Pic: Darren Bickerton
Saturday August 3rdWychavon Championship QualifierEvesham Town & Ferry Waters
69 Fished.
Darran Bickerton was top weight on the first of the year’s bloodworm and joker qualifiers, with a 10-13-0 net from peg 18. Darran fished bloodworm at 13 metres over a bed of soil, joker and groundbait, taking fish to ten ounces. It was a similar story for runner up, Steve Townsend, who also caught a net of roach on bloodworm. Steve again fished 13 metres, and topped up regularly with balls of soil and joker to keep fish coming.
In a remarkably tight match, just eight ounces separated first and fifth place. For most anglers, roach on bloodworm and joker provided the bulk of their weight, the only exception being Martyn Howard, whose catch included a 4lb barbel caught on halibut pellet.
Result:
1 Darran Bickerton (Sensas) 10-13-0 (peg 18)
2 Steve Townsend (Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths) 10-12-0 (peg 32)
3 Clive Branson (Cardiff Nomads) 10-12-0 (peg 87)
4 Andrew Murphy (Tredegar AC) 10-6-0 (peg 45)
5 Martyn Howard (Ringer Baits) 10-5-0 (peg 30)
Qualifiers:
Darran Bickerton
Steve Townsend
Clive Branson
Sunday August 4th
Shakespeare Championship Qualifier
Evesham Town & Ferry Waters
74 Fished.
Leigh Gardner reinforced his record as Evesham’s most consistent angler, winning this Sunday’s Shakespeare Championship Qualifying match, with a 14-5-0 net of roach. Drawn on peg 6, Leigh fished the pole at 13m with bloodworm, over a bed of joker, groundbait and soil. Fishing a 0.6g rig and a single bloodworm over the top of his bait, Leigh kept a succession of good roach going in the net to finish with 14-5-0.
It was a similar story for Pole Fishing Magazine’s Matt Godfrey, who finished in second place from peg 23. Matt also attacked his peg with bloodworm and joker, fishing just one line 13 metres from the bank. Again, Matt fed joker in soil and groundbait, topping his peg up regularly through the day. Matt took a handful of chunky perch and roach, and a lot of smaller roach to finish with 10-4-0.
Michael Buchwalder took third spot from peg 45. Michael again took a good net of roach on bloodworm and joker, to finish just two ounces behind Matt.
Result:
1 Leigh Gardner (Shakespeare Superteam) 14-5-0 (peg 6)
2 Matt Godfrey (Pole Fishing Magazine) 10-4-0 (peg 23)
3 Michael Buchwalder (Preston Innovations/ Sonubaits) 10-2-0 (peg 45)
4 Simon Willsmore (Quadbox / D & A Tackle) 9-3-0 (peg 1)
5 Darran Bickerton (Sensas) 8-14-0 (peg 48)
Qualifiers:
Clive Roberts
John Rafferty
Kevin Millard
