Ten (10) anglers attended round six of this year's winter league series with a couple of anglers unable to attend due to other commitments. It was all to play for heading into the final round of this year's event with the leagues top two anglers drawing right alongside each other for a final showdown with nothing between them before the all in.
Conditions on the day were relatively mild for the time of year, but with the wind chill from a brisk NE wind, temperatures felt a lot cooler depending on where anglers were placed. It was anybody's guess as to what pegs might produce the weights before the match got underway with the water being extremely clear and temperatures well into single figures meaning there would be little to no chance of anglers catching down their edges.
That said, the difficult conditions made for a very fair final round with little to no perceived advantage gained by anyone regardless of what pegs came out the bag.
WOODSIDE POOL
Confirming a relatively comfortable victory on Woodside pool was Dave Bowyer from peg 9 (permanent peg 13). Dave started his match fishing a maggot feeder to find a handful of carp before switching to his 'edge' line approximately one metre from the bank to find some big fish into double figures. Dave ended the day with 49-12-00 and a valuable single point.
Finishing in second place on Woodside pool was Jeff Rush from peg 7 (permanent peg 18). Opting to fish maggot on the long pole at 13m, Jeff enjoyed some quality silverfish sport as well as a handful of decent carp to end the match with 32-08-00 and a much needed two points.
Leading the charge on the top two on the day, with both Dave and Jeff leaving the rest of the field well behind, was Jason Bird from peg 12 (permanent peg 3). Like most of the remainder of the field, it was a bit of a struggle for Jason who opted to fish maggot, but presented his hookbait short over groundbait to find roach, perch and a few carp. At the end of the five hours, Jason offered 16-07-00 to the scales for three points.
ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
D. Bowyer | 13 | 49-12-00 | Maggot feeder & Maggot in the margins | 1 |
J. Rush | 7 | 32-08-00 | Long pole & maggot | 2 |
J. Bird | 12 | 16-07-00 | Short pole & maggot | 3 |
ISLAND POOL
Winner on the day was Ben Hughes, who drew peg 4 (permanent peg 11) on the far bank close to the point of the island. Ben started his match fishing single maggot feeding maggot over the top at six metres to find a few roach and hybrids before snaring a couple of carp. After an hour, the bites had all but dried up on his short line, so Ben switched to bomb and maggot over to the island but, after a fruitless hour, returned to his pole line but followed the fish out to nine metres where he found a few more good size fish, again on single maggot, to weigh in 29-10-00.
Second place on the day was taken by league leader, Dan Bache. Dan drew peg 6 (permanent peg 15) between the two islands and got off to a great start slipping the net under half a dozen or more 'stockies' early on putting himself well out in front. However, after the first hour, the fish backed right off leaving Dan struggling for bites for the remainder of the match with just a few silvers and a few odd carp in the four hours that followed. Dan had done enough early enough though, confirming second place with 27-01-00 to add two points to his total.
Third on Island pool was Josh Sutterby from peg 1 (permanent peg 2). Josh started his match fishing maggot short and was straight out the traps catching roach in numbers before the carp briefly showed up. Josh then went long offering maggot over groundbait to find more silverfish and a few more carp before having a look long down his edge produced the same. Alternating between his three lines for most of the match, as well as a brief spell on the feeder to the island, Josh confirmed a hard earned 17-06-00 and three points.
ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
B. Hughes | 4 | 29-10-00 | Long / short pole & maggot | 1 |
D. Bache | 6 | 27-01-00 | Long pole & maggot over pellet | 2 |
J. Sutterby | 1 | 17-06-00 | Long / short pole & maggot, Maggot in the margins & Feeder | 3 |
OVERALL LEAGUE STANDINGS (AFTER RD6)
POSITION | ANGLER | POINTS | DROPPER | TOTAL | WEIGHT |
1st | Dan Bache | 10 | 2 | 8 | 377-05-00 |
2nd | Josh Gaunt | 12 | 4 | 8 | 260-08-00 |
3rd | Dave Bowyer | 13 | 3 | 10 | 389-05-00 |
4th | Josh Sutterby | 16 | 4 | 12 | 213-12-00 |
5th | Dan Hart | 20 | 5 | 15 | 262-15-00 |
6th | Ben Hughes | 21 | 6 | 15 | 177-15-00 |
7th | Jeff Rush | 22 | 6 | 16 | 255-08-00 |
8th | Ken Hayes | 21 | 5 | 16 | 155-12-00 |
9th | Jason Bird | 22 | 5 | 17 | 210-15-00 |
10th | John Latham | 30 | 7 | 23 | 82-01-00 |
11th | Nigel Hart | 33 | 6 | 27 | 104-02-00 |
12th | Allan Cox | 35 | 7 | 28 | 55-06-00 |
13th | Peter Taylor | 39 | 7 | 32 | 25-15-00 |
At the end of six rounds, local man Dan Bache (pictured centre) was crowned the 2024 Winter League Champion.
Heading into the final round both Dan and Josh Gaunt (pictured left of centre) were tied on eight (8) points each with Dan having the advantage thanks to a superior cumulative weight. Josh needed to beat Dan on the final round, but unfortunately recorded his worse result in the league to date finishing in fourth place from neighbouring peg 5 (permanent peg 14). This saw Josh finish two (2) points behind Dan on the day but, with the allowed dropper, the two of them remained tied. A countback on weight confirmed victory for Dan however with a massive near 120lb weight differential.
Dave Bowyer (pictured right of centre) finished in third place overall with a final ten (10) points following his lake win on Woodside on the final round and his allowed dropper from round three. Besides the top two anglers, Dave recorded the most consistent results over the six round series and recorded the highest cumulative weight of the thirteen competing anglers with a weight of 389-05-00.
Josh Sutterby's third place finish on Island pool saw him finish with twelve (12) points after his allowed dropper from round five. Josh (pictured left), who had climbed the table steadily since his disappointing opening round, was making a real charge for a top three finish, but unfortunately for Josh, those above him in the league going into the final round all returned useful scores.
Confirming the last of the top five payout was Dan Hart (pictured right). Dan's winter league series was a bit of a mixed bag with a few bad draws coupled with a bit of bad luck here and there saw him finish with fifteen (15) points after his allowed dropper from round four. Despite his indifferent form, Dan still managed to record the third largest cumulative weight over the series overall behind Dave Bowyer and Dan Bache offering a total 262-15-00 to the scales.
Finishing just outside of the overall top five payout, and topping the mid table battle, was Ben Hughes. Ben recorded his best result in the league to date when it mattered to finish level with Dan on fifteen (15) points after his allowed dropper from round two. However, Ben fell back into sixth place on account of an inferior cumulative weight of 177-15-00.
Jason Bird and Ken Hayes both lost a little ground after the final round with the pair scoring three (3) and five (5) points respectively. Jason fell two places from seventh to ninth despite finishing in third place on Woodside pool on the final round with Ken also slipping two places from sixth to eighth after a tough final round saw him collect five (5) points.
Little changed at the other end of the table with Nigel Hart managing to pull further ahead of both Allan Cox and John Latham.
Well done again to Dan Bache on securing the overall win and to the remainder of the framers.
A special thanks goes to Dan Hart for his help on the board every round and to John Latham for his help on the board also. A thank you also goes to stand-in attendances from Lawrence Connolly and Lee McKnight.
Dates for the 2025 event have already been posted here
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