FISHERY owner Cath Gallagher described Saturday's Outwood Angling Centre match at the prolific Willows fishery as 'awesome'.

Over half of the field of 45 weighed 50lb or more as Goldrush and Ridgepool produced the most consistent contest in the fishery's history.

Alistair Wilkes (Tadcaster) led the rout from peg 39 on Goldrush. Offering Betaine flavoured pellets in just 12 inches of water tight to the far-bank cover he bagged carp to 6lb plus lots of ide, tench and chub for a spectacular winning haul of 98-2-0.

Also on Goldrush was the much-travelled Dave Armitage (Bob-Co) who could have won the match and 'done the ton' had it not been for the loss of five huge carp. Offering pellet at 14 metres and at 6 metres to the boards he had 91-14-0 of carp to 7lb.

Others: Stuart Thompson (Leeds Angling Centre) 77-12-0, Andy Gallant (Bob-Co) 70-4-0, Chris Kitchin (Outwood Angling Centre) 66-10-0, Bernard Guy (East End Park) 64-1-0.

Rob Morris (Acomb Tackle) led the bagging in a superb 40-peg contest on Cyprio and the Match Pool at Carpvale on Sunday.

Drawn on peg seven he fired a feeder tight to the far-bank snags at 30 metres range where he found the carp lurking under the surface. Fishing floating and popped up bread above the feeder accounted for fish to 5lb in his winning net of 80-10-0

On the Match Lake, Steve Sharples (Bob-Co) alternated pellet and worm on the pole at 12 metres from peg 41 for a mix of bream and tench scaling 64-13-0

Others: Simon Shepherd (Acomb Tackle) 60-12-0, Mick Addinall (Spectrum) 55-4-0, Shaun Rogers (Acomb Tackle) 53-8-0 and Graham Boardley (Bob-Co) 53-0-0.

The Bank Holiday weekend festival at Woodlands saw numerous hundred pound nets and a photo-finish.

Bill Brierley (GTI Sports) took the title with a score of three points from his best two matches. The chasing pack all fell a point short and comprised John Chapman (MAP Elton), Dave Harris (Daiwa Cleveland), Andy Harker (MAP Elton), Greg Norris (Daylite Baits) and Andy Dargue (Shimano Quaker Match Group).

The weekend of ton-up nets began on Saturday when John Chapman (MAP Elton) took the honours with one of the best weights of the year so far. Drawn on form-peg 21 on the prolific Partridge he netted a whopping 175-5-0 of carp to 5lb fishing meat up in the water at 14 metres. Bill Brierley (GTI Sports) took his first second place of the weekend with 135-10-0 from Partridge 15.

The same peg did the damage on Sunday, with Andy Bridge (MAP Elton) taking top spot with a 124-2-0 bag on the same tactics as the previous day's winner. Brierley was the nearly man again in the overall stakes but picked up a crucial section win with 113-0-0 from Skylark 31.

Weights fell on Monday but the top two still managed to do a ton. Mick Vials (Maver Barnsley) led from Skylark 32. Again, meat fished shallow was the method. Phil Sellars (Shimano Quaker Match Group) had the best weight of the weekend from Wagtail with a paste caught 106-6-0 from peg nine.

Other Results

Oaktree Leisure, Pond 4, 28. Steve Cromie (Oak Tree) 39-12-0; Scott Brady (Wilton) 35-0-0; John Merritt (Oak Tree) and Rob Judson (Oak Tree) both 25-12-0; Steve Atkin (Billingham Tackle Box) 25-0-0; James Short (Billingham Tackle Box) 24-0-0.

Raker Lakes, Horseshoe, 28. Paul Stead (Essential Bait) 61-14-0; John Cosgrove (Anglers Corner) 50-0-0; Colin Jones (Leeds) 44-14-0; Danny Scott (Smart Bait) 43-8-0; Gareth Sellars (JT Rogers) 37-12-0; Geoff Wilmore (Leeds Angling Centre) 35-0-0.

Updated: 10:46 Wednesday, May 04, 2005