Weighty problem fails to stop Giles winning qualifier

COMMERCIAL fishery match rules can be complicated and one that causes most problems concerns keepnets.

Carp must be kept in their own nets with no other species and there are limits on the maximum weight of fish allowed in each net.

Anyone exceeding the limit in a net is penalised; but it is easy to do when fish are being caught quickly so anglers now use half-a-dozen keepnets to try to overcome the problem of judging what weight of fish has been caught.

But even all those nets and a lot of commercial fishery experience couldn’t save three times Welsh National Champion Bob Giles, from Blackwood, falling foul of the rules when he took part in the Fish O’Mania qualifying match at Somerset’s Viaduct Fishery.

Bob’s total catch was a clear winning 269lb 7oz; but one keepnet had 7lb too much, which was deducted from his weight, while a second net with 89lb was disallowed completely.

That brought his match weight down to 178lb 13oz; but it was still 1lb 2oz better than the next catch and gave the 50-year-old carpenter an entry to the Fish O’Mania final in July where there is a £50,000 prize for the winner.

Cardiff angler James Smithson scored his first win in the Wednesday matches for the over-50s at Cefn Mably Lakes when he pole fished his way to a 78lb net of carp from the Match Lake.

Another city angler Robert Michael was runner up with 58lb 8oz while just eight ounces behind him was Bill Gronow from Cwmbran.

Dennis O’Leary, from Ebbw Vale, has been regularly collecting the pool money for the heaviest catch excluding carp and this week he did it with an impressive 37lb of roach and bream.

Local knowledge paid off for Mikey Williams as he won the Sirhowy AS match at White Springs.

His 98lb net of carp came to pellet baits pole fished at peg 19 on the Match Lake and beat Blackwood member Ian Exall with 96lb 11oz and Phil Weaver, from Newport, with 82lb 15oz.

The entry for the Wednesday open match at Redhill Fishery again filled two lakes but they were all well beaten by top carp catcher Howard Green, from Pontllanfraith, who made the most of fancied peg 19 on Sophie’s Pond by catching 203lb of carp on pole tackle with paste as bait.

All the top catches came from Sophie’s and on peg 16 Howard Stocker, from Oakdale, caught 131lb 14oz of carp for second place while on peg 9 Trealaw angler Alan Davies finished third with 108lb 13oz.

Molly’s and Sophie’s ponds were used for Sunday’s Cefn Fforest AC match and again all the top weights came from Sophie’s.

Adam Jones, from Cefn Hengoed, won from peg 5 with 145lb 6oz of carp on pole and pellets and after that it was James Allen with 140lb 2oz and Gafyn Jones with 99lb.

Casters were what the fish wanted when Spencer Works AC fished on Penny’s Pond at Redhill Fishery.

Phil Weaver, from Newport, pole fished them close in over steady loose feed and caught carp, bream and roach to take the day’s top weight of 65lb while Rob Dyer used the same approach to finish second with 47lb.

Dave Pike, from Cardiff, baited with luncheon meat and netted 85lb of carp to take first prize in the Glamorgan AC match on the Match Lake at Cefn Mably.

Steve Deacon’s 63lb was second best and third place went to John Calli, manager of the fishery’s tackle shop, with 62lb.

Mark Wellington found the carp when Iffers AC headed for Trellech and a match at Grange Springs and won easily with 84lb 6oz.

The nearest challengers were Keith Hull and Andy Reed who both weighed in 33lb 8oz.