Old Nene at March a must-fish waterthis time of year

Most decided to go for the March Christmas match fished on the Old Nene at March.

It’s a must-fish water at this time of year so it was no surprise the match was a sell-out with anglers coming from as far away as Barnsley in the north and Guildford in Essex to compete with the best of our local anglers.

March organiser Bob Fitzjohn ensures there is a cracking pay-out and a fine array of prizes, yet another reason tickets were at a premium.

Matchwinner was Simon Fields from Barnsley. He drew the fancied pegs just above the Health Centre Bridge and caught well on breadpunch at the start of the match before switching to a hempseed line across to the far side to finish with a fine 26lb 4oz net of roach.

The win gave a clear warning to all those fishing the Winter League Final on the venue that it’s going to take a really good effort to come out on top in late February.

Runner-up was March angler Gavin Wright. He drew in the centre of the town at the clock tower and fished the pole using maggot over groundbait to take a net of quality rudd for 24lb 8oz.

Huntingdon’s Ricky Young came third with 21lb 5oz.

GURU BAIT TECH SERIES

On Sunday there was another round of the Guru Bait Tech Winter Series run by Barry Mason on the Beastie at Decoy.

In recent weeks the form of the Beastie has dropped and once again it proved to be a tough nut to crack.

Matchwinner was John Whincup. He drew peg six and thankfully he read the water well. He decided on a pole and maggot approach which saw him top the very strong field with 48lb 9oz.

Adam Playford was runner-up with 44lb 5oz, then came Simon Dow on 43lb 12oz.

JVAC

Yet another good turnout for the JVAC club match saw them split between the Oak and Yew Pools at Decoy.

On the Yew Pool it was Roger Gowler taking the honours on peg 11. He caught 97lb 13oz on the feeder with pellet.

Runner-up was Lee Kendal, who fished the pole with red maggot for 74lb 13oz, followed by John Savage with 69lb 6oz.

Over on Oak I am very pleased to report that Carl White took a convincing victory, putting a fine 150lb to the scales.

For those who don’t already know, Carl is the backbone of the club and works tirelessly to ensure it all runs smoothly, be it days out across the country to fisheries or the run-of-the-mill club match. He will be the first to admit he is not the best angler in the club, but a well earned win saw him receive a warm handshake from all those fishing.

Jay Richardson was second on 100lb 9oz then it was Chris Saunders with 94lb 4oz.

PETERBOROUGH & DAA

Mel Saggers took the honours in the latest Peterborough & DAA club match fished on the Fen Drain just above Pondersbridge. He caught a net of small roach boosted by two tench for 9lb 4oz.

Runner-up with 8lb 10oz of roach was Dave Norville, then came Steve Stones on 4lb 15½oz.

WEBB’S AC

Lake Ross was the venue for Webb’s AC on Sunday and although there were no big weights recorded it fished reasonably well and produced a tight finish at the top of the leaderboard.

Top spot went to Alan Forrest, who caught on a small feeder with hair rigged pellet, putting 35lb 5oz to the scales.

Coming a close second with 34lb 5oz was Ken Matthews, who also caught on a feeder, but with sweetcorn on the hook.

Third place went to Andy Perry, again fishing on the feeder but he did best with red maggot.