Manic fortnight sees Teesside youngster bank over £6,000 in winnings. MAP and Marukyu-backed star James Dent has enjoyed a fortnight to remember at White Acres, winning one 180-peg festival, finishing second in another and winning a qualifying match for the £50,000 winner-takes-all Maver 'Match This' Final!He commented: “I have had what can only be described as a dream fortnight. To win the Dynamite Festival was awesome alone, but then to go on and win the Maver 'Match This' qualifier and finish second in the Milo Festival was brilliant!"I have to be honest and say that I have been drawing brilliantly, and when you are fishing every day you become very smooth, so by the end of the second week I was fishing extremely efficiently. I would class the last day of the Milo Festival as my best performance.
Close match sees UK Champ take the win. Competition was tight on the first ever sell-out Maver 'Match This' qualifier at Peterborough's Decoy Lakes, with over 15 anglers returning weights of 100lb or more!The winner on the day was the current UK Champion, Middy and Bag'Em Matchbaits rod, Marc Rodger. Marc, who is no stranger to fishing in a 'Match This' final, having qualified previously in 2011, drew Peg 23 on Beastie lake. The Grimsby rod fished a Method feeder before switching to pellet shallow later in the day to end the match with 157-03-00, putting just over 10lb between him and second-placed Martin Freeman.
Angler dies after nightclub disturbanceWhite Acres stalwart Mick Kearns has died following a disturbance outside a nightclub in the early hours of Saturday morning. The tragedy happened as Mick, 49, and other festival goers were out celebrating the end of White Acres Milo Festival at Newquay's Sailors nightclub. Initially, four security staff employed by the club were arrested on suspicion of murder, but they have since been released. In a statement issued yesterday, Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Following an assessment of the circumstances, this is now not a murder enquiry.
Win top tackle prizes and your place in the £6,000 final!
Details have been announced for this year's Matrix Junior and Intermediate Championship, on the River Avon at Evesham. Taking place on Saturday, August 17th, the event is once again heavily sponsored, with prizes provided by tackle giant Matrix. There will also be trophies – and a place in the Shakespeare Championship for the winning individual in each category. This match is regarded as one of the most prestigious on the match fishing calendar, and carries a top prize of £6,000!Event organiser Colin Townsend commented: "It's always nice to welcome junior and intermediate anglers to Evesham, and this event is a key part of the Evesham Festival.
Star-studded Stapeley spectacular on Saturday!An exciting open day is taking place this Saturday, April 27th, at Stapeley Angling Centre in Cheshire. Dozens
of star anglers are set to attend, including representatives from
Shimano, Nash, Fox, Korda, Sensas, Maver, Chub, MAP and Wychwood. Heading
up proceedings is current World Champion and Sensas rod Sean
Ashby, who will be on hand to discuss tackle, tactics and answer any
questions you may have. On top of this, Stapeley
staff have secured 50 tackle-packed goody bags, that will be awarded
to the first 50 anglers who spend over £20.
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.
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.
Maver 'Match This' Champ in hunt for £30K prize. Matrix and Bait Tech-backed ace Les Thompson has made it two big finals in as many years, after winning the Fish 'O' Mania qualifier at Essex venue, Colemans Cottage. He explained: “I had never even seen the venue prior to the match on Saturday, and when I drew Peg 4 on Copse Pool, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. The regulars told me that it was a decent area, but usually the pegs that can reach across to the island prove better – and all I had in front of me was open water.
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.
Same peg gives angler festival win, and place in £50k final. When James Dent drew the noted Peg 16 on Twin Oaks on the final day of last week’s Dynamite Baits festival at White Acres, many people predicted it was a ticket to victory. So it proved – the Teesside ace bagged 170lb of carp, which built on his good results for the rest of the week to give him a perfect 36-point score – and victory in the 180-angler event. Unbelievably, the next day saw the MAP and Marukyu-backed rod draw the very same peg in the qualifier for the £50,000 Maver 'Match This' final.
Top tackle sponsor for angling’s Mr Consistent. England Feeder team ace, Grant Albutt has signed for Matrix. Grant, who is arguably the UK’s most consistent angler, is to join the company in a consultancy role. He said: “I am over the moon to be joining Matrix, which is one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK market.
Exclusive digital bookazine with FREE app and taster issue. The Angling Heroes series pulls together the best articles from the biggest names in match fishing. In the second issue in the series, we look back at 20 of Darren’s most memorable features – relive his biggest angling achievements, and learn from some of the best technical pieces to ever go to press in an angling publication. Few modern match anglers have a record as impressive as England International, Darren Cox.
First-ever ticket lands Doncaster man in final. Marukyu-backed rod Craig Jones, an accountant from Doncaster, has won the Makins Fish 'O' Mania qualifier with a 99lb 8oz bag. Fishing his first-ever Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier, Craig brought a splendid 99lb 8ozs to the scales from Peg A13 on Lake 2. He only had a dozen fish with the biggest weighing around 15lb.
Tight finish in final round of Winter League. Matrix Dynamite Trentmen have won the Lakeside Fishery Winter League, after a close finish. Going in to the final round Trentmen were winning the league by a four-point margin, but a late surge by second-placed team, Daylite Baits almost saw victory snatched from their grasp. On the day, Daylite Baits took victory with a 10-point score, but Trentmen managed to clinch the overall title after weight countback put them 45lb in front.
Steve Hemingray replaces Stu Conroy in World Champs line-up
Steve Hemingray is to be given his chance to represent England at World Championship level.
The former European Champ said: "I am absolutely delighted to be given the chance – it is the culmination of everything I have worked for. I have faced some difficult decisions over the last few years and sacrificed a lot, including a place in the England Feeder team, to give myself the best possible chance of getting in the World Championship squad. All that hard work has paid off, and I am over the moon!”Steve will join defending World Champion Sean Ashby, former World Champion Will Raison, five-times World Champion Alan Scotthorne and England stalwarts Steve Gardener and Des Shipp, in making up the 2013 Drennan Team England World Championship squad.
