Ellis Driscoll on winning the Drennan Coca Cola Festival at White Acres. On Day one I was on Trelawney and having had a practice on the lake the day before, I knew it would be hard! I had a bit of luck drawing Peg 23 (some call it “the F1 bay”) and I had a great chance of winning my lake if not the section, but to win I’d have to work hard to beat the angler on Peg 20 in particular. There are strict rules at White Acres regarding permitted baits and quantities. I used a mix of ABC Betaine green CP70 Method mix, micro pellets, 4mm pellets, 6mm pellets and casters.
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.
Dubious observations of a Match Fishing reader. . . The Match Fishing editorial office recently took delivery of an e-mail from a concerned reader, reporting a number of dubious observations that he has noticed while on matches.
FP1 Baits rod wins Hayfield 'Match This' qualifier. FP1 Baits ace Steven Mazza has won this year's Maver 'Match This' qualifying match at Hayfield Lakes from Peg 32 on Adam's Lake. Steve opted to fish the pellet waggler using 8mm pellets on the hook, and tempted carp up to 8lb to finish the match with 115-00-00 and qualify for the Grand Final in style. The fourth and latest Mega 'Match This' qualifier was attended by 65 anglers, and was the first hosted by Hayfield Lakes.
10% insurance discount for Match Fishing readers. Match Fishing magazine has secured an exclusive discount for its readers, with Anglers First Insurance. With so much expensive fishing tackle on the bank these days, the true value of an angler’s kit is often overlooked – until the unthinkable happens and it is lost, broken or stolen. Thanks to our newly signed deal, readers can now enjoy peace of mind that their kit is covered – and at a fraction of some of the prices quoted by other insurance companies.
Darren Cox in Fish 'O' Mania Final!Garbolino-backed ace, Darren Cox has qualified for the Fish ‘O’ Mania final, after winning the 130-peg qualifying match at Shropshire’s Octoplus Boldings Fishery. Remarkably, this is the fourth time in his career that Darren has qualified for the big-money final – which this year carries a prize fund of £30,000. It is also the third time that he has qualified on his first attempt of a season!He commented: “I am over the moon to be in the final for a fourth time, and qualifying so early in the year will give me plenty of time to focus on practicing and preparing for it. "I was one of the last to draw on the day, and because I am not familiar with the pegs at Boldings, I picked the brains of a couple of local anglers after I had drawn.
Pete Bennett wins Packington qualifier. Banbury Gunsmiths rod Pete Bennett won Saturday's Maver 'Match This' qualifier at Packington Fishery, with an 84-11-0 net of F1 carp. Pete, 38, drew Peg 17 on Little Gearys
and fished hard pellet shallow to finish the match just 1lb 1oz in front of second placed Richie Hull. The third qualifier event of the 2013 Mega 'Match This' campaign was attended by 74 anglers and, thankfully, there was a marked improvement in the weather for this most recent qualifier with temperatures being much milder than in previous weeks.
Fishery bans Eastern European anglers. A Warwickshire fishery owner has made national headlines after banning Eastern European anglers from his fishery. Eddie Whitehead, owner of Dog Lane Fishery near Napton, put up a sign reading “No Eastern Europeans” after he had almost £10,000 worth of carp stolen. Eddie claims that migrant workers arrive just before dusk and fish his lakes – before taking what they catch for the table.
