Photo left to right – Barry Thomas, Marc Ellement and Jason Cunningham 

Just a week before the Angling Trust Division 1 National Championship on the Trent & Mersey canal takes place, this year’s Individual National Championship took place on the same venue which saw the biggest turn out for many years.

The field of 170 included many anglers who took the opportunity to have a final practice session leading up to the Division 1 National Championship, plus a large number of anglers with no specific interest in next week’s event.
The match length on Saturday 31st August 2013 stretched from Branston down to Stretton, effectively covering what will be Sections G to K for the Division 1 National Championship.
The fishing was quite hard in places, but everyone caught with most anglers choosing to weigh in. The lowest weight to take a 10 peg section was 830 grams, and with one other exception weights in excess of 1 kilo were needed to win all sections. The top ten all comfortably exceeded
2 kilos.

The 2013 Angling Trust Individual Champion was Chorley, Lancs angler, Marc Ellement. Marc drew peg 161 upstream of Shobnal and caught three good chub along with roach and perch to weigh 5 kilos 500 grams.
Runner up taking the silver medal was Jason Cunningham from Cannock fishing peg 55 near Dallow.  Jason recorded a very good 4 kilos 970 grams of mixed small fish with the odd better skimmer. Third spot went to Barry Thomas at peg 159.  Barry, another Lancashire angler from Darwen, weighed 3 kilos 220 grams.  Stephen Dudley nailed fourth place with 2 kilos 900 grams from peg 147 just edging Simon Willsmore with 2 kilos 880 grams into fifth.  Sixth place went to Derby angler Ian Sharratt with 2 kilos 570 grams from peg 51.     

Results available at www.anglingtrust.net