Reigning champion Shane Atkin took the honours in the Fish O Mania qualifier at Woodlands Fishery at Thirsk and will be defending his crown, and fishing for big cheque, in the final at Cudmore Fisheries on July 14th. But it was close, with one angler missing the net with a carp that might have put him through.
On a day when the fish did not feed well following days of heavy rain, Shane (31) opted for a Method feeder and banded pellet approach after drawing peg 23 towards the far end of Skylark Lake and compiled at 78-12-0 bag of carp, catching steadily.
Second place went to Fish ‘O’ Mania regular Greg Norris (Garbolino/Bagem baits) who drew peg 16 on Curlew Lake. Greg from Birkenshaw; Bradford fished paste at six and 13 metres to land carp and skimmers to make up his 74-15-0 weight with his biggest carp going to 15 lb.
The most unfortunate angler on the day was John Pease from Doncaster, pegged 15 on Skylark.
John fished Method feeder to put together a weight of 74-14-0 of carp, but missed his net with one carp of around 4 lb mark that might have put him in main contention for a place in the Fish ‘O’ Mania grand final.
In fourth place was Paul Burton (Anglers World Holidays) from York fishing Method feeder from peg 6 on Kestrel finished the match with 69-4-0. Fifth place was taken by Rob Minikin (Sonu Baits) with 61-9-0 from Partridge 27 fishing pellet shallow at 14 metres.
Garbolino Lindholme Lakes, Epworth, Doncaster will be hosting the 300 peg final qualifier of the year on Wednesday 27th June 2012. This will be a last chance for anglers to compete for that final place into the grand final at Cudmore Fisheries on Saturday 14th July 2012 to win one of the most prestigious titles in angling, ‘Fish ‘O’ Mania Champion’.