News

June 14th and 15th saw the European Feeder Championships take place on the Gent to Terneuzen Canal in Holland.

In an effort to equal their previous best, three teams from England entered the two-day 23-team, 115 angler European Feeder Challenge. Held on the Gent to Terneuzen Canal, Holland, they returned with respectable overall team positions – second, fourth and fifth along with a collection of individual silverware, too.

While they all missed out on team gold this year to Belgium team – Mega Fish T – it was Team GURU, partially consisting of full international team members Steve Ringer, Phil Ringer and Dean Barlow along with Feeder International fringe anglers Rob Wootton and Adam Rooney completing the five-man strong outfit, who took the second team spot with 61 points behind Mega Fish T’s tally of 52.

It was Dean Barlow who secured the highest position of this team individually securing third with five points and a 12.664kg total.

In third team position was Nederlands Noord with 64 points and Drennan Barnsley, one of the three teams from England, that consisted of full England team co-manager, Glenn Lawrence, along with Eddy Brydon, Jamie Harrison, Richard Vaughan and Sean Cameron, who took fourth position overall with a 67-point finish.

Team fifth went to the Preston England team consisting of England Feeder Team manager Tom Pickering, Mick Vials, Adam Wakelin, Will Freeman and Wayne Bartholomew, who made a valiant day-two comeback.

Four of the five lads in Preston England suffered comparatively disappointing finishes in the overall stakes with Will the best at 22nd individually. That was, of course, with the exception of Adam Wakelin, who was not only the team’s best performer, but he won the event individually too with a perfect two-point score and a total weight of 23.006kg made up of over 21 bream, a handful of smaller perch, a roach and rock fish.

Drawn relatively close to the noted bridge on both days, Adam eclipsed Matrix Germany’s Thorsten Kusters’ 14.143kg tally and matching point score, leaving Thorsten to pick up the highly-respectable second individual spot.

The fishing was tough for most, but skimmers and bream were the main target for those who had them infront of them along with odd roach, perch and small rock-fish. International feeder rules applied rendering Method feeders banned as a minimum hooklength of 50cm and free-running rigs are insisted upon meaning most choose either cage or plastic-style open-ended designs.

Adam Wakelin added: “Team tactics and baits remain a closely guarded secret as there’s a chance this venue could be used in the 2015 Feeder World Championships.

"Suffice to say it’s a ‘proper’ water that takes some working out – there are ocean-going sea liners and 2ft waves along with huge depths to contend with! There are also a huge variety of fresh and saltwater species to catch, so coming up with a plan was tough.

"No-one knew where the fish would be on day one, but on day two I drew the peg that had won the match the previous day.

"It was a truly awesome weekend – this is what international fishing is all about!

"The team return was sensational and to win gold individually is a huge achievement – a big thanks to Jan Van Schendel and Patrick, as well as the rest of the team, for a faultless competition yet again."

Match Fishing monthly contributor, Rob Wootton, finished sixth overall individually, with Phil Ringer in seventh and Jamie Harrison in eighth. Steve Ringer was, unusually, further down the individual rostrum in 17th, but was seventh out of the 15 anglers fishing the event who were there representing teams from England. Even this man’s supernatural talent can’t beat the pegs sometimes it would seem!

Top 7 Teams Overall

1. Mega Fish T (Belgium), 52pts, 54.096kg

2. Team GURU, 61pts, 37.291kg

3. Team Nederlands Noord, 64pts, 28.661kg

4. Drennan Barnsley, 67pts, 27.578kg

5. Preston England, 73pts, 44.065kg

6. Matrix Germany, 78pts, 28.002kg

7. Belguim X Team, 104pts, 24.200kg

Individual Anglers

1. Adam Wakelin, Preston England, 2pts, 23.006kg

2. Thorsten Kusters, Matrix Germany, 2pts, 14.143kg

3. Dean Barlow, Team GURU, 5pts, 12.664kg

4. Eddy Brydon, Drennan Barnsley, 5pts, 11.114kg

5. Danny Vancraenendonck, Mega Fish T, 5pts, 8.261kg

6. Rob Wootton, Team GURU, 5pts, 6.273kg

7. Phil Ringer, Team GURU, 6pts, 10.165kg

8. Jamie Harrison, Drennan Barnsley, 6pts, 7.053kg

9. Patrick Nicolet, Belgium X Team, 8pts, 12.677kg

10. Danny De Man, Mega Fish T, 8pts, 7.835kg

(The remainder of the England lads’ positions)

17. Steve Ringer, Team GURU, 9pts, 6.726kg

20. Richard Vaughan, Drennan Barnsley, 11pts, 4.486kg

22. Will Freeman, Preston England, 13pts, 6.646kg

28. Mick Vials, Preston England, 15pts, 5.127kg

35. Tom Pickering, Preston England, 19pts, 6.930kg

43. Glen Lawrence, Drennan Barnsley, 21pts, 3.215kg

57. Wayne Bartholomew, Preston England, 24pts, 2.356kg

59. Sean Cameron, Drennan Barnsley, 24pts, 1.710kg

98. Adam Rooney, Team GURU, 36pts, 1.463kg