Angling Times Winter League Semi Final - 08/03/2010
Kennet and Avon canal from Darlington to Diggers (120 pegs)
Having been warmer all week, once again two hard frosts and bright sun hit the fishing on the Kennet and Avon canal. The canal was much more coloured than in the practice matches but most sections still fished hard. The last section at Dundas an exception as most anglers there weighed in over 5lbs.
The top four teams in this match progress to the final on the river Nene at Peterborough and it was very tight at the top. Winning the match having put in a lot of practice were Daiwa Gordon League on 51 points. There was a three way tie for second on 53 points which meant a countback on sections was required. This put Drennan Got Baits in second place, Kamasan Starlets in third and Garbolino Blackmore Vale in forth. Milo Borden missed out by only two points in fifth place.
Local angler Dave Mickelwright of Sensas Bathampton won the match with a catch of 9lbs 7ozs from peg K3 half way between the Diggers and Dundas bridges. He started the match by feeding 7 chopped lobworms 1 metre off the far bank then caught a few small skimmers and roach on bread and bloodworm and joker. During the match he tried the lobworm line and kept topping it up with a couple more chopped lobworms. With just over an hour to go he managed to catch on a chunk of lobworm which was a stunning hybrid of 4lbs. Half an hour later he caught a small skimmer and a 3lbs hybrid on the same method.
2nd was Martin Howard of Daiwa Gordon League. The Van Den Eynde sponsored angler drew between the wooden footbridge and the wires at Darlington and caught around 3lbs of ruffe and gudgeon on bloodworm after having no bites on bread punch initially. During the match he had been loosefeeding castors tight over and this produced late. He caught over 6lbs of roach upto 6ozs in this last hour for a total of 9 lbs 6 ozs to miss out by only 1 oz on the win.
- 1st Dave Mickelwright (Sensas Bathampton Avon Aquatics), 9lbs 7oz
- 2nd Martin Howard (Daiwa Gordon League), 9lbs 6oz
- 3rd Andy Curless (Browning Crowsports), 7lbs 14oz
- 4th Steve Johnson (Drennan Got Baits), 7lbs 12oz
- 5th Ben Dukes (Garbolino Blackmore Vale Match Group), 7lbs 9oz
- 6th Dan Ashington (Kamasan Starlets), 7lbs 8oz
- 1st Daiwa Gordon League, 51
- 2nd Drennan Got Baits, 53
- 3rd Kamasan Starlets, 53
- 4th Garbolino Blackmore Vale Match Group, 53
- 5th Milo Borden, 55
- 6th Fox Match Black Horse, 59
- 7th Maver Image, 61
- 8th Sensas Bathampton, 63
- 9th Passies White, 66
- 10th Fox Match Arun, 74
- 11th Browning Crowsports, 75
