The final round of Fish ’O’ Mania qualifying was held in glorious conditions at the South Yorkshire match mecca that is Lindholme Lakes. A field of 96 anglers made their way from all around the country to try and grab the last possible place in the final with a first prize of £50,000. The lakes fished exceptionally well with over 185lb needed to make the top five!
Finishing first and qualifying for the final was Hereford ace Dave Roberts who drew on peg 19 Loco Lake. This will be Dave’s third time in the final and it was apparent from the off that he was looking to catch F1s and carp shallow on 6mm banded pellet. When scales arrived it highlighted just how far Dave was ahead, amassing an impressive 249lb 2oz in the five hours.
Runner-up was Ian Ridgeway from Oldham who drew peg 11 on Benny’s Lake. In stark contrast to Dave, Ian took most of his fish on paste on the deck with some real lumps to 10lb. At weigh-in the dials spun around to 196lb 8oz.
In close third place was Paul Wright who also drew on Benny’s Lake, peg 15 this time. Paul managed a very respectable 188lb 9oz and also took most of his carp to shallow pellet tactics.
Fourth and fifth was an exceptionally close affair on Benny’s with just two ounces separating anglers. Kerry Kirkwood edging out Barry Bush with 158lb 14oz from Benny’s peg 23 to Barry’s 158lb 12oz from Benny’s peg 54.
Once more a huge thank you to Neil Grantham for opening up all of the lakes for the qualifier as the extra space made for 34 ton plus weights!
Results:
1st Dave Roberts 249lb 2oz
2nd Ian Ridgeway 196lb 8oz
3rd Paul Wright 188lbs 9oz
4th Kerry Kirkwood 158lb 14oz
5th Barry Bush 158lb 12oz
With the final qualifier over, we now look forward to the grand final at Cudmore Fisheries on the 8th July featuring an exceptional array of the country’s finest match anglers.
