Pic: Individual National Champion- Gary Thompson
A windswept Doncaster played host to an impressive 150 anglers on the Individual National, split between the New Junction and Aire & Calder canals in South Yorkshire, on a day when gale force winds and rain were forecast.
Talk at the draw was of all the big weights from the Aire and Calder, however those on the Northfield section of the ‘Junkie’ would dominate the top weights, with eight of the top ten and all three medal places.
The overall winner, and new Angling Trust Individual National Champion, was Lincoln rod Gary Thompson, with a weight of 15.130 kilos; a mixture of bream, skimmers, perch and roach on the feeder. Gary fished peg 100 near the entrance to the Stainforth & Keadby canal. He said later that he was “Over the moon!” and had the most fantastic day of his fishing career, now having a gold medal to add to his collection.
Runner up Steve Curtis (Scunthorpe) took 12.260 Kg from peg 88, and John Goodwin filled the bronze medal spot with 10.890 from peg 102.
Tommy Pickering was top weight on the Aire & Calder at New Bridge peg 109 with 10.240 to take fourth overall, Kayleigh Smith was fifth from peg 98 Northfield and final spot in the pools went sixth place Dave Brooks, with a fine 9.640kg of mainly roach on the pole.
Overall, a great day, with good weights despite the windy conditions, this should bode well for next weeks team national on the same venues. We’d like to thank Paul Caygill and Mike Storey for all of their efforts on the day and in the run-up to the weekend.
Results
1 Gary Thompson 15.130 peg 100 New Junction, Northfield
2 Steve Curtis 12.260 peg 88 New Junction, Northfield
3 John Goodwin 10,890 peg 102 New Junction, Northfield
4 Tom Pickering 10.240 peg 109 Aire & Calder, New Bridge
5 Kayleigh Smith 10.050 peg 98 New Junction, Northfield
6 Dave Brooks 9.640 peg 78 New Junction, Northfield
7 Michael Ellyat 8.320 peg 90 New Junction, Northfield
8 Dave Pulford 8.130 peg 106 New Junction, Northfield
9 Andrew Bruton 7.680 peg 76 New Junction, Northfield
10 Steve Harwood 7.450 peg 619 Aire & Calder, Goole Docks
A full set of results is available online HERE:
Anglers are reminded of the amendment to rule 38:
All nets MUST be pegged out behind pegs up until 15 minutes before the start of the match. Failure to do so will be escalated to the Match Organiser. All anglers are responsible for their own nets and are asked to be vigilant of anglers around them to make sure the rule is abided by.
