Few can match Gronow in the vets contest at Cefn Mably

THE Wednesday match for the over50s at Cefn Mably Lakes ended in another win for head of the Cwmbran match-fishing family Bill Gronow who caught 146lb of carp on legered pellets to comfortably beat Newport’s Phil Rawlings in second place.

He put 86lb on the scales, but 51lb 4oz of that was roach and bream so he set up a new record for winning the silver fish pool. Feeder fishing specialist John Mack was third with 80lb 12oz.

It was another familiar name taking first place in the other regular Wednesday fixture at Redhill Fishery. Pontllanfraith tackle shop owner Howard Green drew peg 18 on Sophie’s Pond and used paste and pellet baits to net 166lb 14oz of carp.

John Hannam and Brian King claimed the next two places for Ebbw Vale with 150lb 2oz and 130lb 2oz.

Green was also in unbeatable Sunday form when Cefn Fforest AC members travelled to Somerset’s Viaduct Fishery. He won the day with a catch of carp that added up to 151lb 13oz and included the day’s biggest that turned the scales to 18.25lb.

Trethomas member Rob Wiltshire was second with 118lb 14oz and Ian Exall, from Blackwood, third with 104lb 2oz.

Match organiser Norman Sterry did best in the Thursday fixture at Mathern Mill when his long pole and pellet bait approach brought him 125 lb of carp to double figures and he was followed by Cardiff angler Steve Shaw with 116lb and Tim Davies with 80lb 3oz.

Newport AA secretary Martyn Truman kept up his winning run when he took part in the Spencer Works AC match on Sophie’s Pond at Redhill. On a day when seven members caught more than 100lb of fish he used paste as bait to net 167lb of carp.

Ashley Gleaves was runner-up with 140lb and Mark Guerra third with 128lb.

The next day Rhymney AS had a match on Sophie’s and the carp were still in feeding mood.

Fochriw butcher Andrew Jones used pole-tackle and paste as bait to win with 136lb 15oz and was followed by David Jones with 118lb 5oz and fellow Rhymney based member Lloyd Davies in third place with 87lb 7oz.

Anglers from Merthyr did well in the White Springs Open on the New Canal.

Paddy Payne was the winner with 108lb 1oz of carp and Brian Prothero third with 83lb 15oz. while Jim Hart, from Neath, got between them with 96lb 9oz.

The Match Lake at White Springs was where Cwmcelyn AC held the club match and it suited Dai Mann, from Blaina, who topped the catches with 49lb 15oz of bream and carp. Ebbw Vale member Brian King finished second with 35lb 12oz and then it was back to Blaina and Adrian Mann third with 33lb 15oz.

Dace made the weights in the Cardiff Nomads match on the River Taff at Blackweir and 12lb 8oz of them caught on waggler and maggots was good enough to give first prize to Canton member Richard Candy.

Second with 6lb 4oz was Clive Branson and third with 5lb 10oz was Mike Martin Davies.

Iffers AC held the club match on the River Severn, near Tewkesbury, and found the fishing difficult.

Steve Durrant found some bream to easily outclass the field with a 19lb 4oz total, while second-placed Bob Williams caught 5lb 4oz of small fish and 3lb 8oz was all Steve Thomas needed for third place.

Sirhowy AS had a busy weekend that started in Herefordshire with a match on Pixley Pool that gave Sean McCarthy, from Tredegar, a win with 63lb 7oz of carp caught using a waggler float with pellets as bait.

Another of the town’s anglers Andrew Mumford was runner-up with 55lb 15oz and then came Alan Davies, from Trealaw, with 50lb 10oz.

The next day, the Sirhowy lads were at Penny’s Pond at Redhill Fishery and the best man here was Luke Sorokin, who drew the golden peg and added that bonus payout to the first prize money when he had 202lb 6oz of carp to put on the scales.

Tredegar angler Joel Worgan weighed in 163lb 12oz for second place, while third prize went to Trethomas after Sean Wilson’s catch came in at 153lb.

The next in the series of Newport Open matches is on Sunday at School Pool where the draw is at 8.30am and fishing from 10am to 3pm.

Kyle Charlston, from Dowlais, is a member of Rhymney AS and enjoyed a good day’s fishing on the club’s Butetown Pond.

Using boilies as bait he caught carp weighing 11lb, 17lb and 18.5lb; but the star catch was a specimen 2.5lb roach that also had a taste for a carp size boilie.