place.
Third was match secretary Ritchie Bennett with 48lb 12oz, all caught on dead red maggots or sweetcorn.
The other top weights were Pete Johnson (47lb), Jimmy Jewel (45lb) and Dave Shakespear (44lb).
Special mention for Ken Mottram. He has never owned a pole before and is still learning how to get on with it. However, he still managed to weigh in a very creditable 31lb, which no doubt improved his confidence greatly.
