LATEST ADDITIONS

Local aces take comfortable qualifier victory. Twelve teams of five booked on the first of this season’s team qualifying matches for the Match Fishing Team Championship Final. In a break from past tradition, this year not one but three teams from each of the qualifying matches progress through to join the eight invited teams in the final. Finishing top on the day were local experts Shakespeare, who fielded a squad made up of Spig Pawlowski, Tony Bench, Steve Williams, Brian Rigby and Tony Davis.

Drennan Barnsley Blacks win Championship title in the Angling Trust Winter League finalWith the Gloucester Canal coloured up from overnight water movements to the Bristol reservoirs, the 120 competitors of this year’s Angling Trust Winter League Final on July 6th were expecting a few bites, especially after last week’s good practice match. Unfortunately for most it was a struggle and a long wait between bites as most of the fish switched off in the bright and sometimes breezy conditions. Only with a couple of hours to go did the bream on Hempstead Bend start to feed and four anglers here started to catch on the pole, one angler even subduing a 7lb carp on his light bream gear. With little major action reported elsewhere the winner was expected from these pegs.

Dicks in for Gardener -Drennan Team England shake-up. The Angling Trust is pleased to announce the England call-up of Callum Dicks, who will be joining the Drennan Team England squad for the FIPSed Nations World Championship in Croatia on 13th and 14th September, 2014. Joining Callum are Will Raison, Alan Scotthorne, Sean Ashby, Des Shipp and Steve Hemingray, plus (joint managers) Mark Downes and Mark Addy. Mark Downes said of the selection: “Callum has done brilliantly this week in the European Championship in Belgium.

Big-money festival gets the go-ahead at The Oaks Popular North Yorkshire venue The Oaks has announced they are running their popular three-day August festival – with the winner guaranteed £1,000! Held between August 23rd and 25th, the festival will feature five of the venue's prolific match lakes – Maple, Cedar, Beech, Sycamore and Ash. Venue owner Tom Kay was delighted to announce the festival: “The venue is fishing unbelievably well at the moment with the three newer lakes – Beech, Ash and Sycamore –producing weights up to 300lb. Combined with the technical fishing of Maple and Cedar, we have a great three-dayer on our hands. Nick Howarth solicitors have once again sponsored the match, allowing us to guarantee a £1,000 first prize with a great main list of prizes also.