Summer 2-day Festival, Woodside & Island Pools
- Woodside Fishery
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 8 hours ago
Eleven (11) anglers fished the third annual summer festival here at Woodside. Numbers were capped for this year's event due to water levels being lower than normal on acccount of another really hot summer with some pegs simply not having enough water on them for fish to be safely kept in keepnets.
Anglers were pegged across both main match lakes with a random draw taking place on the opening day of the competition to determine which lake anglers would start on. Day two would then see anglers rotate lakes with those placed on Woodside pool on day one moving up to the Island pool for day two and vice versa. Overall positions where determined by points with cumulative weight being used to separate anglers in the event of a tie. With numbers for this year's event being down on last year's event, section prizes were scrapped in favour of prizes for overall lake winners each day.
Conditions for this year's festival coincided with a much needed break from the drought that has blighted the country since May. Anglers had to deal with a fair amount of rain showers over both days, some of which were thundery, but they brought with them a very welcome dip in temperatures as well as some much needed water with both match lakes approximately two feet down on normal summer levels.
DAY 1 - ISLAND POOL
Pegs 1 - 6
Winner of Island pool on day one, and getting his summer festival campaign off to a great start, was Ick Kull, who drew peg 4 (permanent peg 11) on the far bank opposite the point of the island. Fishing pellet down his edge for most of the match, Ick found small carp in numbers willing to feed to enjoy a really busy match with plenty of bites. Upon the scales making their way round, Ick confirmed a weight of 161-11-00 of all carp to take a valuable single point and a healthy weight advantage going into day two.
Finishing second on Island pool was Steve Hilton from unfancied peg 2 (permanent peg 6) on the dam wall. Steve started his match fishing pellet up in the water to find a good number of carp before they eventually backed off. A look down his edge during the second half of his match with pellet produced another run of fish to give 'Paris' a final 90-02-00 for a well deserved two-point score and a healthy weight going into the second day.
Third on Island pool, and taking three (3) points, was Scott Banks. Scott drew peg 5 (permament peg 14) and, like Steve, started his match fishing pellet up in the water on his short line before the fish grew wary and backed off. A switch to his left hand edge with paste soon saw Scott back among the fish with the TREC AC man finishing strong to confirm a weight of 65-07-00.
POSITION | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | I. Kull | 4 (11) | 161-11-00 | Pellet in the margins | 1 |
2nd | S. Hilton | 2 (6) | 90-02-00 | Pellet shallow & in the margins | 2 |
3rd | S. Banks | 5 (14) | 65-07-00 | Pellet shallow & paste in the margins | 3 |
DAY 1 - WOODSIDE POOL
Pegs 7 - 12
Taking the overall lake win on Woodside pool, and scoring a single point, was Dan Hart. Dan drew peg 11 (permanent peg 10) and started his match on the method feeder over to the island to put a few early fish in the net. However, Dan soon resorted to his tried and tested paste mix and caught well during the second half of the match down his edge despite the thunder and lightening to weigh in 129-14-00 to record an all important single point and a decent weight to boot if the final decision came down to cumulative weight.
Finishing close behind in second place was Dave Bowyer from peg 10 (permanent peg 8). Opting to fish maggot short for most of the match, Dave put together a fine bag of hard fighting carp as well as a handful of silvers to weigh in 111-12-00 and score two (2) points but, more importantly, keep himself in contention with both Dan and Ick.
Third place overall on Woodside pool on day one was Stan Taylor, who drew peg 9 (permanent peg 6). Stan fished down his right hand edge for most of the match offeing pellet on the hook to record 46-02-00 of carp, but admitted losing nine (9) fish in the pads, which ultimately wouldn't likely have changed his third place finish, but had potentially lost a decent amount of weight.
DAY 1 TOP 5
POSITION | ANGLER | PTS | WEIGHT |
1st | I. Kull | 1 | 161-11-00 |
2nd | D. Hart | 1 | 129-14-00 |
3rd | D. Bowyer | 2 | 111-12-00 |
4th | S. Hilton | 2 | 90-02-00 |
5th | S. Banks | 3 | 65-07-00 |
After the opening day of the festival, there were three clear leaders going into day two. Ick was sitting relatively comfortable at the top of the standings with a healthy 30lb+ weight advantage which, given the mood Dan and Dave were in, he was going to have to use every ounce of if he wanted to hold on to the lead. Dan made no mistakes from a good draw on day one putting in another superb performance, which we have come to expect now on this competition. After a small hiatus from the venue, Dave Bowyer also looked to be in good form and made himself known on the opening day recording yet another 100lb+ weight from behind the island - an area he is very dangerous from. Steve Hilton was also in with a chance of challenging for a top three overall finish thanks to his superb 90lb effort from the dam wall on Island pool - a notoriously difficult area at the best of times.
Day two would see Ick down on Woodside pool with Dan and Dave going head to head on Island pool.
DAY 2 - ISLAND POOL
Pegs 1 - 6
Winner of Island pool on day two was Dan Hart. If anyone would've asked Dan where he wanted to draw for the second day, he would've likely said peg 3. Low and behold, Dan drew peg 1 (permanent peg 3) - much to the dismay of both Ick and Dave. Dan would be extremely difficult to beat off this peg and so it proved to be with the Worcester-based rod making no mistakes securing an overall lake win with a massive 273-14-00! This was not only good enough to win the second day outright as well as secure another single point, but Dan also set a new lake record in the process just for good measure beating the previous record (set by Dave Bowyer) by nearly 70lbs. Dan caught small carp non-stop for the full five hours fishing paste and maggot down his edge.
Finishing second on Island pool was Dave Bowyer, who drew peg 5 (permanent peg 14). Dave, who set the previous match lake record from the very same peg, opted to fish pellet shallow down his edge and got off to an incredible start admitting to nearly 100lbs after the first ninety (90) minutes of the match. Unfortunately for Dave, however, the fish suddenly deciced to back off with very little else happening for Dave during the second half of the match. Upon the scales making their way round, Dave confirmed a weight of 130-15-00, most of which came during the first half of the match so he would've likely secured a massive weight had the fish not spooked.
Third on the lake was Nigel Hart from peg 4 (permanent peg 11). Nigel went to his peg confident of a good days fishing, but with Ick having emptied the peg the day before, it was always possible that the fish had moved. Unfortunately for Nigel, the fish had seemingly had enough after the battering they had on day one and had moved on. However, fishing paste, corn and maggot down his edge, Nigel managed a modest 45-09-00, which was good enough for three (3) points on the day.
POSITION | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | D. Hart | 1 (3) | 273-14-00 | Paste & maggot in the margins | 1 |
2nd | D. Bowyer | 5 (14) | 130-15-00 | Pellet in the margins | 2 |
3rd | N. Hart | 5 (11) | 45-09-00 | Pellet, paste & corn in the margins | 3 |
DAY 2 - WOODSIDE POOL
Pegs 7 - 12
Topping Woodside pool on day two was Steve Hilton from peg 8 (permanent peg 3). Steve needed a repeat performance at the very least to remain in contention with the front runners and to stand any chance of securing a top three finish. Fishing pellet down his edge for most of the match, Steve found good-sized fish in numbers to weigh in 87-15-00 to confirm another impressive days fishing as well as an all-important single point, which would prove to be very useful.
Finishing in second place on Island pool was Ick Kull from peg 11 (permanent peg 10). Like Dan the day before, Ick started his match on the method feeder to manage a few fish early on before switching to his edge line with maggot to finish the day with 73-03-00 to record a two (2) point score.
Securing his second third place finish in two days - this time from Woodside pool - was Scott Banks. Scott drew peg 12 (permanent peg 12) and must've really fancied his chances with it having not been drawn the day before. Scott started his match fishing pellet short before attacking his margins with maggot late on to weigh in 48-14-00 to score another three (3) points.
POSITION | ANGLER | PEG | WEIGHT | METHOD | PTS |
1st | S. Hilton | 8 (3) | 87-15-00 | Pellet in the margins | 1 |
2nd | I. Kull | 11 (10) | 73-03-00 | Method feeder & maggot in the margins | 2 |
3rd | S. Banks | 12 (12) | 48-14-00 | Pellet short & maggot in the margins | 3 |
OVERALL
POSITION | ANGLER | POINTS | CUM. WEIGHT | PRIZE |
1st | Dan Hart | 2 | 403-12-00 | £205 |
2nd | Ick Kull | 3 | 234-14-00 | £150 |
3rd | Steve Hilton | 3 | 178-01-00 | £130 |
4th | Dave Bowyer | 4 | 242-11-00 | £- |
5th | Scott Banks | 6 | 114-05-00 | £- |
6th | Stan Taylor | 7 | 78-15-00 | £- |
7th | Nigel Hart | 8 | 52-06-00 | £- |
8th | Steve Bagley | 9 | 92-05-00 | £- |
9th | John Latham | 9 | 70-06-00 | £- |
10th | Josh Sutterby | 9 | 47-14-00 | £- |
11th | Jason Bird | 10 | 88-03-00 | £- |
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable two days with plenty of laughs and some excellent fishing. The weather wasn't up to much, which was typical given the conditions in the months leading up to the festival, but like a lot of venues, we are desperate for the water so no complaints here!
A massive well done to Dan Hart again, who is without question the man to beat on these festivals having won three times out of four years the event has taken place. The year he didn't win, he didn't fish! A perfect two point score comprised of two overall lake wins in as many days, a new match lake record on Island pool and a massive 400lb+ cumulative weight all add up. Simply awesome! Well done also to Ick Kull and Steve Hilton on making the top three finish as well as the remainder of the field for supporting the event.
We will be back again in 2027.
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