JAMIE HUGHES became only the second angler in the 22 year history of Coral Fish’O’Mania to win the title twice as he lead from the early stages to carry off coarse angling’s most prestigious prize at Cudmore Fisheries, Stoke-on-Trent.
He now stands with Matt Hall in British fishing’s most exclusive club having taken this title for the first time in 2013. The 32 year-old from the Wirral, Merseyside claimed the £30,000 top prize as well as the magnificent trophy.
Hughes winning weight was 16.600kg, which put him 4.050 ahead of nearest rival Connor Barlow.
With Arena Lake at Cudmore having been drained, netted and re-stocked following last year’s final, there was plenty of debate and discussion as to how the water would fish.
With strong winds in the early part of the match, as well as sunshine and a record-breaking crowd, the conditions were tough.
Hughes, fishing off favoured peg 4, found his feet early and caught consistently throughout with the half hourly weigh-ins telling the story. By the half way stage he had built a clear lead as he adapted to the conditions well. In the end he was uncatchable as he caught F1s, two tench and plenty of small carp and skimmers.
“It is an unbelievable feeling! I always said I would love to win it twice but I didn’t think it would happen,” said a thrilled Hughes.
“The match went a lot different than all of us planned I think. We all thought we would be catching a lot more fish. Perhaps the disturbance around the lake scared some of the little fish and it has fished completely differently.”
With the weights generally low, there was always a chance Hughes could be caught if he slowed up and one of the chasing pack made a move. However, he never lost his grasp as he roared to victory.
Hughes added, “It made it a lot more technical; you had to be really busy rotating your lines and catching fish when people weren’t catching fish. It made it a good match but it was a bit nerve-wracking at the end with it being so close.
“My bank runner was keeping a track of what was going on all of the time. There are fish big enough in this lake that Connor could have caught that up within two fish, so up until the last 15 minutes there was always a chance he could have caught me.
“I don’t know how I will spend the money. I saved most of it last time so with this to add hopefully it can go towards a new house.”
Second placed Connor Barlow from Droylsden, Manchester took the £5,000 cheque while Wayne Taylor bagged the trophy and £1,000 for the biggest fish – a 2.100kg carp.
Final Result
1. Jamie Hughes (4) 16.600kg
2. Connor Barlow (2) 12.550kg
3. Wayne Taylor (10) 10.525kg
4. Kerry Kirkwood (11) 10.075kg
5. Josh Pace (6) 9.875kg
6. Eddie Green (12) 9.250kg
7. Matt Hall (9) 8.625kg
8. Steve Freeman (8) 8.500kg
9. Simon Colclough (3) 8.100kg
10. John Harvey (16) 8.050kg
11. Dale Shepherd (15) 7.475kg
12. Roland Lucas (7) 6.425kg
13. Frank Donachie (5) 5.550kg
14. Dave Roberts (1) 4.625kg
15. Perry Stone (14) 2.575kg
16. Steve Mazza (13) 2.200kg
