This week long event was fished the week immediately after Easter on Barford Match, Colton, Railway and Willow Lakes. Anglers fished each venue over the four days.
The matches drew and fished as follows:
| Monday 12th April | All anglers draw at Barford Lakes at 9am | Fish 11.30am – 4.30pm |
| Tuesday 13th April | Draw at venue at 10.30am | Fish 11.30am – 4.30pm |
| Wednesday 14th April | No Matches | |
| Thursday 15th April | Draw at venue at 10.30am | Fish 11.30am – 4.30pm |
| Friday 16th April | Draw at venue at 10.30am | Fish 11.30am – 4.30pm |
There were up to 40 anglers fishing over two lakes on each day, and each lake was fished once as follows:
1st Day - Colton or Barford Match Lake
2nd Day - Willow or Railway Lake
3rd Day - Railway or Willow Lake
4th Day - Barford Match or Colton Lake
The winner was determined on section points and on weight in the case of a draw. Daily, each lake also had a payout to the top three anglers and 2 default sections. There was also an optional super pool of £5 on each day.
1st = £500 2nd = £300 3rd = £200
DAY ONE
The first day of the festival went extremely well. The weather was kind (apart from the showers just in time for the weigh in!).
Both our chosen lakes for the first day, Colton and the Match Lake at Barford fished well. There were 7 weights over 100lb at Colton and 4 over a ton on the Match Lake.
Most of the big weights at Colton came mid-water. Jim Barrowman (Woodbridge) fished a great match on peg 4 at Colton. Jim (above left) won the lake by feeding and fishing caster mid-water and had 20 fish with an hour to go. Next door on peg 2 Andy Purdy (Oddfellows AC) had 126-05 fishing maggot and feeding caster. Bob Gill (Angling Direct) started catching late on and had 8 fish in the last hour! He weighed in 132-06, picked up section money and gained 2 penalty points.
Glen Burden, pictured above middle, (Woodbridge) fished mid-water initially but fished down the edge in the last hour. He weighed 134-01 from peg 24 to win his section and place 2nd overall.
Alan Tuck, on the right, (Fox Match Triangle) on peg 40 weighed in 73-03 for 4th in section.
The in-form peg 26 gave Andy Baker (Oddfellows AC), pictured below left, 104-13 and 2 penalty points. Andy had 12 fish in the 1st hour on maggot, feeding caster but found things slowed up when the sun went in.
He was closely followed by Garry Charles on peg 22, who had 100-01 for 3 penalty points (and he told me he's more of a canal and river man-looks - like he's got the hang of carping too!).
You know on some days in seems like everything is going wrong... well today was Martin Hall's turn (Fox Match Triangle). Although he lost 3 fish on new line, swore a great deal and was slightly tense by the end of the match-he still managed to bag 108-03 of fish and get 4 penalty points and picked up some default section money. Didn't work out too bad in the end!
The Match Lake at Barford fished well too. Bob Bradford, above left, (Fox Match Triangle) fished well on peg 5, mid-water on punched luncheon meat, feeding pellet. He had 116-10 and looked as if he had won the match.
Unfortunately for him though Jimmy Randell shown above right, (Colmic/Whizzo) was quietly catching on peg 13, in the margins on corn. Although Bob had more fish, some of Jim's were right clonkers!! Unlucky Bob.
Andy Findlay (Preston Innovations), pictured below left, fished corner peg 30 and had 113-09 and came third overall.
Keith Pearson (Bentley Angling), pictured right caught 103-11 from peg 20, won some section/beer money and gained 2 penalty points.
So, day one was great start to our 4 day fishing festival.
DAY TWO
The 2nd day went very well. The weather was good again: mild and sunny at first, then dull and overcast brightening up towards the end. There wasn't much wind initially, although it did get up slightly in the middle of the match but calmed down again. These near perfect conditions made sure the lake records on Willow and Railway Lake were broken!
On Willow Lake the larger fish taken were from the bottom swims.
Top rod on the day was Nathan Watson (pictured below left). Nathan had corner peg 17 and fished mid-water for the first hour picking up 6 fish on luncheon meat/feeding pellet. When the bites dried up he fished the margin at 16 metres (just off the duck feeding floating platform) with corn, feeding a few pellets initially then loose fed sweetcorn. He had carp to 8lb and finished with 156-14.
2nd place went to Bob Gill (Angling Direct), above right, who fished mid-water with a variety of hook baits that included spud, luncheon meat, maggot & caster, loose feeding pellet and caster. Bob found the larger fish came on meat and spud worked well. The last 1½ hours was the best and he had larger fish to 8lb and had 133-03 from peg 13. Bob also came third at Colton yesterday with 132-06.
Third was Eric Burton (Leicester), pictured above and left. He fished mid-water on peg 21 and had a mixture of small and larger fish and finished on 104-12.
Next door on peg 23 was 17 yr old Tom Seaman (Barford Lakes/Daiwa/Angling Direct), pictured above right, who fished mid-water on caster and had all small carp for 96-05.
At the other end of the lake Glen Burden fished mid-water but had only the smaller fish to catch. He came third in the section with 90lb.
Kevin Nicholson, pictured above left, didn't have the best of starts when he realised at the draw that he'd forgotten his bait! After a frantic drive back that included being stuck in traffic due to a crash he arrived back at the lake 5 minutes before the all-in and still had to set up! He ended fishing a good match and came third in his section with 87-13. Kevin had a carp on his first put in and had fish steadily throughout the match fishing maggot 2-3' deep.
Railway Lake also fished well. The stock of carp, that go to 2lb, fed well. The previous lake record, held by Kevin Ford (aka Choppy) was 98lb, and this was beaten by three anglers!
Top angler on the day was Jimmy Randell (Colmic/Whizzo), pictured left, on end peg 39 with 118-08. Jim had 95 fish on luncheon meat on the bottom, feeding meat and pellet at 13 metres and had fish steady throughout the day. Jim also came 1st on the match Lake on day one with 119lb and leads overall at the half way stage.
Mick Bartrum (Daiwa/Angling Direct), pictured right, drew end peg 62 and started fishing on the bottom on luncheon meat, he had a few fish but then switched to fishing mid-water with spud and throughout the match he fed 1kg of pellet. Mick found the bites dried up when there was a ripple on the water when the wind picked up. As soon as it dropped he started catching again and had 25 fish in the last hour!
Camera shy, Jim Barrowman (Woodbridge) - (don't worry Jim we'll get you on day three!!) fished another excellent match (he came 1st at Colton yesterday with 170lb) and had 105-12 from peg 46 finishing 3rd on the lake. He was mid-water all day and fished spud, feeding pellet.
At the half way stage things are tight at the top and the action has been intense!!
DAY THREE
The wind today was a complete pain in the butt for most anglers! It was overcast and the sunny spells the weatherman promised us were nowhere to be seen!
On Willow Lake the majority of fish again seemed at the far end of the lake, but there wasn't the same quantities feeding compared to Tuesday.
All the top placed anglers drew very well. Jim Barrowman (pictured left) drew corner peg 17, which won the lake on Tuesday. He fished just off the floating platform and fished corn and worm whilst feeding corn, pellet and worm. Jim had fish to 4lb steady throughout the day and finished with 78lb, 2 penalty points and came 2nd on the lake.
Mick Bartrum (above middle), who was placed 9th overall, drew peg 11 and got off to a slow start but had 25 fish to 6lb for 84-03, 1 penalty point and won the lake overall. Mick fished mid-water on maggot and kept changing his depths from 18"-3'.
Neil Mckinnon (above right), came 3rd overall on peg 13 with 71-06 and gained 3 penalty points.
Andy Purdy (pictured below left) drew peg 15 and fished mid-water with luncheon meat feeding pellet and had fish to 5lb on and off throughout the day.
The top angler on the day though had to be Jim Randell (pictured above right), who at the end of day 2 was winning the festival. Jim drew peg 25 and had 3 fish mid-water with meat, feeding pellet and maggot but found the wind hindered his catch rate. He then switched to fishing the margin with corn feeding pellet and corn. Jim finished with 65-07 and won his section and gained 1 penalty point. He now has a terrific 3 points after the three days fishing!
On Railway Lake Nathan Watson had another good draw with end peg 39 and started fishing on the bottom but changed to fishing mid-water using spud and luncheon meat and feeding pellet. He weighed in 85-09 and came top in his section.
Second in that section was Andy Baker who fished next door on peg 40 and won section money and gained 2 penalty points
Tom Seaman drew peg 45 and fished mid-water with meat and feeding pellet. He had 78-03, he had fish on and off, he'd get 5-6 fish then nothing, then 5-6 more.
In Section B there was a fish for fish fight between Glen Burden (peg 62) and Andy Findlay (pictured right) on peg 60. Andy started mid-water but wasn't getting bites so switched to the margin. He fished corn and fed pellet and found his bigger fish. He then went out and fished mid-water with punched meat feeding pellet.
Glen (pictured below left) fished mid-water all day at 13 metres with varied depths between 18" and 2' on spud and meat feeding pellet. Again he found the fish were a bit on and off, but was catching throughout the day. Glen weighed in 93-04 and won the lake.
Shane Trower also had a good match on the not-that-favoured peg 56. He fished at 5 metres at the edge of the shelf with luncheon meat and corn whilst feeding pellet and corn. He was getting a bite a chuck but had too heavier elastic and bumped off 2 nice Bream. He'd fed a 13 metre and margin line but neither got a look in as he had carp, tench, skimmers and two nice bream throughout the match. He weighed in 82-05 and was third on the lake and gained 2 penalty point.
The final shot, above right, is of Eric Burton who had this lovely tench after being plagued by the weed!
FINAL DAY
We had a lovely end to our 1st fishing festival and the top three finishers overall were local anglers. The festival on a whole fished well and the friendly and helpful atmosphere was fantastic.
Colton Lake saw the leader, Jim Randell draw out of the fishing a little bit and he struggled to find enough fish to keep his lead. Jim managed to get 51-09 and gain 5 penalty points.
Top in that section was Keith Pearson (Bentley Angling), with 108-11 from peg 18. He had 4 fish down the edge on catmeat but lost 6. He then went out at 16/17 metres and fished caster and maggot mid-water. Keith fed caster and had 3 red maggot on the hook.
Kevin Ford, pictured left, fished caster and Maggot mid-water and had 86-11 from peg 16.
2nd in section was Neil McKinnon on peg 2 with 105-12 and third was Mick Bartrum with 90-04 from peg 12 who fished double caster feeding caster.
At the other end of the lake Lee Carver (pictured above) was on peg 26 fishing meat and feeding caster mid-water. He had fish to 13lb at 15 metres and finished winning the section and the lake in style with 127-12.
Next door on peg 28 Tom Seaman, pictured left fished mid-water with caster and won his section with 94-14. He had most of his fish out but had 4 down the edge on luncheon meat and sweetcorn.
Alan Leavold (pictured right) had a bit of a nightmare on peg 34 fishing mid-water with caster and maggot. He got 43-03 but lost 7 fish.
Bob Bradford (Fox Match Triangle), pictured left, came third in section with 78-00 , and John Stepton, pictured above, came 5th in section with 66-13.
On Barford Match Lake the top three on the lake were all pegged next to each other.
Shane Trower (Bentley Angling), pictured left, fished on peg 6 mid-water on luncheon meat and spraying pellet. He had fish all day from the start and finished winning the lake with 139-11 (and that's with losing 3 fish!)
Next door on peg 5, Glen Burden, pictured right, fished mid-water with corn feeding pellet, fishing at depths between 2'-5'. He came second on the lake and gained 2 vital penalty points with 123-15.
Next to Glen was Jim Barrowman on peg 4. Jim fished mid-water on luncheon meat spraying pellet and gained 3 penalty point and had 88-03.
On the other side of the lake, Bob Gill won his section with 68-04.
We were very pleased with how the week went and everyone enjoyed the fishing they had. Thanks to all the anglers who took part in our very first festival - your good sprits and angling abilities created an excellent atmosphere for the week. Thanks again!
The final results saw the top 3 as follows:
From left: Jim Randell (Colmic/Whizzo), Glen Burden (Woodbridge) and Jim Barrowman (Woodbridge)
