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Daiwa Gordon League Gold beat French stars to win Sensas Challenge Final

Daiwa Gordon League Gold stunned a field packed with top international anglers to win the prestigious Sensas Challenge Final on France's Canal de la Martinière. Their aggressive approach to skimmers and bream secured a dominant 15-point victory over the home favourites.

The DGL lads celebrating their well-earned title after winning in the Sensas Challenge Final

@Daiwa Gordon League

by Angling Times |

Published on6th November 2026 at 12.00pm

This year’s Sensas Challenge Final will live long in the memory of everyone involved with Daiwa Gordon League (DGL) Gold, who put in a stellar performance to romp home with the coveted title.

The famous event was held on France’s Canal de la Martinière, with DGL taking two teams along (Gold and Black) to compete.

After two days, the Gold side had scored an impressive 21 points – 15 clear of second-placed Sensas Team 28 B, a side filled with a host of international anglers who are perhaps best described as ‘France’s Barnsley Blacks’.

French venues are notoriously tricky, but the canal being used holds big numbers of skimmers and bream, which rewarded a positive, no-nonsense approach, said DGL captain for the event, Alex Clements.

“The match length was divided into four sections: A and B held larger skimmers and bream, while C and D held loads of small skimmers,” he revealed.

“During practice sessions, we formed an approach to tackle each area. In A and B, we’d be patient and target bonus fish on the long pole, feeding at 12.5m and fishing past our feed, as well as feeding leam and brasem to create a cloud, which drew them in.

Alex Clements with the stamp of skimmers that helped clinch the title of the Sensas Challenge Final

Alex Clements with the stamp of skimmers that helped clinch the title © Daiwa Gordon League

“In C and D, there were massive shoals of small skimmers, so we fed a sticky mix of soil and groundbait to keep them on the bottom.

“These were caught on the short pole, and we’d feed a small ball of this mix after pretty much every fish that we landed.”

Their approach certainly paid off, as the DGL Gold team of Alex, Ian Shep, Jim Brockie and Kev Lavelle finished day one on just nine points.

On day two, their 12 point scores took them to a 21-point total, miles ahead of Sensas Team 28 B’s 36.

“Venues like this suit English anglers – we are aggressive in terms of feed and terminal tackle – we don’t muck about!” Alex added.

“DGL B finished in 8th. Throughout the event we acted as one team, sharing information. We had a bit of a party together back at the digs that night, celebrating our victory in such a prestigious competition!”

THE RESULT

1ST DAIWA GORDON LEAGUE GOLD – 21 POINTS
2ND TEAM SENSAS 28 B – 36 POINTS
3RD TEAM SENSAS 28 A – 38 POINTS
4TH TEAM SENSAS SPORTIFS DE RENNES – 41 POINTS
5TH TEAM SENSAS HAUT DE FRANCE – 42 POINTS
6TH TEAM SENSAS GARDONNETTE – 43 POINTS

Brace of 34lb pike…caught in an hour!

When he arrived at the iconic Chew Valley Lake, Jamie Barnes didn’t feel hopeful of a result after seeing the low water levels and learning of the challenging recent fishing.

However, he went on to have a morning’s fishing he’ll never forget, as he landed pike of 34lb 8oz and 34lb 6oz in quick succession.

Jamie Barnes holds out his catch while still on his boat on the Chew Valley Lake

Imagine catching two fish like this in a morning! © Angling Times

He and his friend were fishing from a boat and headed for an area where Jamie has had success in the past. On the way there, they stumbled across a weedbed and decided to spend some time fishing off the back of it.

“It wasn’t long before my friend landed a small jack, and as he unhooked the fish, I heard my baitrunner melting off,” he told us.

“I hit into the fish, and a short while later slipped the net under a pike of 34lb 6oz. Less than an hour later, I had another take, this time from a fish of 34lb 8oz!”

The brace is believed to be the third biggest ever to be caught from Chew, and if those two fish weren’t enough, Jamie also added a twenty-pounder shortly after.

“That was the end of the action – all done by 11:30am – but I certainly didn’t mind after a catch I doubt that I’ll ever repeat.”

A smelt was Jamie’s successful hookbait, fished on a simple float-leger rig in around 12ft of water.

Reservoir roach falls to a lure!

Daniel Bouskila holds out his catch when he landed this three-pounder fish

Many anglers reach for light tackle when searching for big, crafty roach, but on a recent session on a large reservoir, Daniel Bouskila landed this three-pounder while fishing a lure!

He had seen a large shoal of good fish on the sounder and was unsure if they were bream or specimen perch. With little else to go at, he spent the day trying to catch them, albeit without any joy.

“It can be like that with the perch on these reservoirs – sometimes you can see them but they’re just not feeding,” he told us.

“Right at the end of the day while fishing a stickbait, I finally had a take, and feeling it thudding away, was sure I’d hooked a massive perch.

“But when a massive roach surfaced, I was in shock! It was very windy out there on the water so we could only get a rough weight of the fish, but it was somewhere between 3lb 2oz and 3lb 5oz.”

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