Evesham Preview to the big event
Avon to host three crowd-pulling matches over this Bank Holiday weekend
ONE of UK match angling’s oldest and best-loved events, the Evesham Angling Festival, rolls into town again this weekend.
The picturesque Warwickshire Avon is the setting for three days of high-intensity angling for serious money!
Through its various incarnations through the years, Evesham Bank Holiday weekend has seen some of the sport’s biggest names win, including Alan Scotthorne, Steve Gardener, and Jan Porter to name but three.
This year will be no different, with the great and the good lining up alongside qualifiers to get their name on the hallowed Evesham and Wychavon trophies. Throw the Monday team match into the mix and you’ve got a real fishing feast.
Away from the bank there’s a treat too. The retail village along the Warks Avon match length offers superb tackle and bait deals, have-a-go angling coaching, a bookmaker and refreshments. It’s all free, too, the only cost being £7 for parking.
Evesham is famed for being a tough venue where single big fish can win trophies. However, with colour and pace from rainfall the Avon becomes a different river, with roach and bream weights making for impressive results. The face the match venue will show will be in the lap of the weather gods…
“What wins each day will depend on the state of the river,” said Hadrian Whittle, former winner of the team match and a finalist this year.
“If the Avon is low and clear, there will be pockets of fish but lots of tough areas. The angler that sits it out for a barbel or two could win or could blank, while those on a few roach or chub could fare well. Double figures is always a good weight at Evesham, so one bite may be all you need!
“On the flip side, if we get rain and colour goes in then the bream and skimmers will feed, and 40lb could win on the feeder – the roach will feed too,” he continued.
“There are so many options to go through, from breadpunch to hemp to chopped worm on the pole, the waggler on chub areas and the feeder for barbel or bream. I’d want to draw a noted peg or area – and there are lots of them – but the river can change completely if colour comes in. This looks unlikely at the moment, but even a downpour the night before can do enough to spur the fish into feeding.”