European style street lure fishing came to the UK, in the
latest two stages of the Fox Rage backed British Lure Angling Championship. Competitors
first tackled the Camden lock area, of the Regents canal in central London . Perch
proved to be the primary species present with drop shot and jig methods producing
great catches throughout the day. Adam Kirby, from Hampshire again proved his
perch catching skills with a huge total of 364cm. Having already secured his
place in the final, the remaining places were filled John Wheeler, Ben
Tregoning, Olivier Gayer, Kamil Drapala, and Mervyn Jones.
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Merv Jones seeking perch in the shadows of Camden
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| Winner Adam Kirby who had already qualified in Q1, with the Regents canal qualifiers. |
If the Regents canal event was all about perch, the
qualifier the following day on Somerset’s River Tone was expected to be a real
bag up with huge numbers of chub present. During the early part of the
competition many of those taking part caught quickly, setting up an exciting
finish. However, bright, sunny
conditions made bites hard to come by with Gareth Finney coming out on top with
128cm. The other five qualifying places being taken by Kevin Jones, Simon Nicol,
Ben Thomas, Stuart Turner and David Smith.
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| Simon Nicol who qualified in joint 3rd place, with a town centre perch. |
Event organiser, Julian Chidgey said ‘It was great to see so
many keen lure anglers enjoying urban angling. It just goes to show that there
are great stocks of forgotten fish in many town centre venues’.
For those who want a chance of reaching the
final which is held at Chew Valley next month. There are still tickets available
for the Stainforth and Keadby canal event on 13th September, Leeds Liverpool canal on 14th September and the final qualifier at Peterborough’s Ferry Meadows, on Sunday 21st
September.
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| Group shot from Q7 |
