Golden Reel
Hiller through to final
THE final for the new big money Golden Reel Angling Championships already has some big names in the line-up after just three qualifying events.
Daiwa Dorking match legend Paul Hiller won the latest eliminator at Bag ‘Em Baits Larford Lakes to join reigning Match This and Parkdean champion Jon Whincup in August’s big final.
Paul saw off the 99-strong field on a blustery day, thanks to a 108-2-0 bag of carp and F1s from peg 64 on the Match Lake. He caught on pellet at 6m before moving into the margins with meat and pellet. Chris Senter finished up second, just a carp behind, on 104-1-0.
Elsewhere on the match scene, settled mild weather helped to produce some massive weights, with Phil Ringer topping the latest Ringer Baits Pairs at Boddington Reservoir with a mammoth 247-0-0 of big carp on Hybrid feeder and Wafters.
Another angler taking a ‘double ton’ was Paul Cardwell, who won at Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery with 240-10-0 of carp on bomb and pole with pellet off Campbell Lake.
The sport at Heronbrook Fisheries and Tunnel Barn Farm also showed signs of kicking into springtime mode as Matt Djukic won the Heronbrook Spring League on 145-14-0 and Les Whetton took the Tunnel Open with 176-13-0 using paste on just his top kit!
Meanwhile, bream have made up some big recent weights. The Steel City Open at Ferry Meadows was won by Ian Burdett with 107-10-0 of big slabs on the feeder, while at Southfields Reservoir the opening leg of the Nu-Fish Spring League was topped by John Kelly with 72-15-0 of bream on feeder and worm.
Festival time at White Acres has now begun and England ace Des Shipp enjoyed the perfect warmup by winning the Stafford Moor five-day silverfish event with a near-perfect five point tally. He enjoyed superb skimmer sport across Pines, Tanner’s and Woodpecker Lakes, topped by a 53-0-0 haul on the opening day.