Displaying items by tag: fish o mania

Before the draw nobody could make their minds up as to which lake at Tunnel Barn Farm Fisheries on Saturday 21st May 2011 would produce the winner. Whilst superstitious people may consider 13 to be unlucky for some this proved otherwise for Simon Christian (Stimech Anchor AC) a Memorial Mason from Bilston who drew peg 13 on Club pool where he fished luncheon meat on the pole to the island and down the edge to net a succession of carp to 7lbs, F1s and barbel for a winning net of 145lbs 4ozs. This is only Simon’s third Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier match since 2007, and his win means there is another new face in the line up in the grand final.

Simon Christian said “I had an island to fish to on the far side down the end of Club pool and fished to the end of the island to the far bank, and an edge swim to the right of me to 9 metres, with an empty peg to the left. I could have gone further to the right, but did not need to as I had a lot of fish within my swim and caught 11 fish in the last hour which were bigger than earlier in the match. I am over the moon to win the qualifier as I do a lot of match fishing, but only started fishing again in the last four years after a 6-7  year break. I decided to branch out this year and apply for some Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers, and applied for six, and ended up with two tickets, with this being my first one. I am looking forward to the final, and have got a lot of information from Kieron Rich which will hopefully put me in good stead for the final. Kieron has offered to be my bank runner if he doesn’t make it through from his four qualifiers he has left”.

Blustery sunny conditions with low water faced the anglers in this latest Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifying match at Tunnel Barn Farm, however the fish still fed and there were seven weights over the magic ton and the lowest weight to win a 10 peg section was 63lbs.

Runner up from Canal peg 4 was Chris Telling (Daiwa Gordon League) from Gloucester. Chris a Driving Instructor pole fished chopped worm and caster down the edge at 13metres to finish up with 118lbs 9ozs of F1s, barbel and smaller carp. In third place was Stuart Ballard (Maver Midland/Dynamite Baits) landed 110lbs 9ozs from peg 37 on New pool.  Fourth place fell to Carl Jewitt (Blue Bell AC) from Hull, who took 108lbs 8ozs of F1s and barbel from Peg 9 on Canal. Simon Fry (Starlets AS) filled fifth spot with 105lbs 11ozs from Club peg 12.

Moorlands Farm Fisheries at Hartlebury, Worcestershire is the venue for the next Fish 'O' Mania qualifier on Saturday 28th May 2011, with just six more qualifiers to go in 2011.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers reached the halfway stage on Saturday at the highly regarded Stafford Moor Fishery in North Devon. Tim Bull (Dynamite Baits) aged 39 years, a Business Development Manager from Leamington is the eighth qualifier to join the line up for the Fish ‘O’ Mania final with a winning weight of 138-8-0 of Carp from Tanners 2. Tim picked up some useful information at Stafford Moor before the match and was told that Tanners would be the lake to draw as favourite in the conditions.

Unfortunately for Tim it was not plain sailing as he had quite a steady start catching smaller carp of around the 3 lb mark in the first hour or more, using a straight three/eighth ounce bomb with an 11 ml Dynamite XL pellet lassoed on his basic rig. Tim cast about 40 yards towards the far bank but the big key was to pick his moments when the wind died down to feed. As he went into the second hour the carp got bigger, but there were longer intervals between the bites. However, with careful feeding and fish of around the 7 lb mark he was building up a good weight. At the end of five hours Tim had around twenty-eight carp for his win and produced the biggest margin victory of all the qualifiers, this year, to date. After a few years of trying Tim has been very close on a couple of occasions but he will be competing in the final at Cudmore in July for the first time where he obviously hopes to emulate his brother the top commercial angler, Mick Bull who won the Fish 'O' Mania final in 2008.

With Tanners dominating this event local angler Mark Hayman (Stafford Moor) used his experience on the venue to make the most of his peg Tanners 34 draw, catching carp to 10 lb in his 84-2-0 of carp, with tactics being bomb and pellet. In third place from Tanners 6 was Trevor Senior (Vespe Army) from Salisbury with a weight of 76-4-0. Harry Marsh (Maver Farnborough) from Reading took fourth place from last year’s winning peg Tanners 18 with a weight of 73-2-0. In fifth place from peg Woodpecker 21 with 70-1-0 was one of last year’s finalists Andy Power (Preston Innovations Thatchers) from Wells Somerset.

The conditions on the day were not ideal, cold and overcast with rain forecast for later in the day. The weather played a big part in the results, with many anglers who were catching from the start seeing their swims die after a few hours as the wind moved the fish around and pushed them on to the pegs that had not had such a good start. In the end the result was a close run thing, all through the day the predictions were changing from one peg to another and into the final hour it could have gone either way between the top 5 anglers. Tim made the most of his peg and took his chances to leap ahead and win as it turned out quite comfortably, with the other four places separated by 4 or 5 fish.

Former Daiwa Gordon League grouped matchman, Steve Seaborn of Ross-on-Wye is the second angler to qualify for the Fish ‘O’ Mania XVII Grand Final at Stapeley Cudmore Fisheries, North Staffordshire on Saturday 17th July after his win at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire at the weekend.

Following a touch of overnight frost the sell-out 130 entry enjoyed the warmest day of the year so far as the sun shone fiercely. After months of donning several layers of winter clothing it was something of a shock for the competitors to fish without their jackets!

The Tunnel Barn complex fished well throughout with an amazing weight of 56lbs 2 oz being the LOWEST weight to win one of the ten peg sections. In a free scoring event the top five again passed the 100 lb mark with the best of them being match winner Steve Seaborn who clocked up 114-7-0 from peg 7 on Extension Pool. Steve caught an F1 on his first putting in chopped worm and fished just eighteen inches deep right to the island. He carried on catching F1s at will plus one small ghostie but they slowed right down in the second hour before fish from 8 oz to 3 lb came at regular intervals after he went even shallower, just 10 inches deep against the island.

Steve, aged 35, is a building surveyor and married to Teresa with their first child due very soon. He rates this as his best ever win and told Angling Trust, “I have never really got on with Tunnel Barn Farm too well, I have been a little hit or miss there, mainly miss, thankfully, this time it was a hit!” he continued, “having qualified early I might even get some practice in at Stapeley Cudmore before the Final.” Runner-up was professional angling coach Andy May (Ultima) who also caught F1s to 3 lb in his 108-2-0. Middlewich, Cheshire-based Andy was on House Pool 23 where he caught every one of his fish on maggot fished shallow. Twice Fish’O’ champion Matt Hall (Sensas) went close to qualifying again from Extension 16. Matt also fished maggot but a lost carp, estimated at around the double figure mark really scuppered his chances as he took third place with 106-0-0 again of mainly F1s. The other two ‘tons’ were from Frank Cook with 105-1-0 from another Extension draw and Simon Medd with 101-9-0 from the Top Pool.

Qualifier number three stays in the same county, Warwickshire, this Wednesday when another sellout will line up at Dynamite Baits Makins Fishery at Wolvey. Who will be qualifier number three?

It was back to ‘winter mode’ for the third qualifying round of the XVII Fish ‘O’ Mania at Dynamite Baits Makins Fishery, Wolvey, Warwickshire. A sharp overnight frost and a cooler day than of late made it difficult to tempt bites in areas; the lowest ten peg winning section was 26-8-0 which was quite acceptable given the tough conditions.

The third name to be added to the eventual sixteen targeting the £25,000 first prize in the Fish ‘O’ Mania final is Sean Huggins from Wigston. It was a hop over the Leicestershire border for Sean to Phases Two and Three where the larger lakes, Lagoon and Lizard were well fancied by those ‘in the know’.

The self employed painter and decorator was actually on the reserve list to fish this match – in fact he was thirteenth reserve! The dreaded number 13 was looking unlucky again as Sean drew on Severn 25, a peg that had good form in the distant past but certainly not in recent times. He started off on 6 ml punched bread fished quite shallow towards the feature island catching the odd carp here and there until halfway through the match. As the fish started ‘backing off’ at this point he introduced minimal amounts of pellets, literally three or four via a small cup every now and then. He caught a few more on punched bread and the odd one on paste before a final change of tactic to the pellet waggler. This final move in the last hour kept even more carp coming and he ran out a very worthy winner with just over thirty carp for 95-15-0. Sean has a happy knack of doing really well in the bigger competitions and must now be one to fear in the Grand Final. The former winner of the UK Championships has fished a few Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers before and was keen to get in this one because Dynamite Makins is a local venue to him.

Runner-up Ben Emery of Garbolino Banstead fished method feeder and pellet, right in the grass stalks of Lagoon 13 to net carp to 4 lb 8 oz in his 78-1-0. Paul Law of Trabucco South East was third with carp to 6 lb, skimmers and roach for 68-10-0 from Lagoon 4. Former River Trent legend John Allerton of Tri-Cast was fourth with 49-15-0 followed by David Bacon 49-4-0 and Matt Hall of Sensas 49-0-0.

The fourth match in this series of Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers is on Leicestershire’s Lakeview Fishery this weekend and it will be interesting to see who will join Ray, Steven and Sean in the line up to the final.

Local Somerton estate agent manager Ray Hayward (Carps AC/Team Viaduct) undoubtedly had the shortest journey of all the 130-entry in the first of the sixteen Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers. Ray’s house virtually overlooks his favourite fishery at Viaduct and his experience showed as he went on to win the event. With the weather rapidly warming up and plenty of carp visible on the lakes the talk was for a draw on the prolific Campbells Lake.

After several weeks of cold and icy conditions, tactics were quite open and it really was anyone’s guess as to where the winner would come from and what tactics he would use. Ray drew on Spring Lake peg 22, at the other end to Campbells and ironically he was in two minds about whether to fish or not as he really didn’t fancy the shallow swim.

However, ‘in for a penny’ Ray gave it a go and received a little more impetus when the angler drawn next to him didn’t show up to his peg! Word soon got around that they were catching well on the other lakes while Ray landed his first carp after a quarter of an hour, albeit a large one, on waggler, with an 8 ml banded pellet fished well out. He stuck with the rod and line and waggler approach while he catapulted pellets down the margins towards the vacant peg, occasionally looking for any fish activity in that vicinity.

On the three hours mark he had caught just three carp on the waggler and he thought he was really out of the match when he spotted a tail swirl on his inside line. A quick switch to the pole saw him land nine more lumpy carp, twelve in all, scaling a fantastic 136-3-0. Ray had three carp in between 18 and 19 lb in his haul. Despite some big weights from the other pools, Ray was declared the winner. It is the second time that the 49-year old has reached the final; he last did so in 2003 after winning the qualifier at Barford Lakes.

Ray also won the Wednesday Open with a similar weight at Viaduct and on Thursday his mate Keith Massheder (Langport) did likewise with a double ton. To keep things even more local Keith, who works for the Royal Navy, came second in the Fish ’O’ Mania with another dozen carp, again on pellet, for 127-6-0 from Lodge Lake. Myles Levy (Basingstoke) and Brett Cooper (Eastleigh) were the pick of the other huge weights with their third and fourth scores of 111-14-0 and 110-3-0 respectively.

Qualifier number two will be at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire this Saturday when the next finalist will be decided.

Angling Trust Competitions & Events Manager, Sandra Drew said: “This year there has yet again been a huge demand for tickets for this very prestigious event which is managed by Matchroom Sports and administered by Angling Trust. Fish O Mania is considered one of the biggest and most exciting matches in all angling. Congratulations to Ray for his superb win at Viaduct, making him the first to qualify in 2010. Anglers all over the country will be watching eagerly to see who will join Ray for the 16-angler final in July at Cudmore”.

Angling Trust and Matchroom Sport announced today that entries to Fish O Mania 2010 will be open from 9.00am on 18th January 2010 for a three week period. The closing date for entries will be 8th February 2010 at 4.00pm. Tickets will be on sale at £23.00, an increase of 50p on 2009 to reflect higher peg fees. A new venue, Partridge Lakes, near Culcheth in Cheshire, will be used for a qualifying heat this year. Anglers wishing to register in this year's event will need to have a valid individual membership of the Angling Trust to register and have their membership card with them when they compete.

The Angling Trust website (www.anglingtrust.net) will be the only means by which anglers can enter Fish O Mania. Once the event is launched, competitors will have three weeks in which to enter through the on-line process. Once the entry has closed, the site software will then generate a random draw to select the 130 anglers for each of the 16 qualifying heats. The system does not operate on a first come first served basis, therefore all entries received from 18th January to 8th February will have an equal chance of obtaining a ticket. The site will also generate a reserve list for each of the 16 qualifiers with details being regularly updated on the Angling Trust website.

Anglers can sign up for membership on the Angling Trust website by following the links on the online entry process, or by clicking on “Join Here” on the home page. Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust explained the decision to make the competition members-only: "This is in line with most of the Trust’s other competitions, and other governing bodies’ policies.  It has been welcomed by all the competition anglers we have spoken to, who saw it as a way of helping the Trust to continue to grow and develop into a powerful voice for all angling, and to develop match angling in the future."  It will also ensure that all participants are covered by the Angling Trust’s free civil liability insurance, included in the membership subscription.

A spokesman for Matchroom Sport said: “Having worked with the NFA, and now the Angling Trust, for 16 years on Fish O Mania, we feel that it is important that anglers unite to give themselves a stronger voice in what are challenging times for the sport. On that basis we are happy that it is a pre-requisite that anglers taking part in Fish O Mania be members of the governing body that administers the sport. I can’t think of another sport that Matchroom operate in where this isn’t the case and it is of obvious benefit to all.”

Sandra Drew, Competitions and Events Manager for the Angling Trust said: “The importance of the Fish O Mania title is obvious from the distances some anglers travel to take part in the qualifiers each year and the huge attention that this competition attracts in the angling media and on Sky Sports. Once again there will be 16 qualifiers held around the country giving anglers a chance of winning the biggest prize in coarse angling and taking the prestigious title of Fish O Mania Champion.”

Matchroom Sport and the Angling Trust also announced the venues and dates for the Fish O Mania qualifiers for 2010:

Saturday 10th April 2010 Viaduct Fishery
Saturday 17th April 2010 Tunnel Barn Farm
Wednesday 21st April 2010 Barford Lakes
Saturday 24th April 2010 Lakeview Fishery
Wednesday 28th April 2010 Woodlands View
Saturday 1st May 2010 Maver Larford Lakes
Wednesday 5th May 2010 Monk Lakes
Saturday 8th May 2010 Stafford Moor
Saturday 15th May 2010 Moorlands Farm
Saturday 22nd May 2010 Octoplus Boldings
Saturday 29th May 2010 Partridge Lakes
Wednesday 2nd June 2010 Heronbrook Fisheries
Saturday 5th June 2010 The Oaks
Wednesday 16th June 2010 Willinghurst Fishery
Saturday 19th June 2010 Woodlands Lakes
Wednesday 30th June 2010 Lindholme Lakes

Student Adam Richards won this weekend’s PartyPoker.com Fish-O-Mania qualifier at Tunnel Barn Farm on Saturday 16th May with a haul of 114lb 10ozs. Student Adam, from Billingham and a Maver Barnsley team member, drew peg 13 on Canal Pool where he pole fished worms across to the island to take a succession of F1’s to 3lb for his winning weight. He fed a kilo of worms and 3pints of casters to keep his fish interested.

130 Anglers faced strong winds and some really heavy rain during this match, a match that produced a very close result and an interesting story. A close second was Adam’s travelling companion Gareth Malham.

Adam’s pal Gareth, a float maker from Chester Le Street and fishing under the Malman Floats banner, drew peg 14 on Top Pool where he pole fished luncheon meat at 14 metres to catch F1’s and Carp to 9lbs for his runners up weight of 111lbs 14ozs.

Third place went to Maver Midlands angler Rober Cooksey who took carp to 7lbs from Peg 26 on New Pool to weigh in with 110lbs 13ozs.

Former Finalist Steve Hemingray from Leicester came pretty close again with 99lbs 6ozs from Peg 3 on Top Pool to finish in 4th place. Steve fishes for Dorking.

Fifth place went to Stuart Ballard of Maver Midlands who weighed in 94lbs 12ozs from Peg 10 on Club Pool and James Hughes claimed 6th place with 90lbs 7ozs from Peg 18 on Top Pool.

Source: Angling Trust Fish 'O'Mania News