Meet The Anglers - Part 2
July 10th, 2019

Meet The Anglers - Part 2

Ahead of Saturday’s Fish‘O’Mania Grand Final at Hayfield Lakes in Doncaster we profile the 24 anglers taking part, continuing with the next six who qualified for this year’s Grand Final.

Lee Thornton (Wirral)
Qualified From: Lindholme Lakes (66.99kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: 2005 (2nd)
Lee was FishO runner-up in 2005, at the age of 18, and is back for his second crack at the Grand Final this year. The Wirral man was 2016 Matchman of the Year and had come agonisingly close to qualifying for his second Grand Final on several occasions before winning this year’s qualifier at Lindholme Lakes.

Will Raison (Hampshire)
Qualified From: Partridge Lakes (64.61kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: 2002 (2nd); 2017 (22nd)
Professional angler Will was FishO runner-up in 2002 and returns for his third Grand Final having also fished in 2017. The 2008 World Champion has also been a European and UK Champion during his career and is looking to add the FishO title to his trophy cabinet this weekend.

Abbi Kendall (Cambridgeshire)
Qualified From: Partridge Lakes Women’s Qualifier (44.03kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: Debut in Grand Final, appeared twice in Ladies Fish‘O’Mania – 2015 (3rd); 2018 (4th)
England Ladies angler Abbi won this year’s Women’s Qualifier at Partridge Lakes to earn a debut in the Fish‘O’Mania Grand Final. She’s no stranger to the big day though, having fished the Ladies Match in 2015 and 2018.

Simon Fry (Stratford-upon-Avon)
Qualified From: Gold Valley Lakes (76.66kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: 2012 (11th)
Simon has qualified for his second Grand Final, seven years after fishing in 2012, the same year when he was UK Championship runner-up. Simon has been fishing for 45 years and is a sales agent for Garbolino.

Carl Visser (Netherlands)
Qualified From: Snakelake De Berenkuil, Netherlands (44.9kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: Debut
Dutch angler Carl won one of two international Fish‘O’Mania qualifiers to land a debut at the Grand Final. A multiple winner of Dutch national competitions, Carl lists fellow qualifier Will Raison as his favourite angler.

Ben Emery (Surrey)
Qualified From: Larford Lakes (90.01kg) Previous Fish’O’Mania Finals: 2010 (15th); 2012 (7th)
Ben will make it a hat-trick of Fish‘O’Mania Grand Final appearances when he takes to his peg on Saturday. The Surrey man is a marine fish keeper and goes by the nickname ‘Polar Bear’.

Spectator tickets to attend Fish‘O’Mania are free of charge and available to download at www.fishomania.net. Fish‘O’Mania will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Arena from 11:30am on Saturday, July 13.