Evesham Festival Qualifier

See who is through to the Evesham Festival in the latest round of qualifiers...


Shakespeare Qualifier | 06/08/2011
53 Fished

Being the first match of the season with bloodworm and joker allowed, expectations were high among anglers and it is fair to say that the river fished well throughout the match length. A total of 53 anglers fished in bright, warm conditions with very little pace and clear water confronting the field.

Venue regular Ian (Shep) Shepherd (Daiwa Gordon League) drew his favourite peg 24 and decided to base his approach around fishing bloodworm for the resident redfins. After an initial bombardent of 12 Jaffa sized balls of soil and groundbait, Ian presented single and double bloodworm over the top of his bait. After a good initial couple of hours that saw the Pershore ace take fish to 12oz, things quietened off, but a good last hour saw Ian do enough to weigh in with 10-13-0 and see off the opposition.

Denis Lipscombe (Oakwood Angling) on peg 33 chose to leave the bloodworm in its paper, and base his approach around fishing with chopped worms and casters. Fortune certainly favoured the brave in this instance, as he had perch, eels and a 5lb tench on lobworm to finish with 10-5-8 and take second place.

Ever consistent Tony Bench (Shakespeare Superteam) landed 7lb of perch and eels again on lobworms from peg 11 to finish third, just edging out his team mate Leigh Gardner (Shakespeare Superteam) who had 190 gudgeon on bloodworm from peg 65 for 6-13-0.

Many Anglers who had prebooked tickets failed to show up this week, which is why numbers were slightly down. Can anyone who has booked on but is not wanting to fish please let Di Raphael know by the thursday before the match to allow other anglers the chance to fish. Diane can be contacted on 01386 442458.

Qualifiers
Steve Royle
Dennis Lipscombe
Howard Kaye

Result
1 Ian Shepherd (Daiwa Gordon League) 10-13-0 (peg 24)
2 Dennis Lipscombe (Oakwood Angling) 10-5-8 (peg 33)
3 Tony Bench (Shakespeare Superteam) 7-0-0 (peg 11)
4 Leigh Gardner (Shakespeare Superteam) 6-13-0 (peg 65)
5 George Avery (Alcester Sports) 6-2-0 (peg 29)
6 Howard Kaye 6-1-8 (peg 68)
7 Richard Candy 5-15-0 (peg 59)
8 Andy Murphy (Shimano Wales) 5-10-8 (peg 73)


Abu Garcia/ Wychavon Qualifier | 07/08/2011
68 Fished.

On a day of quickly changing weather, when conditions varied between bright sunshine and thundery showers, there were some very dramatic events on the bankside! Many anglers were expecting roach weights to dominate the top three positions giving the fact that bloodworm and joker was allowed, but Kevin Millard pulled a big surprise out of the hat to take top spot.

After taking  a few small roach on bloodworm, things went very quiet for Kevin, which prompted him to pick up his barbel rod! Presenting an 11mm Halibut pellet down the middle of the river, Kevin didn’t have to wait long before the tip arched around and battle began! After a tense fight, Kevin slipped the net under an 11lb beast,  that was a few ounces heavier than the split tail specimen that he caught in a previous qualifier.

In second place was Welsh international Andrew Murphy (Shimano Wales) who enjoyed a great days bloodworm fishing from in form peg 29. After balling in twelve large balls of groundbait, soil and joker, Andy fished single and double bloodworm on the hook to catch roach to 12 ounces and weigh in with a 12-6-0 total.

Third placed Simon Willsmore (Milo) also took all of his catch on bloodworm. Drawn on peg 50 on the famous White House Bend, Simon caught a lot of much smaller roach to finish with 7-5-0. It was pleasing to see a host of good back-up weights also taken on bloodworm, but with other methods and bigger fish also coming in to play, expectations are high for plenty of bites and some big surprises come the weekend of the festival.

Result:
1 Kevin Millard 13-11-0 (peg 26)
2 Andy Murphy (Shimano Wales)  12-6-0 (peg 29)
3 Simon Willsmore (Milo) 7-5-0 (peg 50)
4 Simon Nickless (Saints) 6-14-0 (peg 22)
5 Tony Marshall (Quorn VDE) 6-10-0 (peg 49)
6 Wayne Swinscoe (Maver Bait Tech) 6-1-8 (peg 7)
7 Ian Shepherd (Daiwa Gordon League) 5-7-0 (peg 79)
8 Martin Howard 5-6-8 (peg 43)

Qualifiers:
Simon Nickless
Martin Howard
Terry Parrott

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