Albutt’s anguish at 8th near miss. Despite his reputation as being one of the best anglers in the country, there is one prize that keeps avoiding Matrix and Bait-Tech-backed ace Grant Albutt – and that is a place in the Fish ‘O’ Mania Final. Grant has now come second in eight qualifiers of the 130-peg, including two in the last two weeks – finishing an agonising 3lb 1oz off top spot in this week's match at Gold Valley. He explained: “I am very fortunate in that I have fished in most major UK finals, and even managed to win the £25,000 2010 Parkdean Masters Final, but a place in the Fish 'O' Mania Final has continued to evade me.
A quality combo! Check out the latest rod-and-reel combo from Shakespeare!There was a time, many years ago, when a Shakespeare rod was the very object of my dreams! I remember as a young 11-year-old walking by the tackle shop on my way to school and looking longingly at the purple blank on the Shakespeare Quo 12ft feeder rod. Of course, the rod was way out of my price range and no matter how hard I saved my pocket money I could never quite get there. That all changed, though, when one Christmas my dad bought me the very rod I had dreamed of, and it is a rod I still own to this day! Every angler in my town used Shakespeare gear and it was the stuff to be seen using. However, it has now been a long time since I have fished with a rod from Shakespeare, so when editor Alex Bones gave me the new Agility 12ft Feeder rod and matching 40FD reel I couldn’t wait to see what they were like.
First ever sell out for Maver Match This Qualifier. For the first time ever, this weekends Maver Match This qualifier has sold out. Although tickets sales have grown year on year over the first two years of the event, qualifiers have never come close to selling out – until now! This weekends match at Peterborough’s Decoy Lakes complex has now sold out completely, with all 120 tickets taken. Maver’s Ben Hughes commented: “It is massively encouraging that to see that anglers are getting behind the event – and this Decoy qualifier is a massive milestone for us.
River star to attend shop open day. Alan Clark, the new owner of Thames Valley Angling, has set up a special open day for existing and new customers on Saturday 27th April. Joining Alan in the shop on that day will be well-known river expert and former Match Fishing Magazine Editor, Dave Harrell and Angling Trust Campaigns Co-ordinator Martin Salter. The pair will be on hand to offer advice on all things to do with river fishing and also the activities of the Angling Trust.
