Match Report

Nine anglers fished the third leg of the LEC cup, which was fished at Grosvenor Road and it was good to see Ron Short back after a long absence. The canal was very clear and looked like providing difficult fishing conditions and this proved to be the case. Only 2 anglers were catching fish in the first 4 hours of the match with the other seven not even having a bite.

Steve Simmonds on the end peg seemed to have his own shoal of small roach which he was catching on a regular basis. Keith Hughes was pole fishing right across the canal, close to a bramble bush and was catching the odd small roach and gudgeon. Normally anglers moan when the boat comes along the canal. However the passage of the boat through a couple of times transformed the match as it clouded up the water and this seemed to give the fish the confidence to feed. All the anglers started getting bites and catching fish which was in marked contrast for the first 4 hours of the match. It was interesting to note that all the top catches came from the stretch closest to the A27 bridge

Steve Simmonds caught fish throughout the match on his trusty whip and weighed in 4-4-4 of mainly roach to finish in first place.

In second place was Keith Hughes who used his normal canal tactics of pole fishing on the far shelf to catch 3-13-8 of skimmer bream.

In third place was Vince Herringshaw who caught 3-10-8 of roach and skimmers on the whip using bread punch.

After 3 legs of the Lec Cup Keith Hughes remains in the lead with 2 wins and 1 second.