There can’t have been many more popular winners of a fishing match than Lee Riley when he stepped up to lift the 2022 Golden Reel Angling Champs title at Larford Lakes, following what can only be described as a horrendous last couple of years.
The Bury man had suffered a work accident that left him hospitalised and thinking that he might never fish again, after suffering multiple fractures to his legs and complications after treatment.
However, after support from friends, family and anglers, Lee slowly got back into matches, not without difficulty, qualifying for the final from Partridge Lakes and going into the match just happy to be there after what had gone before.
It was a dramatic match, too, with Lee netting a 10lb carp with just seconds left to snatch the title from long-time leader Luke Bamford. Lee, at peg 27 on the burr bank of the Match Lake, finished on 140-6-0 against the 132-11-0 of Luke on peg 17.
That netted Bait-Tech-backed Lee £35,000, but, as he said afterwards, the money was irrelevant – it was all about the title and what it would do for him in the coming months.
Here he relates the story of his big win...
At the peg
“I’d been down for three practice matches and had seen end peg 27 fish its head off, so I was happy enough. With Andy Bennett as my bank runner, we agreed that if I could be in touch with the leaders with two hours to go, when the margins came good, I’d got a great chance. Andy was positive I’d catch in the edge, so I set up a short pole line and a bomb and feeder line further out, plus two edge swims.
“Kicking off at 6m with hard pellets, I was hoping for the odd carp plus skimmers, but only had around 3lb of silvers and no carp! That was expected as the lake seemed to be fishing hard all over and, after an hour, it was time to give the bomb a go, where I’d been firing 8mm pellets in. Not much happened here, so I decided to try and force things a little, by feeding twice heavily on each cast.
“That worked a treat, and I soon saw signs of carp on the bomb line along with some liners. Andy told me to stick with it and, in no time, I’d landed four carp to put me on about 30lb, so I was very much in the running with the margins to come.”
Right-hand edge first…
“Both margins had around 18ins of water up against some lily pads at 6m, but I wanted to feed them differently to see if one was going to be better than the other.
“To the right I fed pellets, with groundbait and dead maggots to the left, and it was the pellet line that took off first. A 6mm on the hook gave me seven carp in a steady run in the fourth hour. Some were in double figures too!”
…then the left!
“I’d not seen any signs over the groundbait for ages, just the odd fish coming in, which I think is no good, as you need several fish feeding and competing at once. Finally, it happened with just over an hour to go, and I picked off another seven.”
Cool as a cucumber
“I’ve got to pay credit to Andy – he’s so cool and calm. At one point I was getting a bit edgy, wondering what weight I had and what the others were doing, but he put me back on track, saying ‘don’t ask, keep fishing, you’re making the right decisions, change nothing and carry on.’ On my last drop in I hooked a big carp, and Andy told me to take my time and get it in. If I rushed it and lost it, there was no guarantee I’d go back in and get another, and he was right about that.”
At the scales
“At the whistle, we took some time to add up what I had and, at best, we felt it was 131lb. I’d heard Luke Bamford and Art Hilmi’s names over the tannoy constantly, so I felt they’d beaten me easily with 150lb apiece. When they weighed in, though, it all changed. I’d got more than Art, and Luke was only a few pounds off what my estimation was. Even so, I got the feeling I was going to be a fish off winning.
“We were all wrong, though! The carp weighed heavy and with one fish remaining to weigh I was only ounces behind Luke – it was in the bag. An incredible and really emotional moment. At that point I’d come so far from lying in hospital not knowing if I’d walk again, let alone fish, and then winning one of the major titles!”
Result: 1 L Riley, Bait-Tech, 140-6-0; 2 L Bamford, Middy/Adrenaline Baits, 132-11-0; 3 A Hilmi, Catchy Baits, 115-14-0; 4 P Upperton, Guru/Mainline Match, 96-0-0.