The anglers fishing the fifth Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier on Wednesday 24th April 2013 were treated to an unseasonal day in the sun, and near perfect conditions for fishing. The fish at Gold Valley Lakes, Aldershot, Hampshire did not disappoint with over 100 lb required to make the top five.
The battle of the day was fished out on adjacent pegs 115 and 116 on Syndicate Lake and Fish ‘O’ Mania bridesmaid Grant Albutt (Daiwa Dorking), got off to a flier on peg 116 taking 6 carp in the first hour on the pellet waggler. At the next peg 27 year old Gavin Millis (Fettham & Twickenham/Farnham), a Gardener from Slough started on the method feeder, but then took this as his cue to switch to the pellet waggler as well and caught straight away. Though behind at the halfway mark Gavin clawed his way back and ended up with 23 carp to Grant’s 18 carp, but Grant’s were reported to be a better stamp. At the weigh in Gavin weighed 144-6-0 and Grant weighed 141-5-0. Unlucky for Grant his eighth runner up spot in the Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifiers, and his second place finish in a week in this competition.
A big congratulations to Gavin who not only held his nerve in the tight battle of this qualifier, but he also stated after the match that he would be booking his wedding the next day.
Third place went to Chris Cameron (Middy) from Gloucester, pegged on the far bank of Syndicate at peg 119. Chris took 114-8-0 of carp on the method and then on the pole down the edge using corn and pellet. In fourth place was Robert Brennan from Kidderminster from corner peg 31 on Gold Lake, a golden spell during the last 90 minutes of the match fishing meat, and pellet down the edge saw him net 15 carp up to 10lb which gave him a total weight of 105-4-0.
The Angling Trust would like to thank John Raison and his team at Gold Valley for an excellent day.
1st Gavin Millis – 144-6-0
2nd Grant Albutt – 141-5-0
3rd Chris Cameron – 114-5-0
4th Robert Brennan – 105-4-0
5th Geoff Vallance – 101-6-0
6th Marc Rodger – 78-8-0
7th Tom Moretti – 76-8-0
8th David Shultz – 65-15-0
The Fish ‘O’ Mania action hots up on Saturday 27th April when it goes to Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire.
