CHRIS BISHOP Littleport AC claimed gold in the Division Three national fished on the Ouse between Queen Adelaide and Denver last weekend.The home team of Littleport AC employed tactics of fishing for smaller fish to start with before moving onto fishing the feeder to bring in the bream.

CHRIS BISHOP

Littleport AC claimed gold in the Division Three national fished on the Ouse between Queen Adelaide and Denver last weekend.

The home team of Littleport AC employed tactics of fishing for smaller fish to start with before moving onto fishing the feeder to bring in the bream.

This approach was mirrored by Essex-based B & T Match Pack going for the smaller roach and skimmers before moving on to catch the larger bream as well.

However, there could only ever be one winner, with Littleport AC eventually coming out on top with a final points tally of 261 and final weight of 26.370kg.

Runners up B & T Match Pack had only two points less with 259 points and a final weigh in of 17.940kg.

In third place in the team classifications was Altrincham & District AC who finished with 254 points and a final combined weight of 24.910kg.

In fourth place was East Midlands Match Group, who were fishing their first national competition ending the day with 253 points, hot on the heels of Altrincham & District. It was from East Midlands MG that the individual winner, Mick Burgess came from with a final weight of 14.980kg.

Burgess, a lorry driver from Newark, Notts, fished from peg 35 in a productive K section near the Piggeries to win the match. He started by fishing pinkie over ground bait before moving onto chopped worm and caster for the bigger bream with his biggest fish being a 2.500kg bream.

“The key to my success was fishing a 1.5g lollypop, it helped me enormously when the wind picked up and was the main reason behind catching so many fish,” he said. “I was lucky on the day as my techniques had a lot to do with the team and the practice they had put in, finding out the best techniques to use.

“Winning as an individual is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it feels absolutely brilliant. However, I will be back on my local pond tonight with a few of the locals and enjoy some more relaxing fishing.”

In second place individually was Paul Chambers, fishing for Harwich AC who ended with a full net of bream weighing 13.150kg. Paul was fishing peg 19 from what was a prolific section with 8 of the 10 highest placed anglers coming from K section.

Third place was Gold medallist in the team classification, Phillip Houghton from Littleport AC who ended with a weight of 12.450kg.

King's Lynn AA had to settle for seventh place, with former secretary Mike Grief, who came sixth overall, left wondering whether two lost bream would have seen him in the money.

But 17 of the top 20 weights came from Lynn AA's stretch of the lower river, downstream of Modney Bridge and officials hope the match will help re-establish the river as one of the East's top match venues.

“After much hard work - more than I thought would be needed - I think the match was successful even if the changing conditions probably affected catches,” he said.

“However the pressure of that number of anglers and bodies on the bank was also going to have an effect.

“Overall I believe we have a result that can be used to promote one of our waters and get away from the Ten Mile Blank image. The match was an enjoyable experience, hopefully I would like to see a regenerated club match scene that Dave Burton is trying to achieve.”

Lynn AA would also like to thank the farmers that assisted with parking for the event.