Three cold nights prior to the event and a bitterly cold north easterly wind on the day did not deter the 35 anglers who had qualified for the final of the Canal and River Trust (Formerly British Waterways) Stillwater Championships at Earlswood’s Engine Lake.
A big winning weight was not anticipated, with most pundits predicting just eight to ten fish would be needed to win and it really was a struggle as the fish did not respond.
Eventual winner, Earlswood regular Carl Barnfield, was drawn on peg 60 on the end of one of the floating islands and, having caught one fish in the first hour, then sat biteless for the next hour and a half until he had his second. Fishing the method feeder and punched bread tight to the side of the island he continued to persevere and during the final two hours of the match sport picked up and he added a further ten carp, the largest 15lb, and one skimmer bream to run out a comfortable winner with 50.320kg to collect the winner’s cheque for £2,169.
Runner up, and pegged next to the winner, was another Earlswood regular, Chris Hill. Chris had three fish in the first 90 minutes and then also remained biteless for the following hour before he too started to catch again late on. Fishing the method feeder at distance into open water he netted a further five carp and four skimmers to finish with a weight of 38.620kg to collect a cheque for £1,301.
In third place was James Hipkiss on peg 78, who had to wait a couple of hours for his first fish on the method feeder. He then switched to the pellet waggler to take five other fish to finish with a weight of 31.480kg and a reward in the shape of a cheque for £867.
