The ATr report:
The Angling Trust Schools’ National Championship was fished at Daiwa Hallcroft Fishery, Retford in very difficult conditions with temperatures reaching 31 degrees, so sun hats, sun cream and lots of drinks were order of the day for all of the youngsters taking part.
Despite the tough conditions the fishery provided some excellent sport for the 100 anglers, with some big carp included in the catches.
Moat Pool, Bridge Pool, Croft Pool and the Canal held the five sections used for the match and on each pool lots of big carp could be seen cruising on the surface and for lots of competitors fishing shallow was the key to success. Luncheon meat, and pellets were the most successful baits fished either on long pole or waggler. However, quite a lot of bream also fed for those anglers who chose to fish at depth.
The Individual winner was Rory Smith fishing for Serlby Park Academy School on peg D10 on Bridge Outer who caught 11 good carp for a weight of 28.650kg using a pellet waggler. This was an excellent performance that more than matched the results of open matches fished on this venue in recent weeks.
In second place was Macauley Duke of Outwood Academy Valley on Canal peg C19 with a weight of 25.350kg. Macauley fished shallow across to the far bank with pellets on the hook and his catch consisted mainly of F1 carp plus a few skimmer bream. This was the peg that produced the winner of last year’s match and again demonstrated a high level of skill to master difficult conditions.
Third place went to Jeseph Lucas from Carlton Community College on Moat Outer peg A8 with 20.700kg. Jeseph caught seven good carp and three bream loose feeding pellet and fishing banded pellet on a straight lead.
Top girl angler with the highest weight winning the Geoff Woodcock Memorial Trophy went to Courtney Hyde fishing peg C8 with a weight of 9.600kg. Courtney also won this trophy when it was first introduced two years ago.
Team places were very closely contested with Carlton Community College winning with 81 points. Minsthorpe Community College Team 2 came in runner up position with 75 points and in third place was Minsthorpe Community College Team 3 with 73 points.
Section winners on the day were:
Jeseph Lucas (Carlton Community College) peg A8 – 20.700kg
Jamie Cartwright (Elizabeth Academy Retford Blue) peg B6 – 7.400kg
Macauley Duke (Outwood Academy Valley) peg C19 – 25.350kg
Rory Smith (Serlby Park Academy) peg D10 – 28.650kg
Daniel Flavell (Minsthorpe Community College 2) E17 – 15.100kg
