On the back of some moody results from the countries premier fisheries, it was great to see Messingham Sands leading the way with no fewer than fifteen ton up weights in the twelfth round of Fish’O’Mania XXV qualification. With somewhat of a heatwave sweeping the country, it was expected that most of the weights would come ‘up in the water’, however, at the all out there was still some uncertainty as to where the winner would come from with anglers across several lakes in contention.
It was Titans angler Scott Gollings who utilised his local knowledge to take his spot in the Fish’O final in July and was left in his own words ‘Speechless’ at his achievement. Scott drew favoured peg 57 on Swan Lake and went about putting together an impressive 180lb 9oz. Winning tactics for the carp were a mixture of both; pellet waggler and short pole to take some late lumps down his margin.
Coming in a respectable second was venue regular Anthony Coates who drew Oak Tree Pond, peg 40 and amassed 165lb 2oz in the five hours. Tony also had to chop and change between pellet waggler and the pole to keep his carp coming.
Rounding out the top three on the day was Graham Greendale who pushed Tony all the way and ended up with 161lb 12oz from peg 36 on Island Lake. Graham caught most of his fish on bomb and pellet, but also winkled out a few on the pellet waggler.
Our thanks must go to Kevin Johnson and the team at Messingham Sands for hosting a cracking qualifier and to Mike Story and Danny Williams for organising. Our next qualifier is on Saturday 26th May at Colemans Cottage and there will be an allocation of tickets on the morning to people turning up on spec.
RESULTS:
1. Scott Gollings 180lbs 9oz
2. Anthony Coates 165lbs 2oz
3. Graham Greendale 161lbs 12oz
4. Jim Hall 152lbs 7oz
5. Lloyd Holmes 150lbs 9oz
