2018 Canal Pairs Championship Latest

18 September, 2018 | Match & Coarse | News

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As the race to the 2018 Canal Pairs Championship hots up, we look at the latest news from the competition…

With just five qualifying rounds of the Angling Trust Canal Pairs Championship remaining, time is running out for anglers to book on and claim their place in the big money final. This year has seen a fantastic turn out so far with hundreds of anglers lining the nation’s towpaths for a shot at winning some of the £16,000 prize pot. Scroll down to see reports from the latest two rounds plus find out who has qualified so far and how you can get involved…

Massey and South sneak a win on the Grand Union at Loughborough

36 anglers  had a real treat despite the far from favourable conditions, bright sunshine and little wind. Nobody could have expected the consistency and quality of fishing during the match, with fish feeding freely right through the sections. Some anglers fished for bigger fish and got caught out as roach, rudd and small skimmers dominated proceedings.

 

The result could not have been any closer with an incredible three pairs tying on 5 points! This then went down to weight and even then, it was ounces to separate the teams. It was local pairing of Darren Massey and James South that ended up the weight winners with 21lb 7oz. This in no small part was down to James South’s 11lb 15oz, which was also good enough for individual second and the zone win. Fishing a busy match James put together 172 fish, which were predominantly stamp roach with a few rudd mixed in. On an unfavoured A13, Darren backed him up superbly taking some bonus perch to a 1lb on caster alongside plenty of roach for zone 4th.

 

The second qualifying pair were Damien Green and Paul Cowern who missed out on the top spot by the smallest of margins, 1oz! Damien drew A3 for the day and proceeded to catch across the canal on pinkie steadily for 10ld 7oz of roach and small skimmers. Paul Cowern did an excellent job backing him up with a tied third spot on 10lb 15oz. Pete Madely and Derek Jackson were actually one of the best pairs to come third, as they had already qualified for the final. A tied third and a second respectively also gave them 5 points and in possibly the closest finish ever in a qualifier, 21lb 4oz just 3oz off the winners!

Results

 

1. Darren Massey & James South 5 points (21lb 7oz)
2. Damien Green & Paul Cowern 5 points (21lb 6oz)
3. Pete Madley and Derek Jackson (21lb 4oz)

 

Trafford and Bird storm it on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Wigan

The competition made its way northwards to Wigan and District’s stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Long gone were the memories of the summer’s heatwave, with near gale force winds forcing a last-minute change to the pegging and thousands of pounds of carbon heaving a sigh of relief.

Twenty-six anglers lined the canal and they were treated to some cracking canal fishing with all anglers weighing 2lb plus. Leading the way in A section and storming the match on an individual basis was Dave Trafford off peg A10, taking a solitary point for his pairing. Dave caught a cracking mixed net of fish, consisting of three skimmers of 1.5lb at 10 meters on bread and the rest was made up of roach, which he followed out to 14 meters on hemp. Dave’s partner Stuart Bird was also having a cracking day on peg B13. Making the most of his end peg draw Stuart finished in third place in the section with 6lb 10oz of mainly roach.

The second qualifying pair on the day were Daz Shaw and Boydan Krupnyckyj, with Daz second in A section. Drawing next to the match winner, Daz caught a near all roach net of 8lb 4oz 4 drams on bread and pinkie, with a 1.5lb perch as a late hat tip. Boydan backed him up superbly with a hard earnt 3lb 15oz 4 drams from the middle of B section peg 8.

 

Results

 

1. Dave Trafford & Stuart Bird, 4 points (Qualify)
2. Daz Shaw & Boydan Krupnyckyj 8 points (Qualify)
3. Marc Ellement & Richard Yates 10 points (11lb 1oz 12 drams)
4. Shaun Birchall & Simon Wain 10 points (10lb 15ozs 12 drams)

Who’s qualified?

Shropshire Union Canal, Soudley, 23rd June

Dan Martin, Anthony Marsden

Jan Verbruggen, Andrew Turner

Tommy Fairhurst, Dave Walmsley

Simon Preece, Simon Mottram

Martin Owen, Kevin Perry

Steve Broom, Ben Garbett

 

Gloucester & Sharpness Canal, 24th June

Ivan Currie, Chris Hook

Andy Pollard, Charlie Vallender

 

Grand Canal, Offaly (Ireland), 15th July

Brian Kane, Alan Larkin

 

Forth & Clyde Canal (Scotland) 21st July

Chris Patton, Gus Brindle

Marc Ellement, Richard Yates

 

Grand Union Canal, Wigston, 22nd July

Tom Pringle, Joe Oakes

Tony Barker, Mick Hatchard

Peter Madeley, Derek Jackson

 

Shropshire Union Canal, Shebdon, 28th July

Paul Murrin, Dave McCall

Mike Marsden, Adam Carter

Ben Sharratt, Jason Cunningham

Martin Lenihan, Jimmy Byrne

Bernie Leatherbarrow, Alan Round

 

Rochdale Canal, Todmorden, 4th Aug

Kerry Kirkwood, Jonathan Jowett

Dean Meadows, Jason Irving

 

Grand Union Canal, Luton & Tring, 5th Aug

Steve Crawley, Sau Phung

Phil Speakman, Simon Wilsmore

 

Grand Union Canal, Foxton, 12th Aug

Alan Donnelly, Andy Curless

Gary Young, Matt Collerson

 

Grand Union Canal, Loughborough, 2nd Sept

Darren Massey, James South

Damien Green, Paul Cowern

 

Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Wigan, Sept 9th

Dave Trafford, Stuart Bird

Daz Shaw, Boydan Krupnyukyi

 

 

Grand Final and National Individual Junior Canal Championship:

Saturday 20th October 2017 – Erewash Canal, Long Eaton Victoria Angling Society

Book your place on a qualifier here