CONSISTENT SHAKESPEARE STAMP THEIR AUTHORITY ON THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
EVESHAM TEAM CHAMPS (MON) Warks Avon, Evesham (80 pegs)
FOR Monday’s teams of five match, with colour in the river and bloodworm allowed, the mighty Shakespeare Bait-Tech side won with 61 points, just one clear of a tie for second between Sensas Starlets Black and Drennan Oxford.
The Shakespeare side of Tony Marshall, James Robbins, Andy Murphy, Mike Bedding and Leigh Gardner went for an all-out pole, bloodworm and groundbait attack to return scores of a third for Andy, fourth for James, fifths for Leigh and Mike and a seventh for Tony.
“The plan was bloodworm and groundbait at between 11m and 13m, then hemp between 14m and 16m and a worm line short if we felt a tench or a few eels would be about,” said Shakespeare skipper Darren Massey, who didn’t fish.
“We aimed for 4lb-8lb a man and hit that from all our anglers – more or less all bloodworm fish, with only Mike having a few roach on hemp and Leigh snaring a 2lb tench on worm”
Individually, two barbel saw England international Cameron Hughes win with 18-14-0 off peg 15. The Sensas Starlets Black man had fish of 7lb and 8lb to go alongside 3lb of roach and a lone skimmer to end well clear of Simon Willsmore on 10-6-0.
“For an hour I caught 14 net roach plus a skimmers at 14m on bloodworm, where I’d balled in groundbait and joker, then the river switched off,” Cameron said. “I thought it may be pike or possibly barbel moving in, as one had been caught off the peg the day before, so I chucked my bomb and 8mm halibut pellet rig into midriver where I’d been loosefeeding a few pellets from the start and quickly had a liner.
“Nothing developed, though, and with an hour to go I was bored rigid until the rod went over and I landed a 7lb barbel,” he continued.
“I was happy with that as a right bonus to push me well up the section and I threw back out, half expecting another. Ten minutes later the tip went round again and this fish was 8lb. That was job more than done for the team and also put me in with a shout of winning the match.”