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                                                                                    Coarse Angling

                                2008 - STAFFS/WORCESTER CANAL, OLDINGTON

Roger Sargeant (S) writes - With commercial fisheries now dominating the match scene it was like a breath of fresh air to have this match once again on a natural venue. The words ‘proper fishing’ were on many lips the day before, but many a slip twixt cup and lip and the all important word HARD was omitted. This was only too apparent after the match with 29 of the 66 anglers recording less than a pound on the scales. For those who took the trouble to phone Barry Southall he made it quite clear that some if not most pegs were going to be hard and all in all his information on the venue was spot on, in particular the hard fighting qualities of the chub, but alas this fact was undervalued and lost fish cost some people dearly.

With these events the home side will always have an advantage, by knowing the venue with it’s moods and along with the better pegs, Midlands were hot favourites to win this competition and drawing peg 6 did not detract from this. However the North West team have had their eye on this event for nearly twelve months and knowing their strength on canals left little to chance. They were the only team to put six anglers on the bank the day before to explore the various tactics needed to put fish into the net, they were also fortunate in as much that a local angler who professed to knowing the canal well walked them the entire match section whilst giving them a peg by peg run down. All in all this preparation was invaluable, by fishing across for anything that swims using squatt and pinkie but relying mainly on an attack down the tract with worm and caster with maggot as hook bait, provided them with a section 1^st 2^nd & 3^rd and with Keith Hilton taking the overall 3^rd position to give them the well earned title to see off the Midlands by 7 points.

Midlands did however have some consolation to being the bridesmaids through Tony Poulter who had 13lb 5oz 8dr of waggler caught chub on the caster to take the individual title.

Pam Mason (E) writes - Unfortunately, I didn’t qualify this year, but I was asked to help with the paperwork and to Steward the event as the Committee were short of helpers this year. The hotel at Stourport-on-Severn was booked for Wednesday and Thursday nights for the teams and organisers. I was to help the Committee with the ‘meet & greet’ of the anglers on Wednesday afternoon and evening to hand out the paperwork, including rules, directions, contact forms and pools sheets. All forms were to be returned by dinner so that the paperwork was in place for the team captain's draw after dinner. Also, the menu selection for Thursday’s presentation dinner was my ‘project’, which was fun, trying to pin down eighty people to make their mind up!

The atmosphere was buzzing on Thursday evening, lots of acquaintances renewed as the different team members met up with people they had met and fished against in previous years. After dinner the eleven team captains attended a meeting with Barry Southall, Phil Mason & myself to draw for the next day’s match. Each Team drew a number from 1 to 11, this being the Peg number each team member would have. The Section draw followed, the Captains pulling out a random letter from A to F to be allocated down the Team List.

A, B & C sections were north of Oldington Bridge 10 and sections D,E & F were south. This information was collated on the pegging sheets, and each team were given their team sheets with their peg number and section placings. Rules and information on parking were discussed, then the team captains dispersed to let their team know where they had drawn and to discuss tactics.

The following morning, I was up early to help Barry Southall (who is the Midlands area organiser) with monitoring the car parking. The canal access is through an industrial estate and we tried to ensure that we didn’t disrupt or block the roads to normal traffic. The day was bright and sunny with little wind, and all anglers were eager to get to their pegs to set up their tackle.

Barry had arranged for someone to help me part of the day with stewarding the bank, and for extra help at the weigh in. We walked up and down the banks to check that everyone had found their pegs, and that there were no problems. The match was due to start at eleven am with a hooter/claxon sounded from the bridge in the middle of the sections. My concern was that those in F section might not hear the starting signal as it was around a couple of bends, a long way from the bridge. I took a whistle and hot-footed it to F section to blow at 11 o’clock (good job I did, a boat coming along the canal meant that the claxon couldn’t be heard there).

I wandered back down the bank towards the bridge to check on what was being caught – not a lot in D –F sections. I went along C – A, not a lot being caught there either. Still, it was early on and it was a six hour match. A packed lunch was provided for the competitors (and me) so I helped the Committee members to deliver it along the banks about midday. That made three trips up and down the canal so far. The bright conditions were making it a hard contest, not a lot being caught. There were a few boats, but all were courteous and slowed down for the anglers. Most of the walkers and cyclists down the towpath were patient if an angler had a fish on and were shipping their poles across the towpath. There had been previous problems on this stretch with a ‘demon cyclist’, but all went smoothly this day.

As the day wore on, it became apparent that F section was the place to be, more fish came out of that area than the others, and it looked as if the individual winner would come from there. As the sun weakened in the last hour, a few chub came out to play, and one angler in E section capitalised on that. He changed from pole to waggler and caught 8 chub, and lost a couple. When the hooter went at five pm, I think a sigh of relief went down the bank (especially from me, as I reckoned I had walked six kilometres). The weigh in began at the bridge, one set of scales going each way. It was a case of some fish, not a lot, a few more fish, all along the canal. The canal had not fished very well. The still, sunny and warm conditions did not help, especially as the canal had cleared after the rainy conditions of the previous week.

All the anglers were trying to work out where they were in their section and how many points they had - it looked as if the team positions would be close. Back at the hotel, a quick wash and change before the presentation dinner. The committee had worked out the team and individual placings, and the pools payouts were ready, just the dinner to eat before the results, the food and service were good, considering they were catering for over 80 people. Before the results were announced, Barry Southall was presented with a memento of his years of service for the Midlands region by regional chairman Clive Dennis. Barry has retired from that role, but is continuing to serve on the CSSC Committee. Another special guest was Sylvia Bell, who came with her son to present a trophy in memory of long time Committee stalwart John Bell, who sadly passed away earlier this year.

The individual and team medals were presented, along with the pools monies to cheers and laughter. Anglers enjoy barracking and joking and this night was no exception. Another night in the hotel, and early starts next morning for some teams (especially Scotland, who had a long way to travel home). Great couple of days, I enjoyed helping out but I’ll have to try harder next year so that I can qualify to fish myself. I had mixed feelings running the bank – part of me wishing I was fishing, the other enjoying helping to make the event run smoothly.

My thanks to Pam for her excellent report.
   
The 2009 final will be on Thursday 17th September on Hampton Springs Fishery, Malpas. 

Please note that accommodation for these finals is booked at least a year in advance and numbers are based on the regional teams that we know will be taking part, THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU LIVE IN  THE HOSTING REGION . If you want to bring your partner or make the event a family holiday you must contact the angling council first, do not approach the hotel.   

TEAM RESULTS

SECTION A

SECTION B

SECTION C

SECTION D

SECTION E

SECTION F

INDIVIDUAL

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