From the left: Nathan Watson (5th place), Johnny Howard (3rd place), Neil McKinnon (1st place), Glen Burden (2nd place) and Andy Findlay (4th place)

Our 5 day Fishing Festival 2006 ran over the May Bank Holiday week from Monday 1st May - Friday 5th May 2006.  The event was fished on Barford Match Lake, Colton, Railway and Willow Lakes.

Entry - £135  Includes Entry fee, pegging, pools, admin and buffet.

Overall Payouts (based on 72 anglers) - 1st  £900    2nd  £600    3rd  £450    4th  £300    5th  £170    6th  £100

Daily Payouts (based on 24 anglers on each lake) - 1st  £100    2nd  £60    3rd  £30    2 x sections at £25

Festival Conclusion

What a busy week!  I'm pretty sure the majority of anglers who fished had a fantastic festival.  It was lovely to see you all again and nice to meet some new faces to spend the week with!  The lakes fished fairly well - with the exception of the Match Lake which had a bit of an off week (the fished spawned in there on the Saturday after). 

The Greyhound Racing trip on the Wednesday night split the week up nicely and we had a good show with a full minibus of 17 coming from Wymondham and a good 10 - 15 from the caravan park attending.  Dave Vincent did well after working his 'system' out, Kevin Ford couldn't manage to keep all his tips close to his chest (Lee Carver squeezed them out of him!) and Dave Rugman... well... I'm standing behind you next year when you place your bets !!

The buffet at the Marlingford Bell went very well.  So I'm told anyway - by the time we'd done the results a few of you had left already (sorry to have missed you - will try to improve the turn around time for next year) and there was one plate of potato wedges and three spring rolls left!!  Again the healthy appetite of the burly match angler surprised the caterers!   

I would suggest for next year that anglers must fish all five days (unless there are exceptional circumstances) or they will not be asked to return to the festival.

The comment of the week had to be from an angler who fished next to one of the twin Vincent brothers one day only to fish next to his brother the following match.  After his new found friend denied fishing with him the previous day the angler jokingly stated  "well it must have been your twin brother then" Classic!! 

Click here to see the PDF file of the full results table (each angler can drop their worst score which is highlighted in grey). Please note that a DNW on the last day doesn't necessarily mean the anglers didn't attend - some just didn't weigh in. 

Day 1 - BH Monday 1st May

A very damp day!  It got out at lunchtime... and then it rained again and it stopped just in time for the all out!!!

Anglers fished Colton, Willow and the Match Lake today and Colton fished the better.  Willow fished fair and the Match Lake was good for a few but a struggle for most.

Above from left:  Brian McKinnley, Andy Findlay and Glen Mason

Barford Match Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section winners - Darren Mallet     53lbs 14ozs     Peg 7
                              Neil McKinnon     43lbs 10ozs     Peg 19

Colton Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section winners -   Ron Mangham     95lbs 15ozs       Peg 16
                                Steve Jackson     89lbs 7ozs         Peg 24

Willow Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section winners -    Mark Bradford      56lbs 12ozs    Peg 3
                                 Stewart Bracey    79lbs 2ozs      Peg 34

Day 2 - Tuesday 2nd May

Better weather today although the wind was a bit of a pain.  All lakes fished fairly well.  pictured below is Keith 'Della' Pearson who came second on Colton Lake from peg 40 with a very respectable 105lb.

Willow Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section Winners - Andy Findlay     77lb 15ozs        Peg 12
                               Steve Jackson   76lb 9ozs          Peg 27

Colton Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section Winners -     Kevin Kingston-Miles        85lb 7ozs    Peg 5
                                  Glen Burden                      66lb 0ozs    Peg 35

Railway Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

 Section Winners -   Paul Ashford    68lb 7ozs     Peg 24
                                 Graham Dack    61lb 15ozs   Peg 60

Day 3 - Wednesday 3rd May

Willow Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Sections -  Tim Nash -            75lb 14ozs    peg 35
                   Nathan Watson    81lb 4ozs      peg 60

Day 4 - Thursday 4th May

Our undercover surveillance cameras also captured this unusual and 'never seen before' shot of a staunch 'anti cat meat' angler purchasing KatKins. The picture quality is a bit poor – but he knows who he is!! (Sorry Dave couldn't resist – although I'm told he got the lid off on the bank and couldn't bring himself to use it!)

Colton Lake   -   5 Day Fishing Festival

Section Winners -   Clive Spellman    38lb 10ozs    peg 1
                                    Steve Jackson    45lb 10ozs    peg 28

Day 5 - Friday 5th May

Section Winners - Mark Bradford   50lbs 2ozs   peg 1
                              Andy Purdy       42lbs            peg 2

Section Winners - Glen Burden    79lbs 12ozs    peg 7
                                  Mick Craske     55lb                peg 4