Midlands Air Ambulance Fundraiser, Woodside & Island Pools

A full house saw twenty (20) anglers attend this year's annual fundraiser event for the Midland Air Ambulance. The event, which is now into its tenth year, never fails to attract a good attendance and often sees a decent amount of money raised for a very worthwhile cause.

Conditions for this year's event were ideal with tempatures taking a noticeable and very welcome tumble. Anglers enjoyed a bright and calm day with the afternoon high only reaching approximately 15°C. This, coupled with a light breeze, made for a very pleasant day.

The match was held as one over both lakes with the top three anglers on each lake receiving cash prizes, plus an impressive trophy for the overall winner. Although fishing on the day wasn't particularly electric, weights generally speaking were consistent across both lakes with little separating anglers on the day.

WOODSIDE

Winner on the day on Woodside pool was Mark Edwards, who drew permanent peg 3 (peg 12 on the day). Fishing corn down his edge, Mark was able to find a decent stamp of fish to end the day with a respectable 62-01-00 to put a decent amount of room between himself and next best man on the day.

Second place on Woodside pool was secured by Mark Burbeck from peg 10 (peg 15 on the day). Again, most of Mark's fish came from down his edge, but on paste instead of corn, to give him a final 34-15-00.

Finishing just 2oz shy of Mark Edwards' effort was Josh Sutterby. Josh drew peg 8 (match peg 14) and caught carp up in the water on pellet to weigh in 34-13-00.

POSITION	ANGLER	PEG	WEIGHT	METHOD
1st	M. Edwards	3 (12)	62-01-00	Corn in the margins
2nd	M. Burbeck	10 (15)	34-15-00	Paste in the margins
3rd	J. Sutterby	8 (14)	34-13-00	Pellet shallow

Mark Edwards with part of his winning 62-01-00 from Woodside pool

ISLAND

Winner on the day on Island pool was Dan Hart. Dan drew permanent peg 3 (match peg 2) and opted to fish his tried and tested paste down his edge for most of the match to absolutely dominate the day. Dan caught down both his left and right side margins to weigh in a superb 138-00-00 to take the overall win collecting the impressive winners trophy for a second time.

Runner-up on Island pool on the day was Gary Brixton (snr), who drew permanent peg 12 (match peg 7). Again, like Dan, an all-out margin attack with pellet and paste resulted in 53-15-00 of small carp.

Rounding off the top three finish on Island pool was Dave Peters from fancied peg 2 (match peg 1). Fishing pellet and paste down his edge, Dave managed to land 43-01-00 of carp but, by his own admission, lost a fair few fish, which likely would've seen him finish ahead of Gary had he managed to land every fish his connected with.

POSITION	ANGLER	PEG	WEIGHT	METHOD
1st	D. Hart	3 (2)	138-00-00	Paste in the margins
2nd	G. Brixton (snr)	7 (12)	53-15-00	Pellet & paste in the margins
3rd	D. Peters	2 (1)	43-01-00	Pellet & paste in the margins

Dan Hart with part of his impressive 138-00-00 winning catch, which saw him crowned overall winner

All in all, it was another successful event, which saw everyone catch fish and, more impotantly, raise money for a very worthy cause. In addition to the mandatory £10 donation from competing anglers, this year saw the return of a raffle after the match, which helped raised additional funds bringing the grand total from this year's match to £343.

Well done again to Gary Hickton of Worecester Angling Centre for continuing to run the event at Woodside Fishery and a massive well done also to everyone that took part. You can all hold your heads high knowing that you have, almost certainly, helped save someone's life thanks to your donations.

A special mention also to Dan Hart on being the first man to have his name engraved on the winner's trophy for a second time in five years having only narrowly missed out on the top spot last year.

The 2026 Midland Air Ambulance Champion, Dan Hart, pictured with event organiser Gary Hickton