Match Angler Of The Year, Woodside & Island Pools
- Woodside Fishery
- 17 hours ago
- 13 min read
The third annual Match Angler Of The Year Final took place on Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th March with the 2025 qualification period producing a twenty-strong field for this year's final. To qualify for the final, anglers had to either (a) win two club matches, open matches or special events, or (b) weigh in over 100lbs over a maximum of two matches. Anglers were pegged across both main match lakes in sections of five (5) with those pegged on Woodside pool swapping for Island pool on day two, and vice versa.
Conditions for this year's final were, in a word, awful! The weather leading up to the final, as is the case at this time of year, had been a bit of a mixed bag but generally quite favourable. However, over the course of the two-day final, anglers endured rain, sleet, hail and gale force winds resulting in the fishing being extremely tough for the duration of the weekend.
DAY 1 - ISLAND POOL
'A' Section
Permanent pegs 2, 17, 15, 14 & 12
Winner of 'A' section on day one on Island pool was Scott Sprigg. Scott drew permanent peg 12 (match peg 5) and fished a feeder for most of the match over to the island with a wafter hookbait to put together a steady run of carp before switching to his edge late on in the match with dead red maggot. Scott found a few bonus edge fish during the final ninety minutes to add to his earlier tally to offer 51-08-00 to the scales, which was good enough for an all important section win.
Finishing in second place just narrowly missing out on a section win and receiving two (2) points was fellow TREC AC man Rob Sandall from permanent peg 2 (match peg 1). Rob offered a 6mm wafter down his edge for most of the match to find small carp in numbers for a final weight of 47-10-00.
Third in section was taken by Ben Hughes from permanent peg 15 (match peg 3). Ben caught a mix of silverfish and carp on sweetcorn fished short over fishery 4mm feed pellet to weigh in 20-01-00.
'B' Section
Permanent pegs 11, 9, 7, 5 & 3
Winner of the open water 'B' section up the opposite end of the lake was Dan Hart. Dan, who has won the event previously, drew permanent peg 11 (match peg 6) and opted to fish paste down his edge for most of the match to find mostly carp to weigh in 44-13-00 at the end of day one, which was enough to take the section win and a single point.
Finishing in second place was Lawrence Connolly (aka Loz), who drew permanent peg 5 (match peg 9). Loz decided to battle the wind for the first half of the match offering both expanders and maggot on the long pole over fishery micro pellets before coming down his inside for the second half of the match with dead maggot. Loz fished a tidy match weighing in nearly 8lb of silvers as well as carp to confirm a day one weight of 37-06-00 from a difficult area.
Third in Section B, and making do with an equally difficult draw, was Dave Bowyer (Vardy's Bait & Tackle). Dave found himself on permanent peg 7 (match peg 8) and faced a cold, fierce wind blowing right at him for the full five hours. Fishing maggot down his edge, Dave managed a handful of silvers as well as just over 20lb of carp to finish with the match with 25-01-00.
SECTION A | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | S. Sprigg | 5 (12) | 51-08-00 | Feeder to the island & dead maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | R. Sandall | 1 (2) | 47-10-00 | Wafter in the margins | 2 |
3rd | B. Hughes | 3 (15) | 20-01-00 | Sweetcorn short | 3 |
SECTION B | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | D. Hart | 6 (11) | 44-13-00 | Paste in the margins | 1 |
2nd | L. Connolly | 9 (5) | 37-06-00 | Expander and maggot long & dead maggot in the margins | 2 |
3rd | D. Bowyer | 8 (7) | 25-01-00 | Maggot in the margins | 3 |
DAY 1 - WOODSIDE POOL
'C' Section
Permanent pegs 3, 5, 6, 8 & 10
Winner of 'C' section, and winning Woodside pool outright, was local man, Dan Bache. Dan drew corner peg 6 (match peg 13) and, despite getting into his stride late on in the day, still managed to put together an impressive bag of fish, which tipped the scales at 94-10-00. Dan caught mostly silvers for the first half of the match, but then found carp down his edge late on with maggot to take out the lake and the section for an all-important single point.
Finishing in second place in 'C' section, and putting a useful two (2) point score on the board was Matt Green. Matt drew permanent peg 10 (match peg 15) on the point of the island and started his match fishing pellet long before switching to his margins offering maggot to end the day with mostly carp with a smattering of silvers giving him 72-00-00.
Third in 'C' section was Chris Hall, who drew permanent peg 5 (match peg 12). Given how the wind was howling down the channel between him and the island, Chris opted to fish paste short for most of the match to catch mostly carp for a final weight of 49-11-00.
'D' Section
Permanent pegs 14, 16, 18, 20 & 21
Taking top spot in 'D' section was Barbourne AC rod, Ash Bosworth. Ash drew end peg 21 (match peg 20) and started his match fishing expanders over fishery micros short on his top four before looking down his edge during the final throws of the match with dead red maggot. Ash ended the day with 59-01-00 and a single point to put himself among the front runners going into day two.
Second in section was taken by Jason Bird from permanent peg 20 (match peg 19). Jason started his match on his short line offering maggot over groundbait and fishery micro pellets before switching to his edge late on incorporating the same tactics to end the day with 35-01-00 and a two (2) point score.
Third place in section 'D' was Josh Gaunt. The Golden Maggot AC rod drew permanent peg 18 (match peg 18) and, like many, had a tough day. Josh spent most of the match chasing bites offering multiple hookbaits on a number of different lines in an effort to keep fish coming to the net. At the end of the five hours, Josh recorded a hard fought 32-11-00 to pick up a well deserved three (3) points.
SECTION C | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | D. Bache | 6 (13) | 94-10-00 | Maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | M. Green | 10 (15) | 72-00-00 | Pellet long & maggot in the margins | 2 |
3rd | C. Hall | 5 (12) | 49-11-00 | Paste short | 3 |
SECTION D | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | A. Bosworth | 20 (21) | 59-01-00 | Pellet short & dead maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | J. Bird | 19 (20) | 35-01-00 | Maggot short & in the margins | 2 |
3rd | J. Gaunt | 18 (18) | 32-11-00 | Pellet, caster & maggot | 3 |
After gale force winds, sleet and hail hampered angler's best efforts on day one, competitors were hoping for a better second day. However, it wasn't to be with the wind becoming even stronger on day two and with it came more heavy and persistant rain. It became a real test of angler's resolve heading into the closing stages of the final with no let up in the weather coupled with extremely difficult fishing.
Day two also saw competitor Craig Lea-Hair unable to continue after suffering a knee injury on day one. Craig finished last in his section on day one from permanent peg 14 (match peg 16) and incurred a single point penalty on day two.
DAY 2 - ISLAND POOL
'A' Section
Permanent pegs 2, 17, 15, 14 & 12
Winner of 'A' section on an extremely difficult day was ex-Maver man, Dan Bache. Dan drew fancied permanent peg 2 (match peg 1), but as was the case on day one, the fish seemingly weren't there in the numbers they normally are. Dan decided to keep day two's tactics simple opting to fish maggot on multiple lines in an effort to try and keep fish coming to the net, which paid dividends with Dan recording a hard earned 53-14-00 and his second section win in as many days.
Second in section on the day was Ash Bosworth, who drew permanent peg 12 (match peg 5). Having won the section the day previously, Ash was confident there would still be some fish there and opted to offer maggot long over to the island and expander over fishery micros to the weed to his right. Come the end of the five hours, it was too close to call between himself and Dan over on the opposite bank. After a lengthy three weighs, Ash's official day two weight was 47-05-00 - just a couple of carp behind Dan!
Finishing third in the section was Josh Gaunt from permanent peg 15 (match peg 3). Josh offered maggot to the island on the long pole to begin with, but then switched to a feeder as the match progressed on account of the wind to offer 47-04-00 to the scales, missing out on a two (2) point score by a mere ounce.
'B' Section
Permanent pegs 11, 9, 7, 5 & 3
Winner of an equally tough 'B' section on the Island pool was Matt Green from permanent peg 11 (match peg 6). Matt fished pellet on the long pole over to the island for the first half of the match before switching to a method feeder late on in an effort to combat the gale force winds. Matt weighed in mostly carp, which tipped the scales at 29-01-00, which was enough to secure an all-important single point.
Finishing second in section on the day was Lee Cashmore. Lee drew permanent peg 3 (match peg 10) and caught on maggot short for the first half of the match before switching to his edge line with paste to end the day with 20-09-00 and a well deserved two (2) points from a difficult draw.
Third in 'D' section on day two was Jason Bird from permanent peg 9 (match peg 7). Like all anglers that found themselves on the dam wall on day two, Jason had to contend with some pretty extreme conditions for most of the day with gale force winds and driving rain making for pretty miserable fishing. Jason stuck to his guns and offered maggot over groundbait on both his short and edge lines to end the day with 10-11-00.
SECTION A | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | D. Bache | 2 (1) | 53-14-00 | Maggot short, long and in the margins | 1 |
2nd | A. Bosworth | 5 (12) | 47-05-00 | Maggot long & pellet in the margins | 2 |
3rd | J. Gaunt | 3 (15) | 47-04-00 | Maggot long & feeder | 3 |
SECTION B | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | M. Green | 6 (11) | 29-01-00 | Maggot long & method feeder | 1 |
2nd | L. Cashmore | 10 (3) | 20-09-00 | Maggot short & paste in the margins | 2 |
3rd | J. Bird | 7 (9) | 10-11-00 | Maggot short & in the margins | 3 |
DAY 2 - WOODSIDE POOL
'C' Section
Permanent pegs 3, 5, 6, 8 & 10
Woodside pool fished equally as hard on day two with those that managed to find carp not managing to find them until the final hour of the match. Winner of 'C' section on the day was Dave Bowyer, who drew permanent peg 10 (match peg 15). After a torrid first day up on the Island pool, Dave was due a favourable draw but, despite managing this, he still found himself with the worst of the weather hitting him right in the face! Fishing maggot down his edge for most of match, Dave couldn't get away from the silverfish but he stuck to his guns and managed a run of carp during the final hour to weigh in 27-10-00 to record a section win.
Finishing in second place was Ken Hayes. Ken drew permanent peg 3 (match peg 11) and was the first angler to catch a carp on Woodside pool around thirty minutes in but then, like most, struggled to find the fish for the remainder of the match. However, when you catch carp as big as Ken does, it doesn't matter so much! Ken caught two more fish late on pellet down his edge to weigh in 19-08-00.
Third from section 'C' on day two was John Latham. John managed to catch a handful of carp fishing tight to the island on maggot to weigh in 11-12-00 to pick up three (3) points .
'D' Section
Permanent pegs 14, 16, 18, 20 & 21
Winner of 'D' section on Woodside pool, and picking up a single point, was Loz. Loz drew permanent peg 14 (match peg 16) and started his match offering expander and maggot hookbaits over fishery micros both short and long to put a steady run of decent silverfish together. For the final ninety minutes, Loz concentrated on his left hand edge fishing to the next pallet with dead maggot over groundbait to finish strong taking some good-sized fish late on. Upon the scales making their way around, Loz confirmed a section-winning weight of 40-05-00 to leave the rest of the section in his dust.
Second place was awarded to Rob Sandall from permanent peg 18 (match peg 18). Rob cycled through a number of different approaches before settling on maggot short to find a handful of carp to weigh in 13-06-00 come the end of the match.
Third in section 'D' on day two was Scott Sprigg from peg 17 (permanent peg 16). Scott struggled to find the fish, but managed to snare of lone carp on the long pole on maggot along with a few small skimmers to record a weight of 03-12-00, which was good enough for three (3) points in a very hard section.
SECTION C | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | D. Bowyer | 15 (10) | 27-10-00 | Maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | K. Hayes | 11 (3) | 19-08-00 | Pellet in the margins | 2 |
3rd | J. Latham | 12 (5) | 11-12-00 | Maggot long | 3 |
SECTION D | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | L. Connolly | 16 (14) | 40-05-00 | Pellet and maggot long & dead maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | R. Sandall | 18 (18) | 13-06-00 | Maggot short | 2 |
3rd | S. Sprigg | 17 (16) | 03-12-00 | Maggot long | 3 |
OVERALL TOP FINISH (Receiving overall payout)
POS | ANGLER | DAY 1 WGT | DAY 1 PTS | DAY 2 WGT | DAY 2 PTS | TOTAL PTS | CUM WEIGHT |
1st | Dan Bache | 94lb 10oz | 1 | 53lb 14oz | 1 | 2 | 148lb 8oz |
2nd | Ash Bosworth | 59lb 1oz | 1 | 47lb 5oz | 2 | 3 | 106lb 6oz |
3rd | Matt Green | 72lb 0oz | 1 | 29lb 1oz | 2 | 3 | 101lb 1oz |
4th | Lawrence Connolly | 37lb 6oz | 2 | 40lb 5oz | 1 | 3 | 77lb 11oz |
5th | Rob Sandall | 47lb 10oz | 2 | 13lb 6oz | 2 | 4 | 61lb 0oz |
As the weights above suggest, it was a bit of a gruelling weekend due mostly to the awful weather conditions. That said, it was another closely contested final with very little separating the top five payout places. Looking back at the weights recorded over the two days and where the weights came from, it's clear that the fish weren't really in the mood for moving too much with pegs that had won sections on day one, producing again on day two for the most part.
A massive congratulations to Dan Bache on winning this year's event and being crowned the 2025 season's 'Match Angler of the Year'. A well deserved overall winner when you take into account not only did Dan win his section both days, but he also recorded two overall lake wins in the process as well - pretty difficult to argue that he wasn't deserving of the overall victory and title!
Despite Dan's faultless performance, the final could still have ended up being taken away from Dan by Ash Bosworth. Ash also went into day two with a section win under his belt and drew favourably for the final five hour stint. However, with the two of them drawing in the same section, it would ultimately mean that one of them would have to make way for the other. As it turned out it was Ash that fell just short of Dan's section-winning weight by a little over 6lbs.
Dan Hart also looked well placed to take the title after a section win on day one followed by a favourable draw on day two. However, like many, Dan suffered at the hands of the changeable weather and the effect it had on where the fish wanted to be. Normally, you would expect an angler of Dan's ability to have won the match from permanent peg 6 on Woodside pool - the very same peg that Dan Bache had won the lake from the previous day, but it wasn't to be with the 2023 Champion failing to make double-figures on the final day.
Elsewhere among the field last year's Champion Les Jones was unable to defend his title placing well down the table with the likes of other well versed Woodside veterans like Dave Bowyer, Josh Gaunt, Chris Hall and Ken Hayes also struggling to make their presence known on this particular final. It really was a tough two days indeed.
REMAINING FINALISTS PLACED 6TH - 20TH
POS | ANGLER | DAY 1 WGT | DAY 1 PTS | DAY 2 WGT | DAY 2 PTS | TOTAL PTS | CUM WEIGHT |
6th | Scott Sprigg | 51lb 8oz | 1 | 3lb 12oz | 3 | 4 | 55lb 4oz |
7th | Dave Bowyer | 25lb 1oz | 3 | 27lb 10oz | 1 | 4 | 52lb 11oz |
8th | Dan Hart | 44lb 13oz | 1 | 9lb 2oz | 4 | 5 | 53lb 15oz |
9th | Jason Bird | 35lb 1oz | 2 | 10lb 11oz | 3 | 5 | 45lb 12oz |
10th | Josh Gaunt | 32lb 11oz | 3 | 47lb 4oz | 3 | 6 | 79lb 15oz |
11th | Lee Cashmore | 31lb 13oz | 5 | 20lb 9oz | 2 | 7 | 52lb 6oz |
12th | Ken Hayes | 12lb 10oz | 5 | 19lb 8oz | 2 | 7 | 32lb 2oz |
13th | Ben Hughes | 20lb 1oz | 3 | 3lb 5oz | 4 | 7 | 23lb 6oz |
14th | Chris Hall | 49lb 11oz | 3 | DNW | 5 | 8 | 49lb 11oz |
15th | John Latham | 8lb 2oz | 5 | 11lb 12oz | 3 | 8 | 19lb 14oz |
16th | Jay Wood | 33lb 12oz | 4 | DNW | 5 | 9 | 33lb 12oz |
17th | Ick Kull | 21lb 5oz | 4 | DNW | 5 | 9 | 21lb 5oz |
18th | Scott Banks | 15lb 12oz | 4 | 3lb 15oz | 5 | 9 | 19lb 11oz |
19th | Les Jones | 14lb 12oz | 4 | DNW | 5 | 9 | 14lb 12oz |
20th | Craig Lea-Hair | 5lb 13oz | 5 | DNF | 5+1 | 11 | 5lb 13oz |
Well done to the remainder of the framers and thank you to everyone who took part and made the final possible. The 2026 final will be taking place in March of 2027. To qualify, you must:
A) Win two matches here at Woodside, or
B) Win a Woodside event outright (eg, Winter League, Silvers League, charity event, etc) or...
C) Record a cumulative weight over a maximum of two matches of 100lbs
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