Pic: Third place pair Lee Newson and Graham Smith

The twelfth round of the Canal Pairs qualifiers made its way back to the Grand Union Canal at Loughborough, which has been throwing up good weights over the last couple of years, and this heat proved no different!

Winning pair on the day were Martin Mansfield and Paul Greenfield who stormed the qualifier with two second places. Martin drew peg 17 in A section and went about putting together 15lb 2oz which was mainly made up of perch on redworm. Backing him up was Paul who carded an awesome 16lb 6oz in B section, which mainly consisted of roach on pinkie!

Second pair on the day were returning winners Paul Middleton and David Gough, who made their way back to final with a third and fourth in section. Paul has worked hard all day on squatt fish for 9lb 1oz and David also grafted for 12lb 8oz of perch on the worm.

Final pair through the final were Lee Newson and Graham Smith and both men decided to fish bigger baits. Lee took fifth in A section with 11lb 8oz of roach and perch on caster down the track, whilst Graham has weighed 12lb 15oz of quality fish on maggot over worm.

Our thanks to Nick Moss who stepped in last minute to run the match and to Canal and River Trust for their help with the competition.

Results

1) Martin Mansfield and Paul Greenfield 34 points Qualified
2) Paul Middleton and David Gough 31 points Qualified
3) Lee Newson and Graham Smith 30 points Qualified