Dave Roberts wins Gold Valley Lakes Fish 'O' Mania qualifier
Thursday 23 April 2015 18:35, UK
Despite a rush hour closure of the M25 all but one of the competitors made it in time for the fourth Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier at Gold Valley Lakes, Aldershot on Wednesday.
With only three lakes being used, Gold, Middle and Syndicate, and with almost all the pegs in operation, it was envisaged to be a tough but fair match, and so it proved, with the final result being fairly close and some reasonable back-up weights.
It was a slow start, though, and with a cold wind chilling the lakes it took a while for the carp to wake up and feed, and most weights were put together in the last half of the match.
Steve Botting, the final reserve to get in, took an early lead by taking seven carp from Peg 26 on Gold before they moved off into his neighbours peg.
Perry Stone started to catch at Peg 110 on Syndicate, and Dave Roberts on Peg 43 on Gold also started to catch as it looked to be heading for a very close finish.
A couple of carp in the dying minutes of the match finally swung it in Roberts' favour and he ended as the match winner with 15 carp, all caught on pellet waggler, with 103-13-0.
Stone finished an agonising two fish behind with 13 carp for 93-8-0, caught on bomb and pellet, and so he had to settle for second place.
Botting’s fish moved next door to Peg 25 where Krzysztof Frackowiak was waiting patiently, after taking advice from Will Raison, who told him he would catch late, and he ended up with 11 carp and some bream - caught on bomb and pellet - to snatch third place with 85-8-0 from Bottings who finished in fourth place with 70-0-0.
Many thanks to John Raison and his team at Gold Valley for their help and assistance.
The next Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier now moves on to Moorlands Farm on Saturday April 25.
Top 6 results
1st: Dave Roberts (Tricast/Bait-tech) 103-13-0
2nd: Perry Stone (Spro) 93-8-0
3rd: Krzysztof Frackowiak (Wembley) 85-8-0
4th: Steve Botting (Reading) 70-0-0
5th: Ian McCulloch (Little Milton) 69-8-0
6th: Craig Owen (Mexborough) 67-6-0
