Winter League R8 - Sunday 1st March
When a few bags of silvers can be eaked out of the Second Basin it is a sure sign that winter is coming to an end. However, until it warms a little more the deeper Lower Basin is still the place to be with the top 3 weights coming from there.
Matt Sampson bagged up on the slabs from lucky peg 13 using pole fished paste and even though he had a bonus 6lb carp, the bream were enough alone to see him home to victory with 33lbs. Simon Poynter was chasing Matt down from peg 17 but in the end could not match the 'slab rate' and ended on 25lbs. Ian Gray finished off the Lower Basin 1-2-3 with an 11lb bag.
Simon Allen won the section in the Upper Basin with a 9lb bag, helped by a couple of slabs. This keeps a 10 point lead over Simon Poynter in the Winter League with only two matches left (you don't want a bad draw at this stage of the season!). Dick Turner took the Lower Basin section with an 8lb+ bag of silvers.
| Pos: | Angler | Lbs | ozs | Peg No. | |
| 1 | Matt Sampson | 33lbs | 4oz | 13 | |
| 2 | Simon Poynter | 25lbs | 3oz | 17 | |
| 3 | Ian Gray | 11lbs | 7oz | 16 | |
| 4 | Simon Allen | 9lbs | 9oz | 29 | |
| 5 | Dick Turner | 8lbs | 5oz | 15 | |
| 6 | Nathan Underwood | 6lbs | 6oz | 27 | |
| 7 | Tony Johns | 4lbs | 4oz | 14 | |
| 8 | Paul Braund | 3lb | 6oz | 31 | |
| 9 | Ian Croxton | 3lb | 2oz | 18 | |
| 10 | Adrian Hill | 2lb | 13oz | 32 | |
| 11 | Kevin Hill | 2lb | 6oz | 26 | |
| 11 | Peter Slade | 2lb | 5oz | 30 | |
| 13 | Duncan Edwards | 1lb | 13oz | 28 | |
| 14 | Dave Allen | 1lb | 5oz | 34 | |
| 15 | Ady Larkins | 11oz | 33 | ||
| 16 | Kieran Durrant (J) | 1oz | 19 | ||
| 17 | Derek Foster | - | 20 | ||
Winter League Table (No. matches fished in brackets):
| Pos: | Angler | |
| 1 | Simon Allen | 136.5 (7) |
| 2 | Simon Poynter | 126 (8) |
| 3 | Nathan Underwood | 115 (7) |
| 4 | Dick Turner | 113 (7) |
| 5 | Ian Croxton | 96.5 (6) |
| 5 | Dave Allen | 91.5 (8) |
| 7 | Matt Sampson | 86 (8) |
| 8 | Ian Gray | 81 (7) |
| 9 | Ady Larkins | 73 (7) |
| 10 | Adrian Hill | 73 (7) |
| 10 | Jean Bowden | 72.5 (6) |
| 12 | Kevin Hill | 72 (8) |
| 13 | Len Hancock | 69 (6) |
| 13 | Peter Giles | 68 (6) |
| 15 | Paul Braund | 67.5 (8) |
| 16 | Duncan Edwards | 58 (8) |
| 17 | Tony Johns | 52.5 (6) |
| 18 | Peter Slade | 51 (4) |
| 19 | Mark Gratton | 50.5 (3) |
| 20 | Pete Horton | 49.5 (6) |
| 21 | Mike Bowden | 40 (6) |
| 21 | Simon Hockaday | 36 (4) |
| 23 | Guy Pessell | 25 (1) |
| 24 | Derek Foster | 24 (5) |
| 25 | Tony Hilias | 20 (1) |
| 26 | Kieran Durrant (J) | 15 (6) |
| 27 | Wayne Barnard | 14.5 (1) |
| 28 | Dougie Genini | 12 (3) |
| 29 | Colin Abbott | 10.5 (1) |
| 30 | Norma King | 1 (1) |
| 31 | Dan Underwood | 0 (1) |