Source: Angling Trust
42 teams (420 competitors) fished the River Trent on various sections of the river from the non-tidal section downstream of Nottingham to the tidal section upstream of Torksey in the 2014 Division 1 National Team Championship.
Weather conditions were far from ideal, with bright sunshine and blustery winds generally blowing downstream with the current. Recent rain had put a tinge of colour in the water but on the tidal stretches the river ran out from the top of the tide soon after the start whistle.
In a dramatic race for the team title, Barnsley and District just pipped Shakespeare Superteam by a single point with 336 points. Daiwa Dorking were third with 316 points, and Kamasan Starlets in fourth with 276 points. Barnsley also finished with the top weight aggregate of 52.31kg.
Winning Team Captain Glenn Lawrence was ecstatic that his team had made a return to the top spot after a disappointing result last year. After exhaustive practice, the team realised that the large numbers of small fish currently showing in the Trent swung tactics towards the float – waggler, stick, bolo or pole as the peg demanded, with the feeder only used where absolutely necessary.
These tactics worked a dream with consistent scores throughout most sections and even the tough draws returned valuable points.
Runners-up, Shakespeare Superteam, fished a dual attack on float and feeder and confessed to ‘being gutted’ not to have repeated their winning form of last year, but took heart that they had lost by the narrowest of margins.
The individual winner was Phil Wintle of Maver Milton Keynes AA, who took 18 kilos from peg 33 at Besthorpe on the tidal. Phil started on the groundbait feeder with maggot and worm on the hook and had two decent bream in the first half hour to settle the nerves. He persevered with this approach, catching fish at intervals to finish with nine bream to 6lb, a couple of smaller skimmers and odd roach, losing just one bream. Phil was delighted to win a national again, having won the 1988 Division 3 National Championship.
Runner-up Andy Anderson (Clay Lane Tubertini) also fished groundbait feeder at peg 18 at East Bridgford, netting decent skimmers, a chub and some small fish to weigh 15.840 kilos. Andy was delighted with his result, but was still left rueing over what might have been after losing several fish in his snaggy peg.
Third place was taken by Ian Paulley (Preston Innovations Thatchers) with 15.130 kilos of mainly skimmers on groundbait feeder from peg 39 at Holme Marsh. He started with worm, but switched to caster later to keep the bites coming.
Given the conditions, the match was a great success with the competitors averaging over 3kg a man and, for what is believed to be the first time ever, no dry nets were recorded.
Next year’s Division 1 National Championship will be held on the Gloucester Canal on Saturday 08 August.
