The weather frequently gets the blame when the fishing is not as expected but at Sheffield’s Aston Park Lakes dramatic changes over the days leading up to the Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier clearly had a massive impact on the result.
After a week of strong winds with plenty of rain the Friday evening before the match saw clear skies, sending the temperature plummeting to two degrees. Match day was then bright and sunny with very little wind and with the exception of Lanta none of the pools fished well. Worst affected were the two new pools: Butts and Bills. Both of these lakes only opened for fishing in March but the previous weekend weights in excess of 50lb had been needed to win club matches on them.
The top weight on the day, and the eleventh angler to qualify for the grand final, was Dale Shepherd (Hemsworth AC). Dale, fishing his first ever qualifier, caught shallow all day feeding four pints of casters on Split Pool peg 6 to take around 60lb of good ide and two carp to total 67lb. Runner up, with 62lb 12oz, was local rod Leon Hardwick. Leon, also fishing his first qualifier, drew peg 5 on the in-form Lanta Pool and fished chopped worm tight over to take a mixture of ide and carp to 5lb. Fish ‘O’ Mania regular Stephen Openshaw took third with 60lb 6oz of carp and ide from Lanta 19. He too fished tight across, but used pellet on the hook. In fourth spot was Keith Pentland from Darlington, also on Lanta, who netted 53lb 6oz from peg on pellet.
The next Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier is scheduled for Messingham Sands Fishery, North Lincolnshire on 29 May.
