England International Darren Cox showed his mettle in the final round of the Garbolino Sensas CIPS rules league, after the match turned out to be fished in extraordinary conditions for February.
Taking to the banks of the Gloucester Canal, anglers were greeted by a flat calm water and a blazing hot sunshine - pleasant for the anglers but a tad confusing for the fish. However, that didn’t stop Garbolino-backed Darren getting on with business after finding the venue's bream in feeding mood.
Fishing from peg 47 on the new Hempstead Bend, Darren, who fishes for Kamasan Starlets, fed 12 balls of groundbait at the start, before employing slider float tactics at 30metres looking for the waterways head of skimmers and bream.
After an hour Darren’s approach started to pay off as the bream settled over his bed of bait with a steady stream of fish falling for his alternated double red maggot and maggot and worm hook bait. Netting fish up to 4lb Darren posted a final weight of 23lb 9oz to take the top spot.
Taking second place Daiwa Dorking man Callum Dicks took advantage of an end peg through the new bridge to weigh in 14lb 12oz of skimmers and bream. Callum caught on the pole and red maggot over groundbait.
Another up and coming star filled third spot, Kamasan Starlets Cam Hughes had 13lb 3oz of skimmers and bream on the slider and red maggot.
Team winners on the day were Garbolino RAF who have made an impact in their first year in the league. This was enough to also give them fourth in the final league standings.
However it was Daiwa Dorking Black that took the team glory, doing enough on the day to hold on to their lead and finished with a credible 72 points, five clear of Kamasan Super Starlets who edged out their ‘green’ team mates into third overall.
Individuals on day
1st Darren Cox Garbolino/Kamasan Starlets 23lb’s 9oz
2nd Callum Dicks Daiwa Dorking 14lb’s 12oz
3rd Cam Hughes Kamasan Starlets 13lb’s 3oz
4th Tom Hobbs Drennan Banbury Guns 12’bs 15oz
5th Dusty Kidder RAF 11lbs 6oz
6th Nigel Bull Kamasan Starlets 9lb’s 15oz
Teams Overall
1st Daiwa Dorking Black 72
2nd Kamasan Super Starlets 77
3rd Kamasan Starlets Green 83.5
4th Garbolino RAF 91
Cox's winning net from the Gloucester canal.
