Evesham Town & Ferry Waters

70 Fished.

1 Nick Cowling (Alcester Sports) 6-10-0 (peg 24)

2 Paul Sloss 5-12-0 (peg 66)

3 Colin Wilkins 5-9-0 (peg 8)

4 Ian Covey 5-4-0 (peg 80)

5 Pete Jones 5-3-8 (peg 11)

= Keith Burton 5-3-8 (peg 31)

Qualifier: Nick Cowling, pictured

Nick Cowling seized victory in this years Shakespeare Veterans Championship, after he capitalised on a great first hour. The Alcester Sports backed rod started his match fishing just five metres from the bank, where he fed three small balls of groundbait laced with pinkies. A procession of chunky perch came to the net through the early stages of the match, before bites subsided and he decided to have a look on the feeder. This brought a couple of chunky eels which pushed him further into the lead, and when he added a 12 ounce roach to his net from his hemp line, he cemented his place in top spot.

In second place on the day was Paul Sloss, who caught large eels and perch from peg 66, fishing maggot feeder down the middle of the river. Colin Wilkins was just three ounces behind, romping home with 5-9-0 from peg 8. Colin caught five good sized chub on waggler and maggot tactics.

Good weights were taken throughout the match length, which hopefully bodes of good things to come for the forthcoming festival weekend. *

 *The Evesham Festival takes place this Saturday, Sunday and Monday on the Crown Meadow at Evesham, with gates opening at 9:00AM and closing at 5.30PM. With three matches taking place over the three respective days, we can confirm that the line up for this years Evesham Festival has never been stronger. With no fewer than ten Internationals taking part on each day of the competition, spectators can be assured of a match fishing masterclass of a standard rarely witnessed on British soil.

Alongside the fantastic sport on the river, visitors can also enjoy a vast array of stalls, including a craft fair, displays by fishing tackle manufacturers and retailers, food stalls, and plenty of fun and entertainment for the kids.