It’s very rare in team match fishing for a side to defend a title, regardless of the level they’re fishing at. There are so many variables to wreck a well thought-out plan – the weather, the draw, what your opposition are doing and, of course, how the fish are behaving on the day!
So that makes Stainforth Angling’s win in the 2022 Supercup something a little bit special, as the South Yorkshire side became the first team in the competition’s 22-year history to retain the title following their triumph across the two fisheries.
Scoring 26 points, Stainforth lifted the silver trophy once again, winning by six points from Phil’s Bait & Tackle B, with third place going to Kent outfit Team Martin on 35.
Beating bad draws
Plenty of individual success came the champions’ way too, as captain Mark Price won at Barston, Dave Burley took sixth spot and Keith Pearson grabbed fourth at Meadowlands.
“We’re still a bit shocked we won it, as our draw was bad, to say the least,” captain Mark said. “I’d say only two of the six pegs were okay, and I really felt that if the lakes fished to form, we’d struggle. However, both places have been a bit tricky, with the carp not really feeding at Barston and the skimmers not showing at Meadowlands, so that helped us a lot as it turned out.”
Keeping it simple
With plenty of experience from previous finals, and with four of the team having fished the recent UK Championships round at Barston, the plan was a simple one of going for carp on the feeder and bomb or skimmers on pellet and meat, depending on where you drew.
“Dave Burley, on peg 12, was in a good area at Barston and one we felt he could catch in the edge from, which he did after a few on the feeder to the golf green,” said Mark.
“Meanwhile, Mick Owen was in an out-and-out skimmer area on the river bank and he did really well to come third in the section with 80lb of skimmers,” he recalled.
“My own peg on the golf course bank wasn’t good going on recent form, but it turned out to be the best area in that section, which I never expected! Meadowlands gave us more concern, because with just six points from the three of us at Barston, we were in with a great shout,” Mark continued.
“However, I knew Jamie Snedker’s peg was rancid, and he’d do well to beat a couple, while Brendan Haigh was in a similar situation, so for them to beat four and seven anglers was a bit of a result.
“That just left Keith Pearson in the bay, which is never that good, but Meadowlands boss Mick Bull assured us that the carp would rock up late there and Keith held his nerve and caught late to win the section. That’s the result that I think went a long way to winning it for us.”
The win also gave Stainforth a touch of one-upmanship in terms of local rivalry. The now defunct Hemsworth Angling side won the event twice in the past, but never two in a row, which Mark was quick to remind former team members of!
The results...
Stainforth’s team card:
A section Barston Lakes: Dave Burley, 97-4-0 - 2 points
B section Barston Lakes: Mick Owen, 80-3-0 – 3 points
C section Barston Lakes: Mark Price, 146-8-0 – 1 point
D section Meadowlands Fishery: Jamie Snedker, 17-0-0 – 11 points
E section Meadowlands Fishery: Keith Pearson, 104-0-0 – 1 point
F section Meadowlands Fishery: Brendan Haigh, 43-6-0 – 8 points
Team result: 1 Stainforth Angling, 26pts; 2 Phil’s Bait & Tackle B, 32; 3 Team Martin, 35; 4 Phil’s Bait & Tackle A, 40; 5 Petersfield DAC, 41; 6 Trafford Angling, 43; 7 Sixfields AC, 47; 8 Whitemoor Lakes, 50 (section wins); 9 Oakham Hookers. 50; 10 Honeywell AC, 51; 11 JVAC, 54; 12 Riverside AC, 60; 13 Old Hough, 61; 14 Kingfisher Twinlakes, 62;
15 Goodyear AC, 68.
Captain Mark strikes again
Stainforth’s win last year was led by a great captain’s knock from skipper Mark Price, who took top weight at Barston – and 2022 was eerily similar, with the team winning and Mark coming out on top once again at Barston with a 146-8-0 net.
That came off peg 110, not a fancied area when the likes of famed peg 124 are in the draw. But on the day it was the place to be. On next door peg 112 Matt Thompson of Phil’s Bait & Tackle B was second on 144-0-0, third going to Phil’s A counterpart Daz Staley on 135-8-0 at peg 31 on the far side of the lake.
Skimmers seal the win
“When I saw the draw, I thought I was going to get a right thumping from peg 110, as it’s not been great all year,” Mark revealed. “Skimmers looked like playing a big part, but to begin with I chucked a Hybrid feeder with a wafter just off the island to see if I couldn’t nick an early carp. I actually had a brilliant first hour, catching an 8lb and a 10lb carp and two big 4lb F1s. After that a lot of little fish turned up, but in between them I nicked another carp of 12lb and three big skimmers, so around 40lb was a much better start than I could ever have hoped for.
“When that line died I moved to my bomb line and caught a big F1, but not much else. At the halfway point Matt, to my right, was catching big skimmers on long pole and meat so I followed suit, as I’d been firing meat there.
“After that it was a brilliant few hours, taking skimmers from 10oz to 2lb 8oz every drop, plus an F1 and an 8lb carp. At the scales I’d got 70lb of skimmers to go with the carp and F1s, so I certainly needed to be chopping and changing!”
Unlike Mark, Matt fished the pole all day, with pellets at 7m and meat at 13m, to take 144-0-0 of mainly skimmers. He was very unlucky to miss out on the win by just one fish!
Barston Lakes result: 1 M Price, Stainforth Angling, 146-8-0;2 M Thompson, Phil’s Bait & Tackle B, 144-0-0; 3 D Staley, Phil’s Bait & Tackle A, 135-8-0; 4 R Shaw, Sixfields AC, 112-12-0; 5 N Chedzoy, Whitemoor Lakes, 108-0-0; 6 D Burley, Stainforth Angling, 97-4-0.
Lambsdown hot pegs pay off
At Meadowlands, the action centred around pegs 1 and 3 on Lambsdown Lake, the pegs that produced first and second in last year’s final. In a repeat performance it was Old Hough’s Connor Edwards who led the way with a mighty 259-14-0 of carp, well clear of Trafford’s Niall Evans with 177-3-0 off peg 3. Phil’s Bait & Tackle A team man Michael Elliott rounded off the top three with 148-10-0 from peg 72 on the opposite bank for third.
“It was the sort of peg you dream about,” Crewe-based Connor said. “I could have caught on almost anything, I reckon, but I set up to fish short, on the bomb and then maybe down the bank to the right. I started at 6m with 8mm pellets, feeding a few by hand and caught four carp around the 8lb mark in the first 30 minutes, priming the bomb line down the middle of the peg with 8mm pellets. Once it started fizzing with carp were swirling, it was time for a change.”
Making the switch
Fishing double 8mm pellet on the bomb, Connor stayed on this line for the next three hours, rapidly getting to around 180lb with two hours to go. However, the swim then slowed a little, forcing him on to that end bank line with a Method feeder and 6mm pellet.
“I reckon I could have got on it sooner and caught another 40lb, but at that stage I couldn’t see that anyone was challenging me,” he explained. “Even Niall next door slowed up at the end”
Niall, on peg 3, began on the bomb, landing two 10lb carp in as many casts before moving on to his short pole and pellet line to enjoy a great run of big carp in the opening hour, getting to 80lb in no time. From that point on, though, no one line settled, and it was a case of chopping and changing from the short pole to bomb and long pole shallow.
Meadowlands Fishery result:1 C Edwards, (pictured) Old Hough, 259-14-0; 2 N Evans, Trafford Angling, 177-3-0; 3 M Elliott, Phil’s Bait & Tackle A, 148-10-0; 4 K Pearson, Stainforth Angling, 104-0-0; 5 B May,Petersfield DAC,86-1-0; 6 D James, Kingfisher Twinlakes, 81-8-0.
