Angling Trust RiverFest Qualifier – Great Ouse, Littleport    

Section A fished from permanent pegs 6 through to 23 was the hardest with only 6 anglers out of 18 bothering the scales men. Section B (pegs 24 to 40) was not much better as it only took 1lbs 10oz of small fish for John Summerson to clinch the whole section of 17 anglers.

Conditions on the day of the Angling Trust RiverFest qualifier held on the Great Ouse at Littleport, Cambridgeshire on Sunday 6th September 2015 did not favour the anglers whom turned out to fish. Clear blue skies, bright sunshine, lack of colour in the water and a North Westerly breeze which brought overnight temperatures down to around 4-5 degrees C all contributed to the match being a grueller for most. Although there was a slight flow to the river it did start backing up towards the end of the day.

Section C (pegs 41 to 58) slightly improved things with two decent tench being caught from adjacent pegs (51 & 52) to give Mick Dixon (1st) and Tom Lane (2nd) overall. These two fish though hid the fact that even this section fished hard, although it was the best of the three on the day.

It seemed that all participating anglers despite the poor performance of the river on the day stuck it out until the end knowing that a bonus fish of any kind would make all the difference. For most though it was not to be.

Top 5 overall.
1st peg C51 – Michael Dixon (Littleport AC) 6lbs 11oz (1 tench + bits)
2nd peg C52 – Tom Lane (Lanes Bait) 6lbs 4oz (1 tench + bits)
3rd peg C57 – Richard Tomala (Garbolino Blackmore Vale) 3lbs 9oz (small fish on pole)
4th peg A11 – Tim Nash (Browning hotrods) 3lbs 4oz (2 eels + bits)
5th peg C50 – Dave Beecroft (Cambridge) 2lbs 14oz (small roach + perch)

The three qualifiers going through to the final in November are;
Section A – Tim Nash (Browning Hotrods)
Section B – John Summerson (Garbolino RAF)
Section C – Michael Dixon (Littleport AC)

The next RiverFest qualifier will be held on the River Wye, Breinton to Eign on Sunday 13th September 2015.

Photo – From left to right; Tim Nash (Browning Hotrods), Michael Dixon (Littleport AC), John Summerson (Garbolino RAF).  For a higher resolution photo please email; sandra.drew@anglingtrust.net