Garbolino Osset used all their local knowledge to take home the The Pentax NFA Division One National Angling Championship on the New Junction Canal at Doncaster.
Garbolino Osset Team Winners
On the day, fishing proved difficult with bright sunshine and hot temperatures making the 66 teams use all of their expertise to catch. With the New Junction Canal proving tough for everyone, the result was always going to be tight at the weigh in.
Garbolino Osset a relatively local team from the Halifax area put on a strong team performance finishing with 544 points and a final combined weight of 15.830kg. The team had a section win with Lee Saville, and also had two third section places which helped push them above the rest of the field.
Team Captain for Garbolino Osset, Mick North commented, “We have a very experienced team who have competed on the match circuit for the last 15 to 20 years. The team also has a number of younger anglers who are very talented and this win is a testament to the talent we have. The team tactics were to start off with a 4m line fishing for perch or roach and then if we couldn’t catch, move to a squat line and catch whatever we could. Our best fish was probably an eel, so we were delighted with that.”
Their nearest rival was Thorne and District AA which again was a local team. They finished 11 points behind Garbolino with 533 points and a weight of 14.640kg. There highest section placing was 3rd for Darren Hall; however a number of the team finished in the top six within the rest of the sections. Team captain, Pete Richardson commented, “We thought we had done it, but it just wasn’t enough. We have had 4 days worth of practice and then fished a match in preparation for the competition. We are all very pleased as there was lot of pressure on us being local lads to do well.”
In third place was Stainforth and District who finished with 486 points 12.870kg, just two points ahead of fourth placed Barnsley & District AA who ended with 464 points and 10.890kg.
Individually it was locality which proved a deciding factor for the title as Bradford angler, Paul Bennett fishing for Mirfield AC claimed Gold with a final weight of 4.830kg. Paul a heating engineer by trade caught his best bream after an hour of fishing which set him up for the victory. Paul commented, “With my first bream in the bag, it was amazing that by catching only three good sized fish and a few perch that it was good enough to win, I couldn’t believe it.”
Individual National Champion
In second place, Liam Killinger who fishes for Wigan & District AA caught 4.590kg of fish on the same section as the winner Paul. Liam, who was fishing his third national, caught a good bream and two small eels with a bonus tench hoisting him into second place.
In third place there was a tie with Scunthorpe & District angler Dave Mountford and Steve Butler from Southport & District both with a final weigh in of 3.920kg.
Phil Williams, Divisional Head Imaging Systems at Pentax who attended the national commented, “The Pentax NFA Division One National Championships was a great event and Pentax are proud to be associated with the day and sponsors of the NFA. The day gave me a whole new perspective on Angling and I was impressed with the enthusiasm, team spirit and professionalism of everyone involved. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would like to congratulate all winners. Pentax is looking very forward to supporting the NFA and its members at future events.”
