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AGREAT final day performance saw Sensas-backed Julian Kendrick win this year’s Guinness Feederfest event on Inniscarra Reservoir in Ireland.
The County Offaly man went from fifth to first, thanks to a 14-130 Friday haul, to pocket the big €5,000 prize plus the custom-made feeder trophy hallmarked in Cork silver.
Drawing the Graveyard section, which proved to be far from frightening on the last day of action, Julian knocked out 154 fish on groundait feeder and single red maggot to take roach and three big perch. That saw him end the five days of action on the Cork venue with a combined 50-830, just over 2kg clear of England Feeder man Dean Barlow. Irish Feeder international and this year’s World Pairs champion Michael Buchwalder took third.
Sponsorship from Guinness contributed to a massive prize fund of more than €21,000 along with €5,000 of tackle from Sensas Ireland. The competition drew 94 anglers from across Europe including inaugural champion Steve Ringer who finished sixth overall.
Day one gave Julian, originally from Leicestershire but who moved to Ireland almost a decade ago, a good start with 8-060 from peg E89 before he clicked into top gear with a big 15-440 from end peg A1. That earned him second place overall on the day.
Wednesday was a tough one with 3-700 from peg B36 before Thursday produced an improvement, with 9-320 from peg C48. Julian needed a big day on Friday, though, and he got it to catapult himself into top spot.
“I’ve been fishing Inniscarra a lot in recent years, putting in the practice, and was fortunate enough to fish alongside Steve and Phil Ringer in 2016 when I learned a lot from them,” Julian said. “After finishing ninth in last year’s event, my aim was to improve on that so to win Feederfest is brilliant!
“Roach were the target so I fished single maggot on quite a big hook, a size 10 with an 0.18mm hooklink and braid. An open-end feeder held chopped worm and caster, which seemed important to catch the better fish on each day.”
Result: 1 J Kendrick, Sensas Ireland, 50-830; 2 D Barlow, Drennan, 48-600; 3 M Buchwalder, Preston Innovations, 48-580; 4 J Fletcher, Bury, 45-100; 5 R Wootton, Dynamite Baits, 44-500; 6 S Ringer, Daiwa/Guru, 43-920.