17 pike anglers left the draw and descended onto a very misty Boreham Mere. Conditions looked good with a tinge of colour in the water and so it proved with Nigel Barnes banking the first one within 5 minutes. I’d set a collective target of 20 and by the half way point 12 fish had been landed. The sun then burnt the mist off and the pike went very quiet. Eels were playing havoc with many dropped and missed runs but 2 were eventually caught at around 4 lbs. Only 2 more pike were landed with defending champion David Springett getting on the scoreboard with 45 minutes left.
It was an enjoyable match in as much as anyone could have won it at the death with a modest fish.
14 fish were landed by 12 anglers with, surprisingly, the biggest at only 5 lbs 5oz.
1st place Paul Webb with 2 fish for 8 lbs 11 oz
2nd place Darren Egg with 2 fish for 6 lbs 9 oz
3rd place Jack Andrews 5 lbs 5 oz
Many thanks to bailiffs Nick Passfield and Rob Freshwater for marshalling and to Ian Stokes for hosting the draw, marshalling and presenting the prizes.
Hopefully the match will return here next year and some of the bigguns will turn up.
Phil Watts
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