Double delight for Freeman at Decoy and on Buttonhole

Martyn Freeman has had a wonderful week.

On Tuesday he topped a strong field in the Decoy Open and then on Saturday he qualified for the 2019 grand final at Buttonhole Fishery and a chance to win some big money.

The Decoy match was fished on the Beastie Pool and Freeman took a very comfortable victory from peg 30 catching on the pole with pellet for 178lb.

Runner-up was Ben Brighton with 144lb from peg nine, then came Nigel Baxter with 143lb.

The Buttonhole Fishery grand final, to be held in September, offers prize money in excess of £2,000 .

Only the winner in Saturday’s qualifier went through and that was Freeman.

With pole fishing out of the question due to the conditions, he opted for a straight lead and pellet approach while most of the field started on the feeder.

His softly, softly approach paid off and by the final whistle he had managed to put 80lb 14oz to the scales.

Second was John Bishop with 64lb 11oz, followed by Joe Bourn on 55lb 13oz.

This is a very popular fishery these days and the qualifying matches are close to sell-out events. To get all the latest information give fishery boss Chris Smith a call on 01945 430597.

ROOKERY WATERS

Another angler in top form is Benwick rod Roy Whincup.

He came third in the Decoy Over 55s, went one better in the JVAC match on Sunday, and had back-to-back wins in the popular Rookery Waters Over 60s match.

He topped the field in the latest Over 60s match with a fine 95lb 8oz. He was on peg 44 and fished two lines with pellet and maggot.

Harry Thompson came second from peg 16 fishing maggot for 71lb 14oz, then came Alan Owen on 71lb 11oz.

The Rookery Waters winter qualifying open was spread across the Magpie and Jay Pools.

Everyone wanted to draw Magpie to get a bit of extra shelter, but the matchwinner came from a windswept Jay Pool.

That was Dave Adams who caught close in on peg 38 all day with sweetcorn on the pole for 86lb 1oz.

A close second on Magpie 30 was Sean Higginbottom with Jack Gill third on Jay two with 79lb 8oz.

MARCH OPEN

The Old Nene at March has produced some fantastic sport under immense pressure through the winter months and even in the last March Open of the season some wonderful catches were taken.

As expected one or two sections did not fish quite so well but that could have been down to the conditions.

Leading the way from one of the hot pegs at the back of the bandstand in March town centre was Cameron Hughes. He caught rudd and skimmers alternating between the whip and pole and pinkie over groundbait for 31lb 13oz.

Dave Petch was just a couple of pegs away and put 26lb 10oz to the scales to take the runner-up spot. He caught rudd on pinkie and maggot.

Next came M. Prescott with 24lb, S. Winters with 23lb 9oz, A. Gregory with 21lb and S. Harwood with 18lb 12oz.