The weather forecast for the fourth Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier at Woodlands View Fishery, Droitwich had been grim at best; the only consolation being that it was pretty accurate for once. Heavy rain greeted the 130 competitors at the draw, changing to tropical conditions around the middle of the match, with some hail and strong winds thrown in for good measure.
Despite all this the ever reliable Woodlands View still provided some excellent weights and a close finish with several anglers all in with a chance going into the final hour. The top five anglers all recorded over 80lb and the lowest weight to take a ten peg section was 36lb.
Winner was 28-year-old Jamie Hughes (Maver and Bag em Baits) who put 118lb 1oz on the scales from peg 5 on Barley Pool. Wirral-based Jamie fished pellet feeder all day with meat on the hook to take an all carp catch with fish to 8lb.
Jamie said:
“I kept it very simple during the match and fished one pellet feeder rod to the far bank as conditions were terrible and very windy. This was my first qualifier this year and with three more to go I am made up to get through to the final for what will be my second time.”
Runner up from peg 4 on Arles was Jon Arthur with 101lb 15oz, the bulk of his fish taken shallow on the long pole with a few better fish to 10lb in the afternoon on the short pole. Steve Rothery almost made the long journey from West Yorkshire worthwhile to record 90lb 5oz for third place from Arles peg 8; Steve caught some 20 assorted fish on the waggler topping these up with fish on the pellet feeder, and later, on the short pole with his best fish 6lb. In fourth position was Craig O’Brien who caught 86lb 5oz on the feeder from Barley peg 15.
The fifth Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier heads to Lakeview Fishery at Holwell, Leicestershire tomorrow (28 April).
