£12,000 AWAITS WINNER OF NEW NORTHERN EVENT
Fish North will be welcomed by match-starved Yorkshire anglers
THE UK match fishing calendar welcomes another big-money event this week.
Fish North is a new competition based around commercial fisheries in North Yorkshire boasting a potential £12,000 top prize. And if early ticket sales are anything to go by, it looks set to be a roaring success.
The event will see nine qualifiers running from April until July, 2019, on Yorkshire fisheries. From these, zone or lake winners will go through to a semi-final at Forest Lane Fishery near Alne, and 15 anglers will progress to the grand final at Forest Lane a week later and fish for that big prize.
The venue will be Forest Lane and the neighbouring Oaks, Woodland and Brafferton Lakes, along with Redwood Park. Tickets are just £30 each, with no limit on how many places anglers can buy.
Within days of their becoming available, ticket sales have been extremely buoyant. “Every year the dates for Fish O’Mania and Match This come out and anglers in our neck of the woods are, I think, a little hard done by – there are few qualifiers in North Yorkshire,” said Forest Lane boss Eddie Gregory, one of the men behind Fish North.
“So much travelling is involved chasing the dream, so five years ago we had the idea of creating a big-money event in an area of England with plenty of match anglers to attract. The fisheries we’ve booked got on board and 2019 will see us finally ready to go ahead with Fish North. It’s exciting times for everyone!”
The £12,000 top prize is entry-dependent, but Eddie is confident of there being a substantial prize regardless of popularity – £3,000 will go to second place and £1,500 to third if all qualifiers sell out. There’s also a treat for anglers getting to the semi-final and final, as these matches will be held on the new Arena Lake at Forest Lane. It’s not been fished seriously and is home to thousands of carp.
“Within a day of launching sales were brilliant – 15 of my fishing mates had brought tickets for all qualifiers and that number has kept on going up,” Eddie revealed. “The final should be a cracker and we’re having it filmed live and covered on Facebook Live. We’re expecting anglers from all over Yorkshire and the North East but I’d not be surprised to see lads from across the Pennines giving it a go, and perhaps some from the Midlands too. It’s created quite a buzz.”
To enter, visit the Score Fishing website at www.scorefishing.com/fish-north and click on the match or matches you fancy.
Payment is via PayPal. For more information on the new competition, visit the event website: https://www.fishnorth.co.uk