Results from Sundays 50th Anniversary Competition.
Six teams of five anglers contested the 50th Anniversary Match along six sections of the canal from the narrows to the Hele Bridge Stock Pond. There was a generous prize list and our thanks for supporting the event go to Wayne Gerry, Waterfront Fishing and Shooting, the Brendon Arms, Martin Cocks Angling supplies, Drennen UK and Kevin Green.
Team six captained by Association Chairman Paul Braund won the Team event, which was appropriate as this competition replaced for one year only the Annual Chairs Trophy, which the Chairman hardly ever won! Team 1 lead by Match Secretary Simon Allen finished two points behind in second place.
The largest net of the day came from Paul Attenborough. Paul is an Associate member and is more familiar with the river Trent but still banked an impressive 31lbs of pole caught carp to easily win the Whalesborough Lake section. Peter (Tacker) Giles also found the carp with three specimens amongst his 24lb haul from the Bird Hide which was the second best weight of the day. However, Mark Gratton's 20lbs from the Stock Pond for third heaviest bag was perhaps the most impressive as he banked between 350 and 400 fish for his 20lbs (and yes, they were mainly small fish!).
Section winners on the day were Paul Braund (narrows), Ady Larkins (Lower Basin), Sean Stenton (Second Basin), Peter Giles (Bird Hide), Paul Attenborough (Whalesborough), Mark Gratton (Stock Pond). There is an honourable mention for Phil Box whom I was fishing beside. He was bagging nicely until a young seagull made a prolonged attacked on a skimmer he was trying to net and knackered the swim. So be careful when fishing as its not just your chips and pasties you need to be careful of.
Hopefully everyone had a good day, if so Simon and I will think about a Diamond anniversary match!!
Key to sections: BH = Bird Hide, LB = Lower Basin, N = Narrows, SB = Second Basin, SP = Stock Pond, WL = Whalesborough Lake.
| Angler | Section | Team | Peg No. | Lbs.ozs | Pts. |
| Simon Allen | BH | 1 | 46 | 4.9 | 2 |
| Ian Croxton | BH | 2 | 44 | 6.14 | 3 |
| Peter Slade | BH | 3 | 47 | 12.15 | 4 |
| Matt Sampson | BH | 5 | 45 | 0.1 | 1 |
| Peter Giles | BH | 6 | 43 | 24.8 | 5 |
| Ady Larkins | LB | 1 | 17 | 9.8 | 5 |
| Steve Whitehouse | LB | 3 | 14 | 4.14 | 2 |
| Duncan Edwards | LB | 4 | 18 | 5.9 | 3 |
| Adrian Hill | LB | 5 | 15 | 2.1 | 1 |
| Dick Turner | LB | 6 | 16 | 7.11 | 4 |
| Jean Bowden | N | 2 | 6 | 3.15 | 1 |
| Jim Escott | N | 3 | 7 | 6.8 | 4 |
| Kevin Hill | N | 4 | 8 | 4.8 | 3 |
| Phil Box | N | 5 | 5 | 4.4 | 2 |
| Paul Braund | N | 6 | 4 | 9.3 | 5 |
| Ian Gray | SB | 1 | 34 | 9.6 | 4 |
| Sean Stenton | SB | 2 | 30 | 12.2 | 5 |
| Colin Abbott | SB | 4 | 31 | 0.11 | 1 |
| Guy Pessell | SB | 5 | 33 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Kier Durrant | SB | 6 | 32 | 4.8 | 3 |
| Wayne Burnard | SP | 1 | 5 | 4.3 | 3 |
| Len Hancock | SP | 2 | 1 | 2.10 | 1 |
| Derek Foster | SP | 3 | 2 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Tony Hilias | SP | 4 | 4 | 4.4 | 4 |
| Mark Gratton | SP | 5 | 3 | 20.12 | 5 |
| Pete Horton | WL | 1 | 2 | 10.4 | 3 |
| Paul Attenbourough | WL | 2 | 5 | 31.2 | 5 |
| Mike Bowden | WL | 3 | 17 | 1.14 | 1 |
| Simon Hockaday | WL | 4 | 15 | 11.8 | 4 |
| Dave Allen | WL | 6 | 13 | 6.4 | 2 |
Team 1: S Allen/ A Larkins/ I Gray/ W Burnard/ P Horton Total Points: 17
Team 2: I Croxton/ J Bowden/ S Stanton/ L Hancock/ P Attenborough Total Points: 15
Team 3: Peter Slade/ S Whitehouse/ J Escott/ D Foster/ M Bowden Total Points: 13
Team 4: D Edwards/ K Hill/ C Abbott/ T Hilias/ S Hockaday Total Points: 15
Team 5: M Sampson/ A Hill/ P Box/ G Pessell/ M Gratton Total Points: 11
Team 6: P Giles/ D Turner/ P Braund/ K Durrant/ D Allen Total points: 19