Source: Angling Trust
This year’s Division One National Championship saw fifty six teams, comprising 560 anglers compete in a very close contest on the Trent and Mersey Canal between Rugeley and Burton.
It was a typical autumn day with sunshine and some showers however the temperature had dropped during the run up to the match and a cold start to the day resulted in the better fish not feeding well. This turned the contest into a battle for bites from the smaller fish such as roach, perch and ruffe.
Top team were Shakespeare Superteam with 442 points, a fantastic average of 44 points per angler. They fished to a very tight team plan that involved putting five or six balls of groundbait down the far shelf then fishing chopped worm down the near side for perch and ruffe while the groundbait settled.
When bites on the inside dried up they fished squatts over the groundbait hoping for small roach, perch and skimmers. Later they moved to the shallow line on the far side with chopped worm bait. They finished the match rotating these three lines to catch the extra few grams, which worked well on a hard fished water.
In second place were a team with a first class record on canals – Maver Image. Maver scored 429 points and again squatt and chopped worm tactics were the basis of their team plan. Third place went to Team Daiwa Dorking, always in contention for any national title, with their extremely talented team scoring 416 points.
Team Results
1) Shakespeare Superteam 442 points
2) Maver Image 429 points
3) Team Daiwa Dorking 416 points
The individual result was one of the closest in the contest’s history as just 10 grams separated the first three anglers, and it was these three anglers fishing to a strict team plan who were successful.
In first place was Simon Fields (Barnsley & District) on peg C56 with a weight of 4kg 10 g. Simon caught a mixture of small fish, mainly ruffe, perch and roach, fishing chopped worm close in and squatt over groundbait on the far line.
In second place on 4kg there was a tie between Matt Derry (Kamasan Starlets) on peg B13 and Jason Cunningham (Shakespeare Superteam) on peg C15. Both anglers used similar tactics to the winner but missed out on the title by just 10g.
Individual Results
1) Peg C56 Simon Fields Barnsley and District 4.010 kg
2) Peg B13 Matt Derry Kamasan Starlets 4.000kg
3) Peg C15 Jason Cunningham Shakespeare Superteam 4.000kg
Next year’s Angling Trust Division 1 National Championship will take place on the River Trent on Saturday 09 August.
