BIG NAMES BAG HONOURS AT EVESHAM
Scotthorne wins Wychavon Champs
AUGUST Bank Holiday weekend saw a starstudded line-up for the Evesham Angling Festival.
And after three days of action the silverware went the way of international class acts and the best team in the UK.
England aces Callum Dicks and five-times World Champ Alan Scotthorne won the Hobgoblin and Wychavon Championships respectively on the town stretch of the Warks Avon, while the allconquering Daiwa Dorking side signed off the festival with team honours in the Bank Holiday Monday match.
Maver man Callum was first to triumph, weighing in 10-12-0 on the Saturday from end peg 73. Rob Wootton followed with 8-6-0 for second spot as the clear river saw the match turn into a roach-dominated event.
Sunday saw colour in the river after overnight rain and Alan Scotthorne drew peg 46. The Drennan/Sensas man targeted the slabs and a great early part of the match saw him home with 17-3-0, ahead of Shakespeare’s Leigh Gardener on 15-8-0.
“With rain the day before I thought there might be some skimmers and pommies to catch, and if there were any bream in the area they’d normally be found around my peg,” Alan said.
“I balled in 12 balls of Sensas 3000 Gros Gardons Fine, 3000 Magic and brown crumb mixed 50/50 with Terre de Riviere and grey leam holding casters, dead pinkies and a lot of hemp.
“I was targeting bigger fish, so every half-hour I topped up aggressively with two big balls over the top.”
Fishing a 2g float at 11m run through with a longish hooklink to lay some line on the deck and presenting a steady bunch of bloodworm or pinkie hookbait, the opening 90 minutes brought three bream and four skimmers before the river began to clear.
“After that it was a case of picking off little fish on bloodworm, catching what I could,” Alan continued. “At the end of the day, if you catch 17lb at Evesham you won’t be far off winning something!
“It’s been a super weekend for me, as I was third on the Saturday match and then joint fifth in the team match on Monday – and my Barnsley team finished second overall.”
That left Monday’s team match to be decided and Dorking, riding on the crest of a wave after their record-making World
Club Champs victory, crushed all before them with a 61-point tally.
They ended up 18 points clear of Drennan Barnsley Blacks, with Matrix Image third.
Individually, Sensas WB Clarke man Steve Pallett won with 9-2-0, followed by Dorking and England duo Simon Willsmore and William Raison on 7-8-0 and 7-0-0 respectively.