Team honours in the Angling Trust Division Two National Championship held on Saturday 20th August 2011 on the Basingstoke Canal went to canal experts and ‘local’ team Oakwood Angling who put their experience and knowledge of the canal to good use by amassing 360 points, their lowest section points being a creditable 19 points on a tough day.
Maver Bathampton finished in second place 33 points behind with 327 points, and Maldon AS put in a fair amount of work to win promotion after finishing in third place with 311 points. In the end 13 teams were promoted to the Division One National Championship which next year is on the Bristol Avon a completely different prospect for the anglers to contend with.
Darren Hutchinson who fished for Urban Moor Leeds drew end peg D47 in the middle of urban Fleet at Glen Road. Though not expected to produce a national winner the swim in the end was good enough to produce the winning weight in this fairly low weight affair. Darren’s 10.580 kg of bream was just enough to see off local rod Stuart Levers (Guildford AC Match Team) whom took a similar catch of bream of 10.220 kg from another ‘unknown’ peg at F11 in the turning bay below Pondtail Bridge. Third place was taken by Lee Tomlin (Billericay and Dist AC) from peg F27 also below Pondtail Bridge with 5.790 kg.
Over 2 inches of rain fell on the Thursday prior to the match taking place and did not help the 470 anglers participating in this year’s Division 2 National. A downpour during the match also did not help to improve conditions and so led to a tough match for most competitors. The canal’s carp fed well throughout the length but proved too big for the anglers to handle with many reports of big fish lost and only two were landed. It was bream though that made up the winning weights, and not from the expected areas of Eelmoor Flash or the Nature Reserve at Claycart.
The Angling Trust Division Two National Championship Event Organiser, Andre Grandjean was pleased with the overall event but was disappointed for the anglers that the canal didn’t fish as well as he had hoped. Andre would like to thank all the stewards and helpers on the day and the Officers of the Basingstoke Canal Angling Association for their help in running this match. And also the anglers for their appreciation to the amount of work that goes into setting up these matches.
The top 10 teams from the Division Two National Championship are all promoted to the Division One National Championship in 2012 as below;
Oakwood Angling
Maver Bathampton
Maldon AS
Garbolino Blackmore Vale
Preston Innovation Thatchers
Colin Barlow AC Sale
Ted Carter Preston
Wakefield AC
Milo Bordon
Godalming Midweekers
Team Eclipse
Trabucco Thunderflash Halifax
Eastern MG
