The first two heats of the WinnerWeb challenge took place at the weekend on Saturday & Sunday, at Blithfield and Stocks. Conditions were far from ideal on both days with bright conditions and south east winds prevailing. Thanks to all those anglers that took part and well done to those of you that qualified. We all know this event had a shaky start with CJ pulling out for whatever reason, leading to a drop in confidence of potential participants, but now supported by Hywel Morgan, this series is here to stay and we look forward to seeing you at Elinor on 31st May. The Toft final takes place on the 4th July with a £2,000 first prize.

The 2 first prize winners collecting £300 each were Dennis Coultas at Blithfield and Bob Fitzpatrick at Stocks. Martin Introna collected £35 (10Ib per Ib) for the best Blithfield fish of 3.5Ib's and Bob Fitzpatrick was very happy with his 11Ib 9oz rainbow at Stocks !!

Added the Elinor heat presentation video to youtube and also images from the day into the gallery. We had a very pleasing 40 entrants at Elinor but the fishing was once again difficult on a very clear sunny day with brisk north east wind. Lots of fish moving throughout the day but the majority out of reach of the bank anglers. Mr.Postles took the £300 cash first prize landing 3 fish and Brian Simmons bagged £45 for the best fish of the day, a 4Ib 8oz rainbow.

I'll post all the qualifiers names within the next day or two and look forward to seeing you at Toft on 4th July. Your thoughts on the heats are invited on this forum, we want to move forward together and take this event in the right direction!




selection of pics from all 3 heats at http://www.eggdesk.com/winnerweb

www.winnerwebchallenge.com

Jason

Hi to everyone who took part in the Winnerweb Challenge at Stocks on the
24 May 09.
Congratulations to the winner bob:

To all.

I did not even expect to go through to the final, the caliber of anglers was very high, but with a little knowledge and determination i made it to 5th, and again for my first competition i am very pleased with my performance,
Mr Morgans brief at the begining of the match, help put me at ease it is nice to see a celeb who is down to earth and approachable.
Also to all the staff at Stocks who were just as helpful, thank you to you all.
I would also like to add a special thanks to Jason Foster from Toft, i spoke to Jason before the match and explained this was my first competition and again he was helpful and encouraging.
So any body who has not yet fished a competition, have a go you never know, their is still chance to qualify for the final at Elinor on the 31st May.
To Anne, Haimes
Just a quick email to say thanks for everything in conection with the organisation of the event and the tickets, Stocks was my first ever major competition, and of coarse my first Winnerweb.
thanks once again.

Here are the names of the qualifying anglers who will be fishing the Toft Newton final on 4th July for the £2000 first prize.
50% of entries were put through from each heat.

Blithfield
Dennis Coultas - winner
Kenneth Saunders
Martin Introna – biggest fish
Rick Dunnett
Mr. Shipley
Rob Edward
Trevor Ward

Stocks
Bob Fitzpatrick - winner & biggest fish
Andrew Grabham
Derek Moore
Bob Karwowski
Steve Moxon
Brendan Ginty
Lee Femity
Anthony Harrison
Jamie Hogg
John Forster
Mark Chippendale
Gerard Kearny

Elinor (Apologies for lack of christian names!!)
Mr. Postles - winner
B Simmons - best fish
S Simmons
Mr.Giffoed
P. Haskey
Mr.Hodkinson
S.Frakes
Mr.Wadds
R.Edmunds
Mr.Johnson
R.Gent
Neil Deakin
Mr.Randle
Stuart Thomson
Mark Haycock
Mr.Moore
Lee Henfrey
Mr.Hoppe
Mr.Smith
Mr.Cramp

We'd like to thank all entrants and special thanks go to the host fisheries who made us and the competitors most welcome. See you on the 4th!!

Jason

- Date: Saturday 4 July 2009

- Toft Newton Trout Fishery, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 3NE

- All finalists to register with photo ID, showing full name

- 10.30am – Finalists can arrive

- 12 midday – Food and refreshments for all Finalists

- 1pm – Registration of Finalists

- 1.15pm – Briefing / draw by Hywel Morgan

- 2pm – 5pm - Competition fishing (part one)

- 5pm - 6pm – Break

- 6pm – 9pm - Competition fishing (part two)

- 9pm – 9.30pm – ‘Weighing in’

- 9.30pm – Presentation by Russell Hill (Trout Fisherman) and Hywel Morgan

Many thanks to the names behind WinnerWeb, Paul Abbott and Anne Haimes and to Hywel Morgan for supporting the series of events. This has been the first year for the event and I'm sure it's now well on course for a sustained future.

Thanks also to all entrants from Blithfield, Stocks and Elinor and to those competitors that took part at Toft on a very tough day! The day was I'm sure, enjoyed by all, with an excellent hog roast and plenty of drinks and shared ideas. Just 13 fish were caught by the 36 participants and congratulations go to Mark Postles from Oxfordshire who picked up the £2000 cheque with 2 fish for 6Ib 6oz including the best fish of the match at 4Ib 8oz, which he also received £45 for. Second went to Mark Haycock from Northants with 2 fish for 4Ib 5oz, he received a Dave Wheeler boat seat. With so much at stake, only 1 angler bowed out early and thanks to the majority for sticking at it - I'm just sorry Toft was far from its best.

I'll be up for the next one.

It seems this event was dramatically under subscribed, was this the case?

__________________
Steve Cullen,
Total Flyfisher
www.totalflyfisher.com

To write with a broken pencil is pointless....

Shame, but yes Steve.

__________________
Martin Introna..
"With my line and delicate hook I wander in a myriad of ripples and find freedom"