A full field of 35 anglers took part in Saturdays encounter and it was fairly apparent that with the warmer conditions there were plenty of fish on the move.  Pleasingly the average catch weights are on the up and there were quite a few close battles in several of the sections . It was Bob Allatt who took top spot on the day from peg 56 on the point. Getting off to a really fast start Bob took the bulk of his 30lb 14oz winning weight in the first 2 hrs before the sport started to slow up. Ashley Poxon returned to the Blackfords match scene after a couple of years away and he certainly proved that his drawing arm was still intact as he pulled peg 5 from the draw bag. Ash got off to a fairly slow start in comparison to Bob , however his patience paid off as he secured 2nd place with a pleasing 28lb 7oz mostly taken on pole tactics. Another angler who favoured the pole on the day was Tony Walsh and his decision paid off , putting together a nice mixed bag for 24lb 15oz and third place from peg47.

Completing the frame with 24lb 10oz was Nev Bailey Snr who came up with a late run of decent fish all caught on the method feeder from peg 10 on the slabs..

Section Winners……

Gary Oliver.                  20lb 1oz.        (Peg 7)

Dave Ridgeway.           24lb.              ( Peg 12)

Dave Nicholls.             20lb 12oz.    (Peg 40)

Danny Plummer.        23lb 5oz.       (Peg 49)

Brian Ashley.               24lb 6oz.      ( Peg 54)

John Burns.                 22lb 8oz.    (Peg 57)

Dennis Kneller.            17lb 12oz   (Peg 80)

Regards…….