First ever sell out for Maver Match This Qualifier. For the first time ever, this weekends Maver Match This qualifier has sold out. Although tickets sales have grown year on year over the first two years of the event, qualifiers have never come close to selling out – until now! This weekends match at Peterborough’s Decoy Lakes complex has now sold out completely, with all 120 tickets taken. Maver’s Ben Hughes commented: “It is massively encouraging that to see that anglers are getting behind the event – and this Decoy qualifier is a massive milestone for us.
A quality combo! Check out the latest rod-and-reel combo from Shakespeare!There was a time, many years ago, when a Shakespeare rod was the very object of my dreams! I remember as a young 11-year-old walking by the tackle shop on my way to school and looking longingly at the purple blank on the Shakespeare Quo 12ft feeder rod. Of course, the rod was way out of my price range and no matter how hard I saved my pocket money I could never quite get there. That all changed, though, when one Christmas my dad bought me the very rod I had dreamed of, and it is a rod I still own to this day! Every angler in my town used Shakespeare gear and it was the stuff to be seen using. However, it has now been a long time since I have fished with a rod from Shakespeare, so when editor Alex Bones gave me the new Agility 12ft Feeder rod and matching 40FD reel I couldn’t wait to see what they were like.
Maver 'Match This' Champ in hunt for £30K prize. Matrix and Bait Tech-backed ace Les Thompson has made it two big finals in as many years, after winning the Fish 'O' Mania qualifier at Essex venue, Colemans Cottage. He explained: “I had never even seen the venue prior to the match on Saturday, and when I drew Peg 4 on Copse Pool, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. The regulars told me that it was a decent area, but usually the pegs that can reach across to the island prove better – and all I had in front of me was open water.
River star to attend shop open day. Alan Clark, the new owner of Thames Valley Angling, has set up a special open day for existing and new customers on Saturday 27th April. Joining Alan in the shop on that day will be well-known river expert and former Match Fishing Magazine Editor, Dave Harrell and Angling Trust Campaigns Co-ordinator Martin Salter. The pair will be on hand to offer advice on all things to do with river fishing and also the activities of the Angling Trust.
Same peg gives angler festival win, and place in £50k final. When James Dent drew the noted Peg 16 on Twin Oaks on the final day of last week’s Dynamite Baits festival at White Acres, many people predicted it was a ticket to victory. So it proved – the Teesside ace bagged 170lb of carp, which built on his good results for the rest of the week to give him a perfect 36-point score – and victory in the 180-angler event. Unbelievably, the next day saw the MAP and Marukyu-backed rod draw the very same peg in the qualifier for the £50,000 Maver 'Match This' final.
Top tackle sponsor for angling’s Mr Consistent. England Feeder team ace, Grant Albutt has signed for Matrix. Grant, who is arguably the UK’s most consistent angler, is to join the company in a consultancy role. He said: “I am over the moon to be joining Matrix, which is one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK market.
Ellis Driscoll on winning the Drennan Coca Cola Festival at White Acres. On Day one I was on Trelawney and having had a practice on the lake the day before, I knew it would be hard! I had a bit of luck drawing Peg 23 (some call it “the F1 bay”) and I had a great chance of winning my lake if not the section, but to win I’d have to work hard to beat the angler on Peg 20 in particular. There are strict rules at White Acres regarding permitted baits and quantities. I used a mix of ABC Betaine green CP70 Method mix, micro pellets, 4mm pellets, 6mm pellets and casters.
