After the final of the nineteenth Fish O Mania big money final played out in front of the TV cameras last week, it was the winner of the huge £30k prize pot, Warren Martin, who made all the headlines – including an exclusive interview right here in Angling News Week.
However, there was another angler just two pegs away that not only took victory but also made history, cementing her position as one of the most successful ever competitors in the event.
Fishing in the Ladies Fish O Mania match run alongside the main event on Cudmore’s Arena Lake, England international Samantha Sim put in a master class of tactics to trounce the opposition and notch up her third victory in the prestigious match.
Defending her title from last year, and added to her victory from 2007, the win sees her match Sandra Scotthorne’s record of three victories in the high-profile match.
It’s an impressive feat by any angler’s standards, but Sam’s latest victory was most notable for the style in which she won.
After four hours of fishing alongside the men, an hour less than the main match, the Preston Innovations backed rod weighed in a hefty 27.97kg – a weight less than 3kg behind Warren Martin’s £30k winning haul!
“If we’d have fished the same amount of time as the guys in the main match I think I’d have beaten the winning weight,” Sam, who fished from Arena’s peg 2, told Angling News Week. “I got my tactics right on the day, feeding small pots of worm, caster, corn and meat on two lines at 13 and 6meters which kept the fish coming.”
After four hours the trickle of feed saw Sam weight in more than double the weight of second placed Emma Pickering with an all barbel net save for a bonus carp of 5.15kg caught late on close in– another weight not far off Warren Martin’s biggest fish of the match at 5.59kg.
The big question though has to be, can she make it four and is she looking to take her experience into the main money event?
“I’ve fished the qualifiers before to fish the main Fish O but never had much luck in the draw bag,” said the 26-year-old. “Next year I’ll be giving it another go as I’d love to fish the final and win the £30k. But if I don’t get there I’d like to take a fourth ladies title and just keep going.”
Sam nets another fish on her way to a third Fish O victory
