--MANDATORY NOTE TO ALL ANGLERS--
Due to a local outbreak of K.H.V. no keepnets to be
used on any still waters. Dip tanks are in place on all stillwaters. Nets, mats and slings MUST be dipped
(FULLY immersed) for a minimum of 15 minutes. Keep nets are allowed on the River Stour (only) from the start of the river season.
The last competition of the season for the Bateman Cup was due to have been fished at Trenley Lake and Stour Lake but the frozen still-waters meant it was fished at Grove Ferry on the River Stour.
Steve West followed up his recent triumph in the Saunders Cup (also fished at Grove Ferry where he landed 25lb 2oz) with another fine weight of 26lb 11oz to lift this year’s Bateman Cup. Steve caught six bream and several roach and alternated between his 6 metre whip and more traditional tactics to land his winning tally. He also landed a 10lb 5oz common on just a size 18 hook and 2lb line which took fifteen minutes to land. Unfortunately the weighty carp did not count in the total.
Second place was convincingly taken by Alan Cain with four bream and a few roach for 17lb 10oz before a bit jump down to third and fourth placed Steve Foreman with 7oz and Hanna Boden with 6oz who both caught small roach. It was hard going with no bream in their swims and the roach generally not feeding.
Hanna won the junior’s competition and also lost a good chub at the net which would have put her up to third place.
The weather was fine in the morning but rain set in from midday and in the afternoon the river rose considerably with the melting snow. In comparison to last season’s cup held in spring like conditions at Trenley Lake and at Stour Lake, the temperature then rose to fifteen degrees and the 2017 cup was won by Andy King with 37lb 14oz.
This season the Association held the Saunders Cup competition at Grove Ferry. Eleven competitors took place in the draw at 8am and fished from 9am to 3pm for silver fish only.
The match started in great conditions but the competitors found the going a little tough towards the end with the wind making things tricky.
Steve West lifted this year’s Cup with a tremendous 25lb 2oz that included several good quality roach/bream hybrids to 2lb. Steve’s fine total were all taken using a 6 metre whip with maggot hook baits and a bed of ground bait.
Second place went to Dave Parker with 20lb 9oz made up of four good bream and various smaller fish. Ian Ritchie weighed in 12lb 6oz for third and fourth position went to Michael Wilson with 11lb 14oz.
Junior angler Hanna Boden continued her winning ways in this season’s competitions with 10lb 5oz to win the junior’s match.
Eight of the competitors drew pegs amongst the boats and they produced all of the top weights. The three anglers that drew pegs on ‘The Boards’ had no shelter from the wind and the top weight there was 4lb 8oz.
The 2017 Canterbury and District Angling Association’s Christmas Shield was fished at Cottington lakes in Deal.
With the lake frozen conditions made it hard going for the first few hours of the match as the competitors had to break the ice on Black Lake!
Twenty one anglers braved the freezing weather and despite the conditions some good bags of fish were weighed in at the 3pm finish.
The winner with a tremendous 25lb total was Ian Ritchie while second placed Fred Foreman was close behind with 22lb 12oz.
The weights were made up mainly of roach and skimmer bream, with sweetcorn fished on the pole seemingly the best tactic for the better quality fish.
Match organiser Dan West hooked 16lb for third and fourth placed Paul Watts brought in 15lb 1oz.
The 2017 Cooke Pike Cup was held at Fordwich and Trenley lakes with poor attendance due to the weather and adverse conditions.
Just two senior anglers weighed in with Bob Allcott lifting this season’s cup with a 10lb 5oz and 8lb 5oz brace for a total of 18lb 10oz.
Jon Weir landed a 3lb 5oz pike while Gareth Todd won the junior’s match with two pike for 7lb ahead of Adam Matthews who reeled in a 3lb 12oz pike.
Sixteen competitors including two juniors braved chilly conditions to compete for the Association’s annual Match Group Cup on the River Stour at Grove Ferry.
At the 3pm final whistle Andy King had landed 17lb 2oz of roach to clinch the Cup ahead of second placed Tony Eversfield with 14lb 14oz. Andy and Tony both fished at the bottom end of the boats near the sluice.
The match was fished upstream and at ‘E’ section and Steve West made the most of the skimmer bream in his section of the river near the boards to finish third with 9lb 14oz. Steve commented after the match that the river level was some two feet up on the Open Competition fished in September however the water was very clear with no colour making angling tricky.
The cold and persistent downstream wind made float and bait presentation difficult and it was noted several anglers caught their fish early on in the match.
The tide ran out all day and Steve added that a split in the tide would have benefited the competitors and likely turned the fish back to feeding. Steve Foreman caught 7lb 11oz for fourth place and Adam Matthews won the junior competition with one roach of an ounce.
This season’s Ron Edwards Roach Competition was fished at Plucks Gutter with match organiser Dan West reporting fourteen anglers took part.
The winner was Glen Brett with a most respectable roach bag of 13lb 14oz ahead of second placed Mick Wilson who caught 10lb 12oz.
Although there were a few light and short rain showers, the blowy conditions all day made float presentation difficult for the competitors. Despite the challenging wind and low river level Mark Taylor hooked 7lb 15oz to finish third. Float-fished tactics were adopted by the successful anglers.
Thirty four anglers took to the river bank to fish this season’s Open Competition at Grove Ferry and Plucks Gutter.
Association bailiff Jon Weir had carefully prepared the swims and ten anglers drew pegs/swims at Plucks Gutter (Section A), eleven at Grove Ferry (Section E) and thirteen at Section F, also at Grove Ferry. Conditions were ideal and the weather stayed dry despite earlier forecasts of afternoon rain.
This year’s winner was Peter Hole with a stunning 42lb 8oz taken from F Section downstream on a peg near to the Boat House. Tonbridge’s Peter feeder-fished throughout the match to hook five large bream as well as smaller skimmer bream and roach.
Grove Ferry also gave second placed Conrad Thrower his fine total of 34lb 5oz but this time upstream on Section E. Conrad also opted for the feeder to catch three large bream and skimmers.
Third placed Paul Wiltshire bagged 18lb 1.5oz from Plucks Gutter using a pole to hook skimmers and roach throughout the day.
Steve West helped run the match on behalf of the CDAA and his early morning efforts were justly rewarded with another tremendous weight of 17lb 13oz. Steve fished the pole on E Section just above the boards to land roach, skimmers and fourth position.
The 2017 Top Junior was Gareth Todd with a fine weight of 8lb 15oz taken from E Section and included a big bream, skimmers and roach all taken on a feeder rod. Hanna Boden was pipped into second place from last year’s win with 6lb 8oz from F Section.
Blean Angling beat off five other teams to secure a win with 72lb 10oz in the ‘Team of Four’ competition. The section winners were Glen Brett with 14lb 2oz from A, Ray Allen with 15lb 14oz from E and Roy Gudgeon with 11lb 2oz from F.
Match organiser Brian Mankelow had a very busy and long but enjoyable day and supported the anglers throughout the match. At the end he thanked the Grove Ferry Boat Club for their kind hospitality again this year. Brian went on to thank local fishing tackle shops Anglers Kabin at Cottington Lakes and Blean Angling for their generous support of the CDAA and the 2017 Open Competition with tackle and raffle prizes.
Unfortunately this year’s Blundell Cup due to be contested at Trenley and Stour lakes was cancelled due to a nearby outbreak of Koi Herpes Virus (KHV).
The Wacher Cup was fished by twenty one anglers in near perfect conditions overnight at Trenley Lake.
Bream were generally caught with a few tench taken, all on feeder rod tactics. The great night concluded with Glen Brett reeling in 85lb 8oz to lift this year’s Cup ahead of second place Steve West with 71lb 8oz.
Colin Durman’s tremendous 57lb 8oz gave him third and Alan Smith was fourth having landed another good bag of 56lb 9oz.
This year's Stonar Charity Shield was another great success and match organiser Brian Allen thanked all those who gave their generous support and donations.
£3,125 was raised for Pilgrims Hospice. Nineteen pairs took part with Mick Small and Gary Richardson winning first prize with carp of 27lb and 24lb 13oz. The pair won a Brian Mills drawing, a tankard each and the Shield.
Enjoying the fine and warm weather throughout the weekend match, Gary had the largest fish of 24lb 13oz up until the very last moment when Mick reeled in his 27lb carp.
Stonar fished well and lots of good fish were landed. The junior winner was Henry Weir with an 11lb 12oz common carp winning him a tankard for soft drinks!
Local businesses were once again very generous with a fantastic variety of raffle prizes donated. Supporting companies included fishing tackle shops Absolute, Active Baits, Blean Angling, Cottington Lakes, Fat Fish and Invicta Angling. There were prizes from Quex Park, Manston Golf, Stonar Cafe and Darenth Big Lake.
There was a clear winner in this season’s Goldsmith Cup for junior anglers held at Trenley Lake. When the whistle went at 1pm, Hanna Boden had caught a great total of 20lb 15oz to go a place higher than last season when she secured second spot with 5lb 6oz.
During a fine day for fishing with warm and occasionally overcast conditions, second place was awarded to Adam Matthews with 12lb 12oz, last year’s winner Isabella Johnson was third with exactly the same total as last year’s winning weight of 5lb 13oz, and fourth spot was Lacey Fordham with 3lb 12oz.
The first of this season’s competitions was held at Fordwich and Stour lakes for the Baldwin Cup.
Carp and tench are the only fished allowed to be weighed in after the 12 hour overnight match. Twenty seven anglers took part fishing from 8pm to 8am on Sunday morning in showery and humid conditions.
Two carp were landed from Fordwich Lake and one from Stour Lake. This year’s winner was Steve Simmons with a 23lb 2oz fish ahead of John Collins with 12lb 8oz and second place. Third spot went to Dan Baynes with 11lb 8oz and Terry Coleman caught the only tench of the night with a 4lb 8oz fish for fourth.