Thornton Takes The Victory!
Festival Win For Middy/ Bag 'Em Ace.
Lee Thornton has won the Bag 'Em Matchbaits Heronbrook Easter Festival with a seven-point score. Fished over three days, the event attracted 60 of the country's finest anglers – with Lee finishing top after tying for first place with Paul Conroy, but taking the verdict on weight countback.
Lee Thornton has won the Bag 'Em Matchbaits Heronbrook Easter Festival with a seven-point score. Fished over three days, the event attracted 60 of the country's finest anglers – with Lee finishing top after tying for first place with Paul Conroy, but taking the verdict on weight countback.
Lee explained: “I have been looking forward to fishing in this three-day competition that is now in its second year of inception although, to be perfectly honest, when I booked in back in February, in the back of my mind I was half expecting to be fishing paste!
"That said, I felt that a few of the things that I had learned by fishing through the winter would benefit me now for this festival (ironically, I think the water temperature was lower than two months ago!)
"With the water temperature being so low, I felt that the only things worth taking to the venue would be maggots, micro pellets, 4mm Bag 'Em Expandas and a slice of bread.
"Tackle choice was also very simple, Middy Grey Series One floats from 4x10-4x16, tied up on 0.12mm Middy Lo-Viz. Hooks were Middy 63-13 size 16s to 0.10mm hooklengths coupled with 6-10 Hi Viz Hollow Elastic. This would cover every peg I was liable to draw, except a small number on the match lake where rod and line might be required.
Day One, Peg 6, Bridge Pool
"I was indifferent with this peg when I drew it as the peg had no real form as it is generally not fished, a few anglers walked past me while setting up, some turning their nose up and others explaining that it could be a good draw.
"When Jamie Hughes walked passed, however, I was plumbing the far bank to my right and hit what I thought was a fish. Another minute spent with the plummet moving around the far bank revealed a big shoal of what I presumed would be F1s to the right-hand side of me.
"Two rigs where assembled, one to fish bread six inches off deck, which was a 4x12, and one to fish pellet or maggots across to the far bank on the deck.
"From the off the match was fairly plain sailing. I caught a small carp second chuck on the bread and continued to catch mainly F1s and the occasional carp on this method for the early part of the match, until I felt that the shoal was beginning to move and made the decision to start feeding. Then it was a case of whether to fish pellets or maggots. I caught on both but as I had not caught any silvers, I settled on maggots for my main attack.
"The fishing was slow for the middle part of the match, but by keeping a few maggots going through the peg the fishing got better ,with the last hour seeing me catch around 20 F1s.
"The total weight was 81lb seeing me win the section, and also come third in the match.
Day Two, Peg 19, Canal Pool
"My heart sank a little when I drew this peg, as it was in a section which included the famous ‘stick ups’, which are known for holding F1s in cold weather. The peg had also unfortunately been last in section the day before, however, there was all to play for so I tried to keep a positive attitude.
"The peg itself is on a bend facing north which meant that the easterly wind was pushing straight into my peg. However, this also gave me the opportunity to swing round on my box and fish almost behind myself into some calm water, which is where I figured any fish would be.
"The same two rigs came out of the box from yesterday with only the hooklengths being changed for fresh samples!
"I started straight in front of me on bread and, as feared, I didn’t get a bite. After around 10 minutes of searching the peg, I dropped into the calm water and fortunately there was once again a ball of fish in front of me.
"The match went pretty much the same as the day before; I caught a few fish early on the bread (carp and F1s) and then once this had dried up switched to feeding maggots. The action was slower to begin with than on Bridge the previous day, but the last hour was brilliant fishing, getting proper bites on every drop catching mainly F1s, occasional carp and two small barbel.
"My fiinal weight was 91lb, which once again gave me a section win and third place in the match.
Final Day, Peg 40, Meadow Pool
"I was devastated when I pulled this peg out of the bag. It has been difficult for much of the year – the previous day had seen 6lb caught and, again, a last in section!
"The same two rigs came out once again and I set my stall out to fish bread for the majority of the match searching every inch of the far bank only allowing myself to feed as a last resort. Looking at the results the day before 25lb gave fifth in section which would give me a chance of getting into the top five overall.
"I always think when faced with this sort of situation it is best to try and be realistic and give yourself a target. I was never going to win my section, but faced with such cold, difficult conditions anything could happen to the other anglers also in contention at the top.
"The first part of the match went well, although it had taken me 30 minutes to get a bite and the anglers either side of me already had three carp, after two hours I had reached around my target weight.
"However after four hours I had begun to lose my head a touch and had a bit of a strop as no more bites where forthcoming and every angler that I could see in my section was catching!
"I finally had a bite with 20 minutes to go which was a decent F1, and then last chuck with two minutes remaining I hooked a carp which gave me a final weight of 39lb and put me fifth in section, which was my target but with a much bigger weight than expected.
"Fortunately it seemed the harder pegs had caught up with everybody, as word was seven points would win! Waiting for the result was tense as myself and Paul Conroy were tied on points with a similar weight, but fortunately the fishing gods where smiling on me as my 211lb just beat Paul's 203lb.
"It feels fantastic to have won this event, made all the more special because it is sponsored by Bag 'Em Matchbaits – a company that I have been involved with since the start. It's great to see the company grow to a position where it is possible to sponsor events like the above.
"Heronbrook is also in fine form. There are some hard pegs but even with the coldest spring in 50 years, the fishery is still providing some very good fishing.
"Also congratulations to my Bag 'Em team mate Trevor Robinson, who fished like a legend on the last day setting up one rod and fishing popped up bread to win his section and come third overall!”
Result
1 L Thornton (Middy/ Bag 'Em Matchbaits) 7pts
2 P Conroy 7pts
3 T Robinson 8pts (Maver Midlands/ Bag 'Em Matchbaits)
4 J Chapman 8pts
5 J Goldthorpe 9pts
6 C Barlow 9pts
7 C Ebbrell 10pts (Maver Midlands)
8 T Maj 10 pts
9 J Hughes 10pts (Maver Midlands)
10 J Brown 11pts (Maver Midlands)
11 A Bennett 11pts (Daiwa)
12 P Hart 11pts
"That said, I felt that a few of the things that I had learned by fishing through the winter would benefit me now for this festival (ironically, I think the water temperature was lower than two months ago!)
"With the water temperature being so low, I felt that the only things worth taking to the venue would be maggots, micro pellets, 4mm Bag 'Em Expandas and a slice of bread.
"Tackle choice was also very simple, Middy Grey Series One floats from 4x10-4x16, tied up on 0.12mm Middy Lo-Viz. Hooks were Middy 63-13 size 16s to 0.10mm hooklengths coupled with 6-10 Hi Viz Hollow Elastic. This would cover every peg I was liable to draw, except a small number on the match lake where rod and line might be required.
Day One, Peg 6, Bridge Pool
"I was indifferent with this peg when I drew it as the peg had no real form as it is generally not fished, a few anglers walked past me while setting up, some turning their nose up and others explaining that it could be a good draw.
"When Jamie Hughes walked passed, however, I was plumbing the far bank to my right and hit what I thought was a fish. Another minute spent with the plummet moving around the far bank revealed a big shoal of what I presumed would be F1s to the right-hand side of me.
"Two rigs where assembled, one to fish bread six inches off deck, which was a 4x12, and one to fish pellet or maggots across to the far bank on the deck.
"From the off the match was fairly plain sailing. I caught a small carp second chuck on the bread and continued to catch mainly F1s and the occasional carp on this method for the early part of the match, until I felt that the shoal was beginning to move and made the decision to start feeding. Then it was a case of whether to fish pellets or maggots. I caught on both but as I had not caught any silvers, I settled on maggots for my main attack.
"The fishing was slow for the middle part of the match, but by keeping a few maggots going through the peg the fishing got better ,with the last hour seeing me catch around 20 F1s.
"The total weight was 81lb seeing me win the section, and also come third in the match.
Day Two, Peg 19, Canal Pool
"My heart sank a little when I drew this peg, as it was in a section which included the famous ‘stick ups’, which are known for holding F1s in cold weather. The peg had also unfortunately been last in section the day before, however, there was all to play for so I tried to keep a positive attitude.
"The peg itself is on a bend facing north which meant that the easterly wind was pushing straight into my peg. However, this also gave me the opportunity to swing round on my box and fish almost behind myself into some calm water, which is where I figured any fish would be.
"The same two rigs came out of the box from yesterday with only the hooklengths being changed for fresh samples!
"I started straight in front of me on bread and, as feared, I didn’t get a bite. After around 10 minutes of searching the peg, I dropped into the calm water and fortunately there was once again a ball of fish in front of me.
"The match went pretty much the same as the day before; I caught a few fish early on the bread (carp and F1s) and then once this had dried up switched to feeding maggots. The action was slower to begin with than on Bridge the previous day, but the last hour was brilliant fishing, getting proper bites on every drop catching mainly F1s, occasional carp and two small barbel.
"My fiinal weight was 91lb, which once again gave me a section win and third place in the match.
Final Day, Peg 40, Meadow Pool
"I was devastated when I pulled this peg out of the bag. It has been difficult for much of the year – the previous day had seen 6lb caught and, again, a last in section!
"The same two rigs came out once again and I set my stall out to fish bread for the majority of the match searching every inch of the far bank only allowing myself to feed as a last resort. Looking at the results the day before 25lb gave fifth in section which would give me a chance of getting into the top five overall.
"I always think when faced with this sort of situation it is best to try and be realistic and give yourself a target. I was never going to win my section, but faced with such cold, difficult conditions anything could happen to the other anglers also in contention at the top.
"The first part of the match went well, although it had taken me 30 minutes to get a bite and the anglers either side of me already had three carp, after two hours I had reached around my target weight.
"However after four hours I had begun to lose my head a touch and had a bit of a strop as no more bites where forthcoming and every angler that I could see in my section was catching!
"I finally had a bite with 20 minutes to go which was a decent F1, and then last chuck with two minutes remaining I hooked a carp which gave me a final weight of 39lb and put me fifth in section, which was my target but with a much bigger weight than expected.
"Fortunately it seemed the harder pegs had caught up with everybody, as word was seven points would win! Waiting for the result was tense as myself and Paul Conroy were tied on points with a similar weight, but fortunately the fishing gods where smiling on me as my 211lb just beat Paul's 203lb.
"It feels fantastic to have won this event, made all the more special because it is sponsored by Bag 'Em Matchbaits – a company that I have been involved with since the start. It's great to see the company grow to a position where it is possible to sponsor events like the above.
"Heronbrook is also in fine form. There are some hard pegs but even with the coldest spring in 50 years, the fishery is still providing some very good fishing.
"Also congratulations to my Bag 'Em team mate Trevor Robinson, who fished like a legend on the last day setting up one rod and fishing popped up bread to win his section and come third overall!”
Result
1 L Thornton (Middy/ Bag 'Em Matchbaits) 7pts
2 P Conroy 7pts
3 T Robinson 8pts (Maver Midlands/ Bag 'Em Matchbaits)
4 J Chapman 8pts
5 J Goldthorpe 9pts
6 C Barlow 9pts
7 C Ebbrell 10pts (Maver Midlands)
8 T Maj 10 pts
9 J Hughes 10pts (Maver Midlands)
10 J Brown 11pts (Maver Midlands)
11 A Bennett 11pts (Daiwa)
12 P Hart 11pts
- Log in or register to post comments
LATEST VIDEO
| Gear Reviews |  |
Articles | |
More Links Shop | |
Subscriptions | |
Resources |
