Of all the big titles to win, the UK Angling Championships has to be the toughest, fished as it is over four rounds on different venues across the summer months and decided on section points.
It requires a very different approach from the all-out ‘fish to win’ mentality of so many qualifiers, bringing different methods into play and the need for careful judgement with regard to what to fish for and the timings of your match.
Some very famous names have picked up the claret jug trophy and now, in 2022, Steve Forster can add his name to that list.
Emerging from this final round at Barston as the only angler to score five points, Steve recorded a section win on the day to get him over the line, adding to wins at Hallcroft and the Glebe and a second at Rookery Waters. Victory not only assured his place in angling history, but also earned him a more than handy £3,000 for his back pocket!
All in all, it’s been a fine year for the Sheffield-based angler, as in March he also lifted the Angling Trust Silverfish title at Meadowlands Fishery – not a bad few months’ work when you come to think about it.
Second spot overall and £2,000 went to Alex Dockerty, who took second in section on the day to finish with six points and a superior total weight to third-placed Jon Arthur – a man who has won this event three times in the past.
Alex racked up 300-618 against the 294-495 of Jon, so there wasn’t really a lot in it.
There was also a match to be won on the day, and famed peg 124 on the golf course bank produced yet again. Middy/Bait-Tech man Dave Wood destroyed the opposition with a mammoth 126-099 of big carp taken on Method feeder and bomb with 8mm pellet and wafters down his edge alongside the large reedbed that sticks out into the lake.
That secured Dave £1,000, with second going to Garbolino man Jason LeBosquet, another former UK Champs winner, with 64-353 of carp caught mainly down the edge of peg 46 on the river bank. Third place was filled by Dave Burley with 59-137.
Steve’s all-important section win came off peg 88, where he weighed in 58-230 to also take fourth spot overall on the day. His catch consisted of mainly skimmers, plus a few carp and F1s, although it wasn’t made easy by having two anglers, Nick Speed and Andy Power, also on four points going into the match. Beat them and that was two dangerous obstacles out of the way.
“I drew just where I wanted, in an area that was 99 per cent about catching skimmers, with few carp to worry about – and Nick and Andy on adjacent pegs!” Steve said. “Alex Dockerty seemed to be everyone’s pick to win his section, but I’d been down and practised, sorted out catching the bigger skimmers, and felt confident I could put a weight together and have enough to beat Alex if it came down to total weight.”
Starting at 6m, Steve fished and fed 4mm pellets for a good early run of skimmers. However, the appearance of the BT Sport cameras slowed things a little after an hour, so he went out on his 13m pole line where he’d been pinging 6mm cubes of meat – and from then on he never came off it!
“I’d caught those bigger skimmers on meat earlier in the week, so I knew this would be the best line. Alternating between a positive and a light rig with 6mm meat on the hook, I caught skimmers from 6oz to 2lb all the way to the end, plus three bonus carp and two F1s that weighed 27lb between them,” he continued.
“My bank runner had counted 127 skimmers plus the carp and F1s, so I felt I had 100lb, but so did Nick and Andy. Only the scales would tell, and they had 105lb each, which I felt I’d beat. My fish went 58kg, or 128lb in old money, so the section was in the bag.
“I’m not one for phoning around trying to find out what everyone else has done, as I don’t like counting my chickens. I packed up, knowing that news would soon get around the lake, and it did,” he explained.
“First up, I heard that Jimmy Brooks and Mark Price, who also both had four points at the start, had blown out, so it was down to Alex as the only one who could beat me. Word was he was only going to be second in his section and, once that was confirmed, it was a brilliant feeling.
“To win the UK Champs and have my name on that trophy alongside the likes of Alan Scotthorne, Bob Nudd, Tommy Pickering and so on is what it’s all about. That’s all I wanted to do – have my name with the greats. Nobody can take that away from you,” he added.
On the day result: 1 D Wood, Middy/Bait-Tech, 126-099; 2 J LeBosquet, Garbolino, 64-353; 3 D Burley, Stainforth Angling, 59-137; 4 S Forster, Browning Aston Park Fisheries/Preston Innovations, 58-230; 5 A Kinder, Maver, 57-890;6 L Blagden, Milo, 57-720.
Overall result: 1 S Forster, Browning Aston Park Fisheries/Preston Innovations, 5pts; 2 A Dockerty, Drennan/Dynamite Baits, 6 (300-618); 3 J Arthur, Matrix/SonuBaits, 6 (294-495); 4 A Power, Preston Innovations, 6 (263-480); 5 N Speed, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 7; 6 J Brooks, SonuBaits, 8 (239-922); 7 J LeBosquet, Garbolino, 8
(229-886); 8 M Price, Stainforth Angling, 8 (226-456);9 A Kinder, Maver, 8 (223-536); 10 D Shepherd, Bag ‘Em Baits, 9.