The Trent and Mersey at Shardlow hosted the eleventh round of the AT/CRT Canal pairs and 32 anglers were treated to some beautiful, late summer weather up in Derbyshire. Unfortunately, this brought the boaters out in force, but the canal still fished very well with plenty of bonus fish feeding.

Father-son duo Karl and Stef Johansen took the qualifier on weight countback after an incredibly close weigh in left three pairs on 10 points! 17lb 6oz 8drams was their winning weight, which was formed mainly from Stef’s 12lb 7oz 8dram catch at Shardlow. This consisted of skimmers and roach, which were taken on the pole at 13 meters on caster. His son did him proud, with just under 5lb roach and bonus perch from Willington, taking seven points and securing the win.

Second pair on the day were Asa Cooper and Pete Allwood who both carded top 10’s in their sections. Pete has caught 11lb 12oz of Skimmers and Bleak on the Shardlow stretch and Asa backed him superbly, with 5lb 5oz of stamp roach on squatt and hemp.

Rounding out the top three on 10 points was the formidable Wayne’s Tackle Matrix pair of David Trafford and Stuart Bird. Dave has won the Willington section with an awesome net of roach on bread and hemp for 9lb 2oz and Stuart brought the side home with a tidy net of roach and bleak on pinkie over groundbait from Shardlow.

Our thanks must go to John Johnson and hosting club Pride of Derby for a cracking qualifier. The final rounds of qualification are this weekend on The Llangollen Canal, The Kennet and Avon, and the Lancaster Canal.

To purchase tickets on the Canal Pairs Qualifiers, log onto the Angling Trust ticket booking site.

Results

1) Karl and Steff Johansen 10pts and 17lb 6oz 8drms Qualified
2) Asa Cooper & Pete Allwood 10pts and 17lb 4oz Qualified
3) David Trafford & Stuart Bird 10pts and 15lb 4oz Qualified