Once again the weather wasn,t very kind with the wind blowing straight westerly and gusting to 30mph and not a cloud to be seen strange but there you go

The morning sessions proved to be a tad frustrating for a nunber of anglers as there were few and far between takes and most of them that connected seem to loose or drop the fish at the net ,this was going to be a real slog by the looks of things and sure enough it was by the end of the 4th session and break for lunch the were a total of 10 fish netted, 3 anglers on 2 fish and 4 on 1 fish the lake as usual was given an hours rest
Talking to some of the lads they were saying that they had tried everything and were plumb out of idea,s all i could say was you,ve got an hour just think of the way you have went about the morning session put your thinking caps on and get out there and stick to what you know best but if it were me size 16s comes to mind
After lunch you could see that a number of anglers just weren,t going to last the comp however there came a spell with an overcasted session and the splashing started with anglers shouting to the marshalls to get their cards marked while the fish were moving and started topping all over the lake ,the lads mood changed and the crack started with what did you drop that one on matey and the obvious reply was given in an instant
Going into the last session a number of anglers approx 9 were in the running for a top 3 place and a place in the national final there was 1 angler on 4 and 1 angler on 3 and 6 anglers on 2 this proved to be the best for some and most frustrating for others as i wittnessed bill king land 1 fish drop 2 at the net including a double figure fish and him saying he miss a couple of takes at the other end of the dam i saw young dean appleby land 2 fish in 2 casts on dries then only had to bag another in 25 mins but not another touch,
Robbie bell had to hold his nerve as he hooked into a fish just before the whistle blew and had a few anctious anglers watching him as this was proved to be the killer blow for 6 anglers on 3 fish with robbie managing to glide the fish safely into the net .

the results

1st James Stephenson 6 fish

2nd Jonh Mcquire 4 fish 4lb 3oz

3rd Robbie Bell 4 fish 4lb 2oz

4th Greame kennerlly 3 fish 4lb 11oz

FISH CAUGHT 34

ROD AVE 2.4

congratulations to all quallifiers and good luck in the final