Results

16 year old wins inaugaral Cob House Challenge Contest.

Young Sam Prosser became the winner of the first-ever Cob House Challenge contest, ran by Jim Burton in association with MatchBox and Old Ghost. This innovative tournamnet consists of three 90-minute matches in one day, with each angler fishing three different pegs on the fish-filled Wyatt's Lake.

The first match is pole only and anglers must fish a minimum of nine metres out. The second match is a running-line affair with wagglier and feeder both allowed, but again the nine metre rule applies. Match three is a freestyle format where the angler can fish any method and distance from the bank – and this is when the big weights are expected as people can finally attack the margins!

There is an hour between each match for setting up purposes, plus the chance of a carvery at lunchtime at the fantastic Cob House restaurant. At the same time, there are demonstrations of Chinese-style fishing from Old Ghost. All in all, it's a thoroughly different, entertaining and enjoyable day.

Sam won the inaugural competition with a second place and two firsts, giving him a fine 14-point total and a combined weight of 158lb 2oz. That included a superb 106lb 6oz effort in the final 90-minute match, using margin tactics to extract Cob House's prolific carp shoals!

That was more than enough to fend off Steve Barraclough and Matt Djukic, who both tied on 11 points, with Steve getting the verdict on weight.

Result

1st Sam Prosser (MatchBox) 14pts
2nd Steve Barraclough (Frenzee, Bait-Tech) 11pts
3rd Matt Djukic (Shimano) 11pts
4th John Watson (MatchBox, Old Ghost) 10pts
5th Mark Sawyer (Angling Times) 10pts