Source: Angling Trust
Just a week before the Angling Trust Division One National Championship on the Trent and Mersey Canal takes place, the Individual National Championship took place on the same venue, and it produced the biggest turn out for many years.
The field of 170 included many anglers who took the opportunity to have a final practice session leading up to the Division One National and indeed a large number of anglers with no specific interest in next week’s big event.
The match length stretched from Branston down to Stretton, effectively covering what will be Sections G to K for the Division One National.
The fishing was quite hard in places, but everyone caught with most anglers choosing to weigh in. The lowest weight required to win a ten peg section was 830g and, with just one other exception, weights in excess of 1kg were needed to win all sections with the top ten anglers all comfortably exceeding 2kg.
The 2013 Angling Trust Individual Champion was Chorley, Lancs angler, Marc Ellement who drew peg 161 upstream of Shobnal and caught three good chub along with roach and perch to weigh in 5kg 500g.
Runner up, taking the silver medal, was Jason Cunningham from Cannock fishing peg 55 near Dallow. Jason recorded 4kg 970g of mixed small fish with the odd better skimmer. Third spot went to Barry Thomas at peg 159 who weighed in 3kg 220g
