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Former Fish ‘O’ Mania finalist, Tony Curd, shares his thoughts on one of the most prestigious competitions in the match fishing calendar.


For thousands of anglers all over the country Fish ‘O’ Mania is a major part of the Match angling calendar.

I am no exception and providing I receive enough tickets I like to put a lot of time into trying to qualify for the final. It seems only yesterday I was packing away at Cudmore after a far from satisfying final, and it all kicks off again very soon! In my eyes Fisho is the pinnacle of competition fishing in this country – some will agree, some won’t. There is no denying that it is a step towards match fishing taking a higher stance in sport, alongside sports like darts where players now compete for prizes of up to £200,000.

I have been lucky enough to compete in two of the last three finals and, as is often said, once you’ve been there you always want to get back. I can assure you this is not just talk! I first made it to the final when I was 19, and I was a bit shocked to discover I’d won the qualifier at Lakeview. Lets be honest 46lb doesn’t win that many matches on commercials these days; unfortunately an average peg in the final left me in 6th spot at the end of the day - it was great to be involved there and an experience I hoped to follow up in the future.

The 2010 competition passed me by without any real chance, which was disappointing. In 2011 I received 7 tickets and had a great day on the second qualifier at Makin’s where I drew a good peg and had a nice simple day Method feeder fishing to win the match with 153lb.

At the time I’d hit a rich vein of form and was picking up everywhere I went, however this came to an end when I suffered an injury at work which put me out of action for 6 weeks following an operation to repair the tendons in my finger. This limited my practise time for the final, but luckily I had a good knowledge of the Arena Lake from my previous experience on there and my runner, Tom Wallis, put a lot of work in when I wasn’t able to fish which was a massive help –  all was lost the night before the final when I drew peg 14…end of!

Of course…I fished the match in the right frame of mind and fished to win as you need to but in reality it was never going to happen and the whole area of the lake struggled on a tough day. Again it was great to be in the final but at the end of that day I couldn’t really help feeling like I really wanted to pack up fishing all together. You can’t be disheartened for too long in match fishing and all those feelings come down ultimately to wanting to win so badly. In fact, sometimes disappointments can help you to get fired up and try even harder next time, which is what I plan to do this time around; if you can take positives from negatives you won’t go far wrong in the future.

It does anger me a little when I hear anglers say that they are just making the numbers up at the qualifiers! I genuinely feel that most anglers can qualify for Fisho which is why it appeals to all standards of angler, from top sponsored anglers to club anglers. If you draw a good peg and fish a decent match there is nothing to stop you from getting there, confidence plays a big role in angling and especially in the winner takes all format of these types of competitions. I don’t think going around with a defeated demeanour will help your cause at all, if you spend time getting fully prepared and have a good knowledge of the venues you are fishing all you need is some luck at the draw bag.

This year I’ve applied for 13 tickets and if what I’ve heard is any thing to go by, demand for tickets is just as high as it has always been. I dare say, like myself, many anglers are waiting to see what they have got before purchasing some Match This qualifier tickets, which I feel will have a greater attendance than last year. You can only praise Maver for adding another major event to the calendar; if we ever want to reach the heights as a professional sport, this is what we need - and a lot more of it…Good Luck!