As the curtain comes down on the country’s longest-running and most prestigious big-fish angling competition, voting now begins to decide the 2024/25 title... and what a season it was!
Take one look at the incredible array of catches made in the specimen fishing world over the past 12 months and few could deny that we’re living in a ‘golden era’ of big-fish angling.
A host of British records tumbled last season, with countless other huge fish reported.
The biggest-ever barbel, roach, crucian and eel were landed, and it seems that most of our species are reaching weights that, just a few decades ago, many believed were beyond the realms of possibility.
As a result, the race for the 2024/25 Drennan Cup is shaping up to be one for the history books.
Predicting a winner is always hard, and while there are a few stand-out contenders who scooped numerous weekly Drennan awards, the magnitude of some of the individual fish reported this year is sure to shake up the voting and make this anyone’s race.
Submit your vote
ANYBODY who has won a weekly Drennan Cup award in the past five years is eligible to cast a vote in this year’s competition. If you qualify, please email your top four choices for this year’s cup to: Freddie.sandford@bauermedia.co.uk or call 01733 395139. Voting ends on April 22, and the winner will be announced on April 29.
Stephen Gibbons - 9 awards
Leading the way this year with a remarkable nine weekly awards is Norfolk angler Stephen Gibbons. He breaks the record for the most awards ever received in a season, topping Richard Wilby’s eight from 2019/20. Stephen kicked off his campaign with an 11lb 4oz tench, followed few weeks later by a 6lb 3oz eel.
As the river season opened, he hit the Fenland Drains and enjoyed a sensational spell of rudd fishing, winning awards for fish of 3lb 5oz and 3lb 9oz. He also compiled one of the all-time great hauls of rudd in a single day, 22 fish over 2lb!
As the weather cooled, Stephen turned his attentions to roach on the River Wensum, picking up awards for fish of 2lb 8oz 8dr and 2lb 10oz. A long journey to the wilds of Scotland was next, where his efforts were rewarded with a 3lb 2oz grayling.
In February, Stephen ventured closer to home, this time targeting roach on an East Anglian stillwater where he caught a new PB of 3lb 4oz.
Finally, he headed to the Dorset Stour, where he took a magnificent 7lb 15oz chub on trotted maggots just before the season ended.
THE BEST SPECIMEN RODS WILL HELP YOU LAND BIG FISH LIKE THE ONES IN THIS ARTICLE!
Neale Woodward - 7 awards
Neale Woodward enjoyed a superb campaign, winning an impressive seven awards which, in any other year, would likely have put him head and shoulders above the opposition.
He started in early May with a 16lb 4oz bream, followed soon thereafter by an 11lb 2oz tench from a Kent gravel pit. Barbel were high on his agenda, and he duly picked up an award for a 17lb 2oz fish from the Lea in September. Neale then headed to the Thames, where he had another barbel of 17lb 4oz.
Next to hit his net was a 3lb 1oz grayling from the River Frome, followed by a 3lb 10oz roach from an Oxfordshire stillwater.
After that, Neil turned his attention to chub – a species that had proved challenging for him all winter. He targeted them on several rivers, but his efforts came good in the final weeks of the season, with a fish of 7lb 11oz on trotting tactics from the River Lea.
Daniel Bouskila - 5 awards
Over recent seasons Daniel Bouskila has become a regular among weekly award winners, but the five he bagged this season marked his best performance yet in the competition.
His campaign started in spring with a superb 6lb 2oz eel, which he caught at close range during a short morning session.
When the rivers opened, Daniel was soon on the grayling trail, banking a fish of 3lb on a nymph from a southern chalk stream.
This was followed shortly after by a 1lb 1oz dace, caught on trotted maggots from a small river.
Daniel had to wait until winter to pick up another award, which he did with a 3lb 2oz grayling, again caught on nymphing tactics. He saved the best until last, though, when he landed a sublime grayling of 3lb 8oz on trotted maggots from a small carrier of a southern chalk stream in the final days of the river campaign.
Alfie Lane - 4 awards
The Hampshire Avon and Dorset Stour have been in excellent form over the past few years, and local angler Alfie Lane enjoyed some of the best fishing these rivers have to offer.
His first big result of the season came in October, when he caught a 7lb 15oz chub from the Stour. He tempted it from an area of slack water just as the river fell following floods.
Early in the New Year he followed that up with an 18lb 3oz Stour barbel – a fish that equalled the river record. In the final weeks of the season, Alfie headed to the Hampshire Avon, taking a barbel of 18lb 12oz, soon followed by a chub of exactly 8lb.
All his fish fell to legered boilie hookbaits, which Alfie fished alongside PVA bags filled with either chopped boilies or pellets.
Dave Robinson - 3 awards
A spell of 100 blank nights chasing the species was soon forgotten about when Dave Robinson landed a huge 6lb 8oz eel alongside others of 5lb 10oz and 4lb.
The Suffolk angler caught them from Stanwick Lakes in the Nene Valley, where he snuck in a few nights fishing while filming nearby. Switching from roach heads to worm hookbaits transformed his results.
As the weather cooled, Dave headed to the River Lea. He duly picked up awards, the first for a barbel which weighed 17lb 4oz and took his boilie hookbait just 20 minutes after he’d cast out! His campaign on the river got even better a month later when he was given an award for an 18lb 8oz specimen from the in-form waterway.
Daniel Woolcott - 3 awards
As last season’s Drennan Cup winner, Daniel Woolcott certainly didn’t spend the 2024/25 season basking in the glory of victory! He got his campaign off to a flyer with an immaculate 3lb 4oz roach from Linear Fisheries on maggot feeder tactics. Crucians were his next target, so he headed to Sutton Lake, in
Shropshire, and was rewarded with a PB of 4lb exactly on Method feeder tactics with a grain of Scopex corn on the hook.
For his final award, Daniel caught a 3lb 1oz grayling from the River Frome. It’s a venue he’s fished for over a decade in search of a three-pounder, and his efforts finally came good with a real warrior of a fish.
Dai Gribble - 3 awards
We were blown away right at the start of the season when Dai Gribble landed a 4lb 3oz British Record-equalling roach. The two-time Drennan Cup champion had the fish from Brasenose 1 on Oxford’s Linear Fisheries complex, where maggot feeder tactics produced the goods.
That fish capped a sensational run of big roach for Dai, who had landed others of 3lb 6oz and 3lb 5oz on the session prior to that. He didn’t stop there, as a few months later he picked up an award for a tench weighing 11lb exactly. Amazingly, it was his 60th double-figure tench! That fish was caught from
a Kent stillwater, soon to be followed by a fin-perfect 11lb 13oz tinca from Staffordshire’s Copmere.
At the time Dai said that, in his opinion, the latter fish was equal to a 13-pounder from a southern gravel pit, because it’s his first-ever ‘double’ from the venue, which he’s fished since way back in 1981!
Lee Snow - 3 awards
Over the first month of the season, Leicestershire angler Lee Snow enjoyed a memorable spell of bream fishing. He kicked off with a fish of 17lb 1oz fish from a large Midlands stillwater, and the next week he moved to another stillwater in Cambridgeshire, where he picked up another award for one of 17lb 2oz. But the best was yet to come when, just a few weeks later, he landed a true giant of a bream weighing 20lb 2oz.
That fish was over a pound bigger than any other reported last season, and fell to a fake corn and caster hookbait from a spot 60 yards out down the back of a gravel bar. Even more special was that his son, Alfie, was there to witness the remarkable fish.
Matt Adams - 3 awards
Trotting maestro Matt Adams had a remarkable run of big river roach and dace this autumn, landing three special fish on float tactics from southern rivers. The first was a 1lb 3oz dace – just 2oz off the current British Record – to waggler tactics from the Dorset Stour.
Matt then headed to the Frome, where he landed a 3lb 7oz roach, which he caught using stick float tactics, with a light 4xNo4 float. He added a roach of 2lb 9oz in the same session, just for good measure! Arguably his best fish was saved until last, however – a 3lb 10oz roach from the Dorset Stour. Again, stick float tactics did the damage, with a maggot hookbait and a cautious feeding approach proving successful.
James Champkin - 3 awards
Two awards for tench in as many weeks got James Champkin’s Drennan Cup run underway, as he slipped the net underfish of 11lb 2oz and 11lb 15oz in July. They were caught from a Cotswold pit, which James fished beyond the typical spring period for specimen tench.
The larger of his fish came on the second morning of three consecutive day trips, when worm kebabs fished in a silty gulley between gravel bars did the trick.
Over winter, James got to grips with fishing nymphs for grayling, and managed a superb 3lb 4oz fish on the tactic from the Dorset Frome. It was caught from a deep and pacey pool, where the fish took his fly on just the second run through.
Dean Macey - 3 awards
TV star and former Olympic decathlete Dean Macey was another who had a season to remember, kicking things off with the capture of some cracking bream in late spring.
The first weighed 16lb 8oz and was caught at long range after it took a wafter hookbait. He managed an even bigger one a few weeks later, this time weighing 17lb 2oz. That fish was also caught on a wafter hookbait, which he fished in a swim the wind was pushing into.
But the highlight of Dean’s season undoubtedly came right at the end, when he banked a colossal 8lb 3oz chub from the River Lea at King’s Weir.
It fell to trotted maggots and beats his previous PB by 2oz, which was a fish he never thought he’d better!
Steve Ricketts - British Record eel
In July last year the angling world went into meltdown when Steve Ricketts landed a new British record eel weighing 11lb 3oz. It beat Steve Terry’s record for the species by 1oz – a record many believed would never be beaten and which had stood for over 45 years!
Eel fanatic Steve Ricketts has dedicated decades of his life in pursuit of the species, having spent many of those tackling big, rock-hard Colne Valley gravel pits.
His milestone eel came from a far less challenging water, one that Steve fishes ‘just to get a few bites’. Amazingly, it was caught on a pellet hookbait! The giant specimen measured 47 inches in length and had a staggering 12-inch girth.
James Crosby - British Record barbel
Many predicted that it was only a matter of time before the River Lea produced a new record barbel, but few could have imagined it would break the previous best by a margin of 15oz!
James Crosby’s 22lb 1oz fish did just that, after being caught from the iconic Kings Weir Fishery.
He tempted the all-important bite on a paste- wrapped boilie, and the barbel gave a ferocious bite and fight before he slipped it into the net.
That fish wasn’t James’ only weekly Drennan Cup prize of the season either – he also picked up an award in June for a fine 11lb 8oz tench from a Kent gravel pit.
