It wasn’t until after the second hour of the match that it became clear that Samantha Perkins, fishing for Starlets AS was favourite to be this year’s Angling Trust Ladies Individual National Champion at the Maver Larford Lakes complex.
Drawn on Peg 63 on the Chalet Bank with the wind almost straight at her, Samantha decided that she would feed a pellet waggler line as far out as the wind would comfortably allow . She loose fed pellets consistently 30 yards out and kept the feed going in on this line for most of the match. Should the waggler method dry up, she planned to use a straight lead, dropped onto the same line whilst still loose feeding pellets to try and draw the fish up in the water again.
Alternating these two methods for most of the match, she finished with a total weight of 38Kgs 260grms made up of mostly carp to 7 Kgs to deservedly receive the gold medal. A further bonus on top of the Individual Title for Samantha was that Phil Briscoe, Managing Director of Maver (U.K), had said to her before the start of the match, that if she won the National Championship he would give her an individual sponsorship deal.
In second place drawn on Peg 26 on the Burr bank, was Julie Abbott, also fishing for Starlets A. S. Julie opted to fish the method feeder for most of the match, finishing with carp and skimmers for a total weight of 30Kgs 40grms. Third place went to Samantha Sim fishing for Sonubait Passies Pond, with a weight of 21Kgs 840grms, drawn on Peg 66, with Wendy Locker fishing for Warrington Anglers Association Gold in fourth place with a weight of 20Kgs 260grms.
The top eight ladies will once again be invited to fish the Ladies event at the Fish ‘O’ Mania final.
The Specimen Lake at the prolific Maver Larford Lakes complex was chosen as the venue for this year’s Ladies National Individual and Team Championship. 61 competitors took part and caught a wide range of fish including carp, skimmers, bream, tench, roach and perch.
The weather conditions weren’t perfect, with a slightly chilly and gusting north easterly wind blowing, which meant that those that drew on the Chalet bank would have the wind almost in their faces and those on the Burr bank would have it off their backs.
The match started very slowly with very few fish being caught in the first hour and this set the tone for the remainder of the match and also meant that it was wide open as to who would win.
On the team front, with 10 teams entered, the winners were Starlets A. S, Samantha Perkins (38Kgs 260grms), Julie Abbott (30Kgs 40grms), Helen Dagnall (3Kgs 140grms), and Claire Dagnall (7kgs 660grms), giving them a total weight of 79Kgs 100grms. Doncaster and District A. A. put in a huge effort to take second place with a team comprising, Linda Bell (6Kgs 860grms), Ann Yates (15Kgs 640grms), Emma Pickering (17Kgs 520grms) and Sandra Scotthorne (10Kgs 800grms) and a total weight of 50Kgs 820grms. In third place was Warrington AA Gold, Wendy Locker, Linda Cooke, Rosemarie Balcomb and Pat Geary with 48k 420grms.
