Drennan Pairs leader Pollard is on the Mark on River Glen
The penultimate round of the Drennan Pairs four match series saw the River Glen and Town Welland in much better form than many had expected, writes Ken Wade.
The series has attracted a large contingent from our area and several have been doing very well.
Top pairing at the top of the leader board after three rounds is Mark Pollard and Lee Klimczuk with a combined weight for the series of 88lb 2 ½ oz. Not too far off the pace are the Sensas Mark One duo of Martin Roper and Paul Spriggs. They are flying the flag for our part of the world with 76lb 10oz and with a good result in the final match they could still snatch the top spot.
In third with 66lb 8oz are Joe Roberts and Joff Woodgett. A few big frosts during the week and a frost the night before the match did not raise expectations too high on Sunday but the River Glen in particular performed well. Mark Pollard taking the top spot individually with a fine 17lb 6oz net of roach, some on bread punch with the majority taken on pinkie over groundbait. Sensas Mark One stalwart Rob Hewison once again produced a good weight off the river, taking the runner-up spot with a level 13lb followed by Steve Hemmingray on 12lb 8oz. There were some big nets of roach recorded from the Town Welland but as usual some of the sections were very poor. A good draw above the town bridge saw Joe Oaks putting a fine 22lb of quality roach to the scales, he caught on bread for most of the day. Not far off the pace was Rob Wootton, he drew the boards and caught 20lb 6oz of roach followed by Phil Chesterton on 17lb 10oz.
Round three of the Stanjay Series saw a good turnout on the tiny Raveley Drain. Margin ice had to be cleared but once that job was done it did fish quite well, although some flow on the drain would have helped and may even have encouraged a few better fish to show. It turned out to be a hard but fair match with only small fish showing apart from the odd rudd, perch and skimmer to 6oz. Out in front with 8lb 10 ½ oz was Anthony Watling, he drew half way between the bridge and sluice gate and took a net of small roach on the whip with groundbait and pinkie. Runner-up was Lindsay Naylor, he caught on a long whip line weighing in 8lb 5oz. There was a tie for third place between the in-form Rob Wright from March and Dave Rawlings, both putting 8lb 4oz to the scales.
It is becoming normal practice to break ice at Townsend Fishery these days and on Sunday it was no different. Yet still the venue fished really well and I can’t understand why a few more anglers do not give it a try. Top rod with a net of small carp taken on the pole was the ever improving Andy Adams. He really is getting back to his best form after a long time out of the sport. This match saw him put 86lb to the scales taken on the pole with pellet. Small fish expert Stuart Redman came in second, not far behind followed by Rob Walton. Those are really good weights for this time of year, given the conditions of late the Cuckoo Canal pool is the place to be if you want to have a great day’s sport.
