Well Saturday was the big day for my Ultimate Barnsley Blacks team as it was to be one of our most important matches of the year. Semi finals are always tense affairs and with this one being at Woodlands Nr Thirsk it was always going to be a peggy match to say the least! All we could hope for was a decent draw and a good team performance. We got the good draw that we needed and one that we were confident of qualifying from. I got massively luck and actually drew Skylark 15 AGAIN! I was almost embarrassed when Lee handed me my draw but I had a job to do and with the pegging being very tight I didn’t think I would need a big weight to win the section.
With my busy schedule with work and with the Dynamite Baits festival coming up at White Acres, I decided to have a bit of time off this weekend. I did however manage to sneak a couple of hours in last night after work. I decided to have a short session at The Banks fishery at Barby, Jon, Tom and I had a walk around last week and I was really impressed with the venue. It is a 106-peg snake lake that is very diverse, there is a long straight that used to be an old canal and then the fishery turns into a very twisty snake lake with lots of little arms.
The long haul to the final of the prestigious Maver Classic 2011 took place on Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd May 2011. In all over 60 qualifier matches commencing in October 2010 and finishing in late April 2011 took place. 104 finalists took part at Larford’s Match, Arena and Specimen lakes. Conditions were however far from perfect with a severe northerly wind making conditions near impossible for pole and float fishing.
Welcome to my first ever blog for the Match fishing magazine website!Over the next few months I will try and talk you through the trials and tribulations of being a modern day match angler. My blog will be a ‘warts ‘n’ all’ account of my latest matches and I wont hold anything back (even if I don’t catch much!) To open my account I will start by talking about the latest round of the Garbolino/Sensas International rules match that Darren Cox and Sean Ashby run. It was going to be the third round, this was to be held at Gold Valley and with my Barnsley Blacks team winning the league we definitely had to try our best to get a good result. On the Friday before the match we had a little practice and worked out that the match was going to be extremely hard, but luckily we had sussed out that perch were going to be the target species and these would be what we primarily fished for.
When Roy Marlow tells you that a groundbait is the best-selling mix in the world, you have to sit up and take notice. EFG161 is a Method mix that is designed for use in cold water. It has a controlled breakdown speed so will gradually release attractants into your swim. RRP £6.
Chief tester Roger Mortimore has handled many reels over the years and is impressed with the build quality and performance of the new Akios range. When three Akios multiplier reels arrived on my desk – the smaller 656CTM and the larger 757CTM and 757CS – my first impression was how solid they felt. When I removed the side plates for a closer inspection, I could see that they are extremely well made from quality materials. There are currently six reels in the stable; three in the 656 size – the CS, CT and CTM for shore and light boat fishing – and three of the larger 757 size for boat or heavy shore fishing, also CS, CT and CTM.
Joe Carass takes a close look at a new pole from Maver that has been designed for a variety of match situations. . . Maver has a huge reputation for producing some of the finest poles on the market.
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Zac Brown (Preston Innovations / Sonu Baits)
194-00-00
4 (Copse)
Les Wetton (Mosella UK)
167-08-00
8C (Pathfield)
Craig Goldstraw (Middy / Bag 'Em Baits)
156-12-00
1 (Woods)
Ben Townsend (Matrix / Spotted Fin)
151-08-00
40 (Woods)
Reece Hearn (Matrix Image / Bag 'Em Baits)
150-12-00
28 (Pathfield)
Ross Harold
136-00-00
33 (Woods)
Richard Bond (Matrix Image)
126-08-00
20 (Woods)
Jon Whincup (Frenzee)
117-08-00
26 (Pathfield)
The final Southern qualifier of the 2017 Maver Mega Match This campaign marked a return to Coleman's Cottage in Essex where fifty four (54) anglers lined the banks of Copse, Pathfield and Woods lakes. Anglers were given plenty of room on the day with the standard of sport and weights recorded being very good. Competing anglers needed in excess of 150lbs in order to grab a British Pole Championship qualification place. Conditions on the day were ideal with plenty of cloud cover coupled with a good breeze producing fourteen weights over 100lbs.
Following Saturday’s Mega Match This qualifier event at Monk Lakes, Kent, please note below the full and final result:
Monk Lakes, Kent, 8th July 2017
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Mike McMillan (Garbolino / Bait-Tech)
198-06-00
65 (Lake 2)
Adam Southgate (Oakwood)
196-04-00
55 (Lake 2)
James Taylor (Harlow Angling)
189-13-00
66 (Lake 2)
Mark Tullet (Cresta Tackle / Bag 'Em Baits)
183-10-00
113 (Lake 3)
Robbie Taylor (Guru / Dynamite Baits)
173-02-00
91 (Lake 3)
Mark Goddard (Bag 'Em Baits)
150-02-00
135 (Lake 3)
Mark Brown (Browning Wickford)
141-02-00
56 (Lake 2)
Chris Vendervleit (Drennan / Bait-Tech)
136-14-00
58 (Lake 2)
Garbolino's Mike McMillan booked his place in another Mega Match This final after topping the fifty-nine (59) strong field at Kent's Monk Lakes. Conditions on the day were hot and sticky with very little wind offering any sort of comfort. Anglers were given plenty of room, which made for a superb qualifier with very little separating the top two on the day and numerous one hundred pound plus catches being recorded from all three of the lakes used.
Mike drew peg 67 on Lake 2 and endured a bit of an unsettled start losing fish early on before getting into his rhythm offering pellet long at 16m.
"Well. . . things have finally started to sink in after this Saturday's crazy events! sitting here, writing about winning a 3rd Fisho title is something I could never have imagined.
