Well what a fantastic past three days it has been for all the anglers who attended the Daiwa Autumn classic festival. A total of 61 anglers were ready to battle it out over the next three days. Andy Bennett was favourite for the festival but with some new faces it wasn’t going to be easy for him.
Going into Day one saw the anglers go to their first lake and get ready for the all in. There was so many good anglers on the festival it would be good to see how each of them approached there peg in a different way. On Skylark Simon Beswick was the man doing the business from peg 35 fishing soft pellets across in the deep water to catch a good head of Carp. Falcon Lake was fishing a bit hard due to the conditions, but Barry Young on peg 13 seemed to be coping by fishing soft pellets down the edge late on to catch F1’s up to 2lb. The bag up Lake Osprey was surely living up to its name with Andy Bennett catching up in the water with maggots from peg 15. The new addition of Swallow Lake was going to catch some people off guard, but Lee Turner was keeping it simple by fishing pellets short down the first shelf to catch small stockie Carp steady for the most of the day from peg 21.
Section Winners from the first day
Skylark-
Section One – Ryan Lidgaurd Peg 7 – 70lb 8oz
Section Two- Dave Ebbrell Peg 11 – 53lb 2oz
Section Three- Alan Bickley Peg 29 – 53lb 0oz
Section Four- Simon Beswick (Lake Winner) Peg 35– 114lb 8oz
Falcon –
Section One – Luke Sears Peg 7- 52lb 6oz
Section Two- Barry Young Peg 13(Lake Winner)- 79lb 2oz
Section Three- Joe Cartwright Peg 29- 76lb 14oz
Section Four- Martin Botteram Peg 41- 48lb 12oz
Osprey/ Swallow
Section One Osprey– Pete Tickle Peg 3 – 181lb 4oz
Section Two Osprey- Andy Bennett Peg 15(Lake Winner)- 189lb 0oz
Section Three Swallow- Daz Shaw Peg 2- 86lb 8oz
Section Four Swallow- Lee Turner Peg 21- 92lb 12oz
Day Two the Anglers changed around and saw the lakes starting to improve on weights. James Howarth drew the same peg that won the day before on Skylark (Peg 35) and the fish had not moved. Falcon was becoming a tight match with Ady Gathercole (Peg 41) and Adam Swain (Peg 47)running away with the lake win but it was going to be tight with both anglers fishing tight across. Osprey was still producing with Luke Sears (Peg 9)looking like he was on his way to another section win. But Dale Shepherd on Peg 15 was running away with the match win by fishing down the edge on pellets. Swallow Lake was producing some big fish with Mark Taylor catching carp up to 8lb on Peg 21.
Section Winners from Day Two
Skylark-
Section One –Martin Baverstock Peg 1- 62lb 0oz
Section Two– David Chipperfield Peg 17- 71lb 8oz
Section Three- Cliff Adams Peg 27-92lb 10oz
Section Four- James Howarth (Lake Winner) Peg 35-141lb 12oz
Falcon –
Section One – Jon Jowlett Peg 9- 62lb 10oz
Section Two- Steve Parry Peg 15- 52lb 8oz
Section Three- John Southgate Peg 27- 55lb 8oz
Section Four- Ady Gathercole Peg 41 (Lake Winner)- 92lb 14oz
Osprey/ Swallow
Section One Osprey– Luke Sears Peg 9-154lb 12oz
Section Two Osprey- Dale Shepherd Peg 15 (Lake Winner)-173lb 8oz
Section Three Swallow- Adam Southgate Peg 4- 115lb 8oz
Section Four Swallow- Mark Taylor Peg 21- 126lb 13oz
It was all tight going into the last day with Luke Sears on a perfect two points but there was a lot of people on three points after him. On Skylark Joe Cartwright was looking like he was winning the lake from peg 3. Falcon saw Daz Shaw to be off the wind and catching small Carp steady on soft pellets off peg 23. Osprey was fishing hard but Aiden Mansfield was catching steady down the middle on maggots from peg 15. Swallow Lake was only getting better with Jon Jowlett catching long down the edge on peg 13.
Section Winners from the first day
Skylark-
Section One – Joe Cartwright Peg 3 (Lake Winner)- 85lb 12oz
Section Two- Martin Botteram Peg 13- 82lb 14oz
Section Three- Barry Young Peg 25- 82lb 10oz
Section Four- Richard Kinnersley Peg 39- 72lb 10oz
Falcon –
Section One – Paul Holland Peg 7- 94lb 12oz
Section Two- Gary Ford Peg 15- 42lb 0oz
Section Three- Daz Shaw Peg 23 (Lake Winner)- 124lb 4oz
Section Four- Andy Bennett Peg 45- 103lb 14oz
Osprey/ Swallow
Section One Osprey– Adam Swain Peg 9- 110lb 12oz
Section Two Osprey- Aiden mansfield Peg 15- 126lb 6oz
Section Three Swallow- Steve Parry Peg 2- 117lb 0oz
Section Four Swallow- Jon Jowlett Peg 13(Lake Winner)-133lb 0oz
Overall it was a tight Festival with a lot of the top 10 going on weight count back. But a big well done to Andy Bennett on winning the Festival. We enjoyed the company of all the anglers that have fished and hope to see you in the future. Also a massive thank you for Daiwa on sponsoring another festival and their support.
We are have the Daiwa Spring classic Festival in May. The Drennan over 50’s Festival In July and the Daiwa Autumn classic Festival in November. Tickets now on sale for all the festivals, and limited accommodation is available For any more information please ring the bait and tackle shop on 01205 724162 and select Option 2.