No wind, but bright sunshine and thundery showers greeted the 150 competitors at the Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier at Tunnel Barn Farm on Saturday 7th May 2016.  It was hard enough conditions without the hot weather, however the result was good  with over 12 ton nets recorded and a good days fishing was enjoyed by most.

None of the favoured pegs came good though with the winner being local lad, Nathan Matthews from Rugeley who now has qualification to celebrate with his beloved Aston Villa getting relegated who recorded 141 lbs 8 oz from Club lake peg 24 on the scales. Those in the know use bread on this water a lot,  especially on club so Nathan caught good mirrors and F1s on dobbed bread with some on maggots.  He had a slow first 2 hours before putting together his winning weight in the last 3 hours of the match.

For so long it looked like Adam Richards was the qualifier from this heat, with his weight of 134 lbs 4 oz leading almost until the last angler weighed in. He fished casters shallow and backed his fish up with bigger specimens on meat across.

Top 6 results
I) Nathan Matthews 141 lbs 8 oz
2) Adam Richards 134 lbs 4oz
3) Tony Curd 129 lbs 5 oz
4) Dale Shepherd 127 lbs 15 oz
5) Lee Farmer 120 lbs 5 oz
6) Steve Cooke 113 lbs 14 oz

The next Fish ‘O’ Mania action continues at  Monk Lakes, Tonbridge, Kent on Wednesday 11th May 2016.