Pic caption: Jon Arthur with part of the bag that won him the first round of the UK Champs.

Coventry rod Jon Arthur was crowned the King of Colemans Cottage in a dramatic sprint finish during round one of the prestigious Preston Innovations sponsored UK Angling Championships.
Pegged on the prolific Copse Pool at the Essex match venue, he pipped Keiron Rich and Grant Albutt to the honours in a very close match to take maximum points and £1000 in hard cash.
Run over four lakes on the complex, it was Copse that produced the three biggest weights of the event with Rich, Albutt and Arthur all banking in excess of 200lb.
In the end it was the last hour that proved crucial to the result. Albutt opted for shallow tactics fishing pellet tight to an island at 14 metres taking the majority of his fish through the early part of the match. But his swim dried up with an hour left on the clock.
A move into the edge produced four extra carp but it proved to be not quite enough to maintain his early lead.
Rich romped off to an early start, bagging a ton of carp, in a very short period on chopped worm and caster, once again tight to an island, and at the weigh in it was clear it would be a very close run thing.
In the end it was Arthur who took the honours by the narrowest of margins.
Only around 10lb separated the top three, less than 5lb between Rich and Arthur, and with fish averaging 3lb it literally came down to just one or two fish between the top two.
Arthur fished a blinder, not putting a foot wrong all day on a line tight to an island using chopped worm, caster and peat as a cloud. 
It puts him at the top of the league for the 2010 tournament and gives him a great start to a campaign in which he is aiming to win the tournament for an impressive third time.                                               

Open Season At Hoar Park
Hoar Park Coarse Fishery is stepping into the open match scene and early signs are promising. The new owners have begun evening open matches every other Sunday, with the draw is 3pm with fishing 4pm to 8pm and a maximum of 12 anglers.
Last week’s match was won with 56lb of carp in skimmers with backing weights of 37lb and 26lb, and with things warming up pleasure anglers have been taking carp to 15lb off the surface. Fishery regular Anthony Brookes of Hartshill took one of the best catches in the last week; 11 carp to 14lb 8oz, all in an evening session and all caught close in on free-lined chum mixers.
Colin Banner of Nuneaton also got out the floaters and was rewarded with a steady stream of carp to 13lb 8oz throughout the day; he ended up with 14 in all averaging 9lb.
For the matches it’s £10 all-in and you need to pre-book, with £60 for the winner, £20 for second and £10 for third. Contact Chay on 07826 632854 or email cjaquaculture@yahoo.com.
For a Bank holiday special, Hoar Park is offering under 14s accompanied by a paying adult free day tickets. See www.hoarparkfishery.co.uk .

Evening Rise For Big Trout
Big trout continue to show at Packington Somers, the best fish this week being a 12lb 8oz rainbow to Solihull angler Trevor Riches. Trevor took the fish, one of six, on a black Rubber Leg fly at Cocks Close. Frank Finlan had an 8lb 4oz rainbow in a five-fish catch from a boat on Cocks Close, all to a GRHE fished on a floating line.           
During the day in the bright sunshine the best tactic has been to fish deep with Damsels, small Nymphs or black Lures but evenings are seeing some excellent rises and the fish are being caught on Emergers and dries. The best areas have been the wires bank on Cocks Close and the deep water near to the dams on Great Pool, Park Meadow and Hall Pool.

Record Goes At Meadowlands
Swann Baits’ Baz Byrd has set a new match record for Meadowlands Lakes with a massive 265-12-0 bag from Warren Pool.
Baz drew peg 5 in Tuesday evening’s open at the Ryton-upon-Dunsmore fishery where he opted to fish pole, pellet and corn down the edge for carp to 10lb.
It was an excellent match with Gaz Wood weighing in 148lb from peg 27 for second and Paul Garner 127lb from peg 18. In total 1300lb of fish were weighed in by the 18 anglers fishing, showing the venue to be hitting top form.

‘Mint’ Meadow Carp
Every so often a fishery comes to my attention that really hits the spot with me, and that’s certainly the case with The Meadows Fishery at Drayton Bassett, a brand new water that gives anglers the rare opportunity fish for ‘mint’, un-caught carp in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside.
The former quarry, now opened to a limited number of syndicate anglers for the first time, was stocked with 80 carp in 2000, again in May 2009 with 800 mirror and common carp ranging from 8lb to 12lb, and again in April 2010 of 80 big carp, from 14lb to 28lb. But it was never fished and only now is the secluded nine-acre lake up to 250 syndicate members willing to pay £250 for the year.
At the time of writing the only person to test fish The Meadows Fishery has been bailiff Dave Newbould, and he reports the fish to be packing on the weight at the rate of 4-5lb per year in the clear, food-rich water.
“The carp are in absolutely mint condition,” he says. “They have never been fished for, are super-healthy and at the moment are not wary of anglers, so are relatively easy to catch. I’ve caught plenty on the deck, but have also had them taking floaters and I expect the venue to produce some brilliant surface fishing in the warmer months.” Contact Dave Newbould on 0752739123.

Book Early For Evesham
With just a few weeks left until the start of the new river season anglers are being urged to book their places for the Evesham Angling Festival qualifiers quickly to avoid disappointment.
Kicking off with a Shakespeare Championship qualifier on Saturday, June 19th, all the matches are 70-peg events, at Hampton Ferry and Evesham Town Water. The finals run from Saturday, August 28th to Monday, August 30th. Contact Diana Raphael on 01386 442458.

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Results
Garbolino Tunnel Barn Farm, Shrewley, Warks
Mon, House Pool 2: Rob Swain (Tackle Box) 70-3-0, F1s, pole and white maggot at 8m fished high, peg 22; Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 67-11-0; Barry Duggan (Warwick Portabello) 66-8-0; Roy Winferdale (Stirrup Cup) 64-11-0; Graham Young (Youngs Tunnel Barn Farm) 58-7-0; Brian Edwards (Youngs Tunnel Barn Farm) 57-6-0.
Wed, House Pool 1: Kevin Keasey (Tunnel Barn Farm Veterans) 88-2-0, carp, F1s and bream, pole and pellet at 5m, peg 7; Barry Witteridge (Calvert Angling Club) 66-15-0; Mark Penwell (Calvert Angling Club) 62-5-0; Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 60-0-0.
Thurs, Club Pool: Pete Clark (Tunnel Barn Farm) 101-9-0, carp, F1s, bream and roach, pole and pellet at 16m to the island, fished shallow, peg 15; Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 96-1-0; Paul Perrella (Derby) 95-6-0; Rob Round (Maver Solihull Angling Centre) 74-14-0.
Sat, Top and Bottom Pools: Rob Perkins (Dynamite Baits) 102-9-0, carp, F1s, bream and tench, pole and Method feeder at 14m to the island, peg 24, Bottom Pool; Darren Massey (Shakespeare) 94-15-0; Stu Palser (Shakespeare) 78-0-0; Paul Bick (Shakespeare) 72-2-0; Pete Caton (Dynamite Baits/Banbury Gunsmiths) 53-15-0; Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 52-12-0.
Sun, New Pool: Pete Caton (Dynamite Baits/Banbury Gunsmiths) 62-9-0, F1s, roach and tench, pole and meat and pellet at 10m to the island, peg 10; Paul Newell (Kings Mill Redditch) 61-14-0; Ian Ross (MCM) 60-8-0; Andy Jackson (Redditch) 53-1-0; Stu Morgan (MCM) 51-7-0; Pete Rice (Bag Em Baits) 50-15-0.

Packington Somers, Meriden, Warks
Wed, Molands Mere: Roger Young (Frenzee) 59-10-0, F1s, pole and pellet, peg 4; Terry Lancaster (Packington) 53-1-0; Steve White (Kobra Feeders) 52-4-0.
Sat, Gearys Level: Mark Sumner (Beauford Angling Club) 84-2-0, carp, pole and corn, peg 25; Max Higgott (Packington) 39-6-0; Dave White (Mansfield Angling) 38-3-0.
Sun, Molands Mere: Lee Richards (Top Fours/Fosters) 72-5-0, F1s, pole and pellet, peg 16; Dean Young (Tornadoes) 36-4-0; Ms Suzi Smith (Kobra Feeders) and Mark Downes (Kamasan Starlets) both 30-10-0.

Dynamite Baits Makins, Kobra Affordable, Wolvey, Warwickshire
Thurs, Phase Three, Thames Pool: Dave Markham (Bedworth) 47-12-0, carp, pole and meat over corn, peg 5; Eddie Keene (Coventry) 46-6-0; John Adamson (Kobra Feeders) 45-12-0; John Ricketts (Swan Baits) 45-10-0; Phil Porter (Rugby) 40-4-0; Ian Morris (Rugby) and Frank Didio (Burton Upon Trent) both 39-10-0.
Wed, Phase One, Lake Two: Shane Sayer (Sensas) 108-4-0, carp, waggler and pellet, peg A15; Andy Williams (Dynamite Baits Makins) 88-8-0; Darren Stanton (Fisherman's Tackle) 83-12-0; Terry Phillips (Attleborough Angling) 83-4-0; Andy Boffin (Dynamite Baits Makins) 66-0-0; Phil Hull (Lanes Bait and Tackle) 64-0-0.

Fish 'O' Mania Qualifier, Round Ten, Octoplus Boldings, Bridgnorth (130 fished)
Richie Hoskins (Daiwa Gordon League) 143-3-0, carp to 8lb, pole and caster, Chestnut 40; Peter Plant jr (Maver Midlands) 136-0-0; Adam Richards (Cleveland) 103-13-0; Mick Bull (Dynamite Baits) 101-6-0; Jon Arthur (Shakespeare) 99-15-0.

Help for Heroes, Meadow, Silver, Moors and Bank Pools on Moorlands Farm (70 fished)
Ian Giddins (Maver) 98-6-0, carp, pole and worm, peg 7, on Moors Pool; Alan Gethen (Stevens Tackle) 65-12-0; Sean Smith (Garbolino) 64-5-0; Martin Lafevre (Moorlands Gold) and Bill Drew (Bewdley) both 62-14-0; George Clowes (Wades Match Group) 52-14-0.
Mosella Black Country Open, Soho Loop Canal, Winson Green, Birmingham, Sun (25 fished)
Darren Massey (Shakespeare) 8-5-0, skimmers, pole and squatt; Martin Lane (Team Spro) 6-8-0; Noel Wilkins (Mosella Black Country) 6-0-0; Adam Slade (Trabucco Midlands Van den Eynde) 5-15-0; John Fowler (Sensas Dams and Lock) 5-13-4; Wayne Shipley (Cornerstone AC) 5-4-0.
Sun: John Cartwright (Mosella Black Country) 6-2-0, mixed catch, pole, worm and caster, peg 10; Tom Grainey (Team Spro) 5-5-0; Martin Knight (Mosella Black Country) 4-12-0; Mark Williams (Mosella Black Country) 3-0-0; Richard Guest (Fox Match Tipton Van den Eynde) 2-14-0; Darren Massey (Shakespeare) 2-0-0.

Stirrup Cup, Birmingham Fazeley Canal, Curdworth, Birmingham
Ian Haddon (Weddington) 31-11-14, a carp of 8lb 5oz, bream to 3lb and tench for a superb canal bag, pole and caster and worm, peg 67; Digger Conway (Rugeley) 8-3-10; Andy Morton (Measham) 5-0-6; Don McIntyre (Stirrup Cup) 4-13-2; Graham Massey (Sensas Dams and Lock) 3-15-8; Sam Lewis (Three Ems) 3-15-5.

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