Freeman earns a chance to fish for £100,000 jackpot

And included in the 24-strong field at Hayfield Fishery in Doncaster on Saturday September 1 will be city angler Steve Freeman.

Freeman is no stranger to big time match fishing having already fished in a Fish O Mania final.

On Saturday he put himself in line for the massive jackpot with a fine match win in the latest qualifier at Tunnel Barn Farm.

Drawn on Club Pool 13 he put a huge 253lb 10oz of carp to the scales taken on the pole with luncheon meat and dead reds to the margins.

I am sure he will be making a trip or two up the A1 over the next few weeks in preperation for the big day.

A good draw and he could just be bringing home the biggest payout ever in an individual angling match the UK has ever seen!

Result; 1 Steve Freeman, Peterborough, 253lb 10oz; 2 Ryan Lidgard, 212lb 6oz; 3 Paul White, 206lb 6oz; 4 R. Bond, 201lb 11oz; 5 J. Hughes, 170lb 8oz.

FERRY MEADOWS

The Ringer Baits Two-Day Festival on Ferry Meadows should have been the showcase match to prove to the angling world that the fishery is very much back to its best.

But it all went wrong. The massive change in temperature over the Bank Holiday weekend saw very few fish taken, with some of the best bream anglers in the country struggling for a bite over the two days.

City rod Michael Reeves came out on top with Phil Ringer second and Emma Pickering third.

FLOAT FISH FARM

There were no such problems for those fishing our local commercial waters as the huge weights rolled in over a busy bank holiday weekend.

A big turnout at Float Fish Farm Fishery saw the match split over two lakes.

On Two Islands it was Andy Adams leading the way from peg even. He caught on the pole and feeder putting 204lb 3oz to the scales.

Second on the lake with 122lb 11oz was Shaun Waterfall with 122lb 11oz, followed by Simon Dow on 105lb 2oz.

Over on the Wagtail Pool John Hudson drew hot peg 11 and made no mistake putting 177lb 4oz to the scales, with Ashley Kinsey second on 110lb 9oz and 86lb 7oz gave Andy Bull third place on the lake.

WEBBS AC

Webbs AC fished the Horseshoe Pool at Float Fish Farm on Sunday and saw the venue returning to top form.

Leading the way from peg one was Roy Wells. He alternated between the feeder and pole to take a comfortable victory with 104lb 14oz, most fish falling to pellet.

Runner-up from peg six was Peter Harrison with 72lb 8oz followed by Alan Forrest on 54lb 15oz and Andy Perry with 47lb 12oz.

CASTAWAYS

The Castaways match on Kingsland Silver Lake saw a few anglers struggling and weights generally were not quite as good as expected.

Dave Norville on corner peg four took first place with a weight of 55lb. He started on the feeder in the morning and then switched to a shallow rig on the pole in the afternoon.

Runner-up was Gareth Mansfield on peg 10 with 50lb. Third was Mike Smith on 46lb.

COCK INN

Cock Inn fished at North View Fishery, Gedney Hill on Sunday and Chris Shortland won with 72lb of carp from peg nine. He had a good mid-match spell and again right at the end on the feeder with pellet.

The in-form Stan Hotchkis came second with 48lb 4oz from peg 16 followed by new member Paul Kempton with 47lb 1oz.

RAMSEY AS

Ramsey & District Angling Society certainly found the fish feeding at Rookery Waters on the Magpie Pool on Sunday with most of the field putting 100lb or more to the scales.

Out in front with a massive 324lb 8oz was John Payne. He drew peg 32 and caught fish to 8lb fishing with caster on a shallow pole rig.

Similar tactics saw Rob Wright take the runner-up spot from peg 25. He fished caster shallow too, but also had a few better samples fishing close in on meat late in the match to record 286lb.

In third place with 201lb was Pete Holland, followed by Stu Cheetham on 183lb 10oz.

ROOKERY WATERS

There was a huge turnout for the Summer Qualifier Open at Rookery Waters fished on the Jay and Raven lakes.

Jay Lake hit top form with the average weight per angler being well over 70lb.

Top rod on this pool was Adam Playford on peg 41 with 134lb 9oz followed by Mark Pollard (115lb).

Raven Lake also responded to the better than usual conditions, producing excellent sport for all but a few of the anglers on the lake.

Best weight of 138lb 8oz went to Tom Moretti on peg five followed by Vince Cross (106lb 4oz).