Canal Pairs Final is a classic
Chave and Trivett triumph on a soggy Trent & Mersey
AVERY wet 158-peg Canal & Rivers Trust Canal Pairs Final saw South West pairing Richard Chave and Lee Trivett make the long drive up to Staffordshire worthwhile as they beat some of the country’s finest canal anglers to lift the trophy and take the £2,600 top prize.
Based in Dorset and Bristol, they wouldn’t have been many people’s picks to win, but with Preston Innovations Thatcher’s man Lee drawing well and Colmic-backed Richard having a steady peg on the Trent & Mersey Canal around Sandbach and Rode Heath, hopes were high – provided the canal fished as they hoped it would.
But the fishing was hard, with the venue’s famed roach showing only in pockets. That’s where Lee cashed in. He was drawn on one of those pegs, and his 4-600 net put him third out of the whole 79-peg section for a great points score from peg 1 in B section.
For Richard, a small-fish battle was the order of the day from peg A10 at Mill Lane, squatt and groundbait giving him plenty of small gudgeon and the odd roach for 1-610 and eighth spot from the section. Adding up to 148 points, the two men finished seven clear of Dave Hughes and Colin Talbot.
“It’s a long way for us to drive up, but we practised a few times and learned that the canal would be about small fish on A section and roach in B section. I’d caught 6kg of gudgeon in one practice, so was happy enough to do that while Lee went for the roach,” Richard said.
“The canal was simple in terms of target fish. There weren’t any perch or skimmers, so the plan was simple. When Lee got peg B1, a recognised flyer, it became even easier! He’d drawn the same peg in one of the practice matches too, so we hoped it would be a lucky omen. “I dropped Lee off at his peg and the section steward, who lives on the canal’s banks, was there. He told us it was his favourite peg and that he catches lots of big roach on hemp and tares. We didn’t have any tares, but I gave Lee some hemp.
“Fishing for gudgeon seemed pointless, so he put two caster lines in across and fed hemp down the middle in the deep water in case the fish turned up there. After a couple of hours he’d got 6lb of roach to 10oz.
“The peg then slowed, but because the roach on caster averaged 4oz apiece, it was worth waiting for a bite. The scalesman thought Lee would do well in the section with his weight, but we were both surprised that it got him third out of the 70 pegs!
“I was told I was on an area with boats on the far bank, but when I got to peg 10, there wasn’t one. I was in a gap, but that turned out to be handy. Before the start a barge came along, selling coal to the people who lived on the boats. It churned most people’s swims up, but he sailed on straight past me.
“Plumbing up, it was very shallow right across and, with gudgeon in mind, I put a line in at 3m and a second at 8m, plus two caster lines across. Feeding a little bit of groundbait and soil at 3m I caught a few little gudgeon, but it didn’t last, and I went out to 8m.
“There were more gudgeon there plus the odd roach and at one point I came 6ins off bottom and caught a few better-quality fish. However, sticklebacks were a problem as you’d miss 10 bites in a row and then hit one, only for it to be a tiny, tiny fish!
“Everyone thought that around 4lb would be a good score in A section so my 1-610 was about 3-8-o in old money, and roughly where I wanted to be.
“Once second place was announced with 141 points, we had a little hug as we’d won it! Remarkable, really, as there aren’t any canals where I live in Dorset.”