Sheffield fishing: 22 top anglers poised for final of club competition

The final will take place at Aston Springs where cash pools plus £2,500 worth of Daiwa tackle prize vouchers are up for grabs.

It may be a small field but winning won’t be easy. Each angler had to win a club match, then a section in the semi final and now it’s a field of double winners.

Indeed four of our competitors already have their name on the trophy in the past decade, Roger Hill, Geoff Hurt, Steve Newsome and Graham Webster.

The match is on the Snake Lake at Aston Springs Fishery. Spectators are welcome to come along and watch but please note that the anglers will be pegged around the perimeter of the lake with no access to the island.

The draw will take place outside the Waters Edge Cafe at Aston Park Fisheries where breakfasts will be available. Qualifiers need to be there at 8am for the draw. Fishing is from 10am to 4pm.

The keenly contested semi-final took place at Hayton Lakes, near Retford.

Big ‘thank yous’ are due to our sponsor, Daiwa Sports UK, Hayton Lakes for hosting us and of course our ever-willing team of helpers Pauline and Geoff Hurt plus the two young lads who mucked in and dealt with the nets of fish.

Despite a threat of rain throughout the match it looked like we would escape until minutes before the final whistle blew, when the heavens opened and drenched everyone, sending folk home with cars full of soaking wet gear. Any weigh-in is a nightmare in rain as it is impossible to keep the weigh sheet dry and sometimes the ink runs making the results illegible.

Fortunately the fishery manager came to our rescue and provided his maintenance cart which has a very useful weigh-arm, plus Pauline Hurt was able to sit inside it, completely in the dry to record the weights.