Reasonable weather greeted the competitors for the seventh Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier of 2013, held at Maver Larford Lakes, near Stourbridge.
All three of the lakes were in use for the qualifier: Specimen, Match and Arena, but the fishery staff could not predict where the winner was likely to come from. Many of the competitors fancied Specimen Lake due to the high numbers of large carp present and if they decided to have a go then a big weight was on the cards. Unfortunately for the anglers pegged on Specimen the big carp had other ideas and never fed in numbers and the winning weight came instead from the Match Lake.
Drawn on Match Lake end peg 43 Gary Hick from Oswestry ran out the eventual winner, netting carp to 8lb. Gary fished meat down the edge for most of the match but also picked up the odd fish at 9 metres for a total weight of 136lb 3oz.
In second place with 133lb 4oz, drawn on Match Lake peg 37, was Jamie Hughes from Wirral. Fishing pellet shallow and groundbait and maggots down the edge Jamie caught a mixed bag of carp to 10lb and F1s.
Third place, again from Match Lake, was Leeds-based Lee Kerry. Drawn on peg 27 he alternated method feeder to the island and pole at 11 metres to weigh in 120lb 13oz made up of carp to 10lb. In fourth place from the fancied Specimen Lake was James Hawkins from Derby who drew peg 2 and finished the match with 101lb of carp to a top weight of 19lb 9oz.
