3 Counties quartet net Shackerstone AC title
SUNDAY saw the Shackerstone AC stage their Annual Teams of 4 contest, this year attended by a dozen teams and dedicated to the memory of Robin Banton a most respected and formidable canal angler and before the draw everyone observed a minutes silence to reflect the passing of Robin as well as the sister of the Landlord of the Rising Sun who sadly passed away recently.
The four sections for this year’s event on the Ashby canal were A section - Hags Lane, B section - Jockey to Poplars, C section - Poplars and D section - the Monthills where 1 point for a win going down to 12 was the order of the day and the team with the least points being declared winner and hopefully the overcast and breezy conditions would assist.
The first placed individual angler was Matt Hodgetts (Attleboro Bakers 4) on peg C9 who fed bread and fished punch and maggot on the hook towards the far ledge and was rewarded with a super net of skimmers plus one good bream, backed up with roach and rudd to end with 6lbs 3ozs and 1 point. Second place went to Dave Gill (3 Counties) on peg D12 who also fed and fished bread both under his feet and across to the far side. His reward was also a nice net of bream to 2.5lbs, plus smaller ones to end just short of the winner with 6lbs 1oz and also1point.
Third place was taken by Sam Bickley (Browning) on peg D1 who fed crumb to the far shelf and fished maggot & pinkie. His reward was again a nice net of skimmers caught on and off to end with 5.5lbs and 2 points.
The section winners were A - Ken Thorpe (4 Counties) on A2 with 4lbs 4ozs of bream and skimmers taken on maggot, B - Martin Lane (Team Reaney) on B12 with 5lbs 3.5ozs of skimmers taken on maggot, C - Hodgetts and D Gill.
The winning team by some margin with just 9 points was 3 Counties - A section Baz Allsopp A8 1lb 9ozs & 4 points, B section Steve McCormack B7 3lbs 2 points, C section John Johnson C12 2 points and D section Gill.
Second & third teams though were only separated by 1 point such was the small margin, however Shackerstone A secured second place with 17 points - A section Doug Dimbleby A6 1lb 4ozs 5 points, B section Phil Hicks B11 2lbs 5.5ozs 5 points, C section Andy Morton C7 2lbs 1oz 4 points and D section John gamble D11 2lbs 5ozs and 3 points. Third placed team with 18 points went to Attleboro Bakers 4 - A section Kev Cooper A3 with 2lb 1oz 2 points, B section Phil Baker B3 5ozs 11 points, C section Hodgetts and D section Keith Brown D6 with 2lbs & 4 points.
Saturday saw Measham AC stage their Annual Members Merit Cup fished on the Ashtree length of the Ashby canal at Snarestone where competitors had to put up with wet and windy conditions but for some the fish did feed.
The winner on peg 31 was Hubert Noar who fed heavily with chop and fished worm and maggot over to the far ledge. His reward was a lovely net of decent sized skimmers caught on and off to end with 4lbs 10ozs.
Second placed went to Phil Hicks on peg 25 who fed and fished bread to the far shelf. He managed to catch on and off some nice roach and rudd, plus a few small skimmers to end with 3olbs 9ozs. Third place went to Rob Bream on peg 23 who fed bread and fished punch and maggot to the far shelf and managed small skimmers, roach and rudd to end with 1lb 10ozs.
Sunday will see Shackerstone AC stage an Open match, draw 7.45am at the Rising Sun.