After another deluge of rain the River Nene had risen again by 3 feet forcing this match to be held on the club’s Fish Refuge at Stibbington. Fourteen anglers were greeted with a frosty start but with the promise of clear blue skies and light wind conditions. A meetup at the infamous Stibby Diner saw our paths cross with some lads from “up north” heading to practise for the Winter League Final.
Today anglers would be competing in the third round of the Deeping Individual League Series. A points based competition spread over five rounds. Plus they also would be competing in the second and final round of the Dawkins River Cup, fished over two rounds for best overall weight. This is the club’s newest trophy in honour of the late Dave Dawkins, a club bailiff for many years around the Crowland area.
Alan Thomas started the match with a 5lb 5oz lead over the next competing angler in the Dawkins River Cup. A promising draw on one of the favoured pegs boosted his confidence further.
Guest angler Stuart Redman produced an excellent catch of 5lbs 7oz of Bleak from Peg number 3. Rotating his whip lines from 2.5 to 4m. Stuart fished orange fluro dyed pinkies into sloppy ground bait for 267 fish.
Alan Thomas finished in first place for the match with 2lb 15oz of Roach and Bleak from peg number 2. Alan fished over at 11m on the pole with pinkie and ground bait. The win secured Alan 10 points in the Deeping Individual League as well as a first place in the Dawkins River Cup.
Second on the day was Steve Borrett with 2lbs from Peg 10. Steve fished a 3m and 4m whip with pinkie over ground bait using a size 22 hook catching Bleak.
Third place went to David Pike in the favourite peg number 1. David fished the long pole at 13m using maggot and caught mainly Roach.
Section Wins for Jason Chatham and Mick Fowkes.
Full Result
Stuart Redman (Guest Angler) 5 lbs 7 oz – Peg # 3
1st Alan Thomas 2 lbs 15 oz – Peg # 2
2nd Steve Borrett 2 lbs 0 oz – Peg # 10
3rd David Pike 1 lbs 14 oz – Peg # 1
4th Jason Chatham 1 lbs 9 oz – Peg # 7
5th Alfie Kendall 1 lbs 3 oz – Peg # 5
6th Trevor Walker 0 lbs 14 oz – Peg # 12
7th Mick Fowkes 0 lbs 14 oz – Peg # 19
8th Derek Drover 0 lbs 11 oz – Peg # 16
9th Neil Halliwell 0 lbs 8 oz – Peg # 13
10th Paul Dotchin 0 lbs 6 oz – Peg # 18
11th Antony Johnson 0 lbs 4 oz – Peg # 23
12th Neil Speechley 0 lbs 2.5 oz – Peg # 9
13th Ian Benton DNW – Peg # 15
