The final round of the VDE Baggers AC Winter League took place last Sunday, with the rivers in great condition, carrying a little extra water but steadily dropping. A couple of new sections were pegged for the match and, with plenty of fish showing, most anglers enjoyed some excellent sport, making it a great way to wrap up the league.
Ewan Weed had a cracking day’s fishing to close out the league, weighing in 8.870kg to win the Ballyconnell Boards and secure the overall league title with an incredible 8 points. A superb performance and top angling.
The race for the remaining top spots was extremely tight going into the final round, with plenty still to play for. The low section of Bellanaleck Marina was won by Jack Tisdall with 5.130kg, putting him on 12 points overall. Aaron Hutchman also finished on 12 points after weighing 5.430kg from the Belturbet Boards section and just edged Jack into second place overall on weight.
Maciej Paul Bober also produced an excellent performance on the Boards, fishing the feeder to weigh 7.200kg, a great result on the day.
The battle for fourth place overall was equally intense. Paul Hutchman finished third in the match and third in section from the very competitive Black Path stretch with 9.680kg. In the end, A. Gregg secured fourth overall with 13 points, while Paul finished fifth on 15 points, just edging Paul Eyres into sixth place on weight.
The top two weights on the day came after a proper battle between Bartłomiej Szmytkowski and Daniel Singleton, with Bartek taking the honours with just under 11kg. A great display of match fishing from both anglers.
The Corraquil Lock section also fished extremely well, apart from one difficult peg for Eddie G. Michał Truck had a superb day on his new pole and landed 6.900kg of roach to win the section and secure seventh place overall.
A special mention also goes to young angler James Wellwood, who fished brilliantly from peg 1 on the marina, catching quality hybrids late on the feeder to finish second in section and claim the final prize position. An excellent performance from a young angler against a very strong field.
Overall, it has been a fantastic league with a great turnout, averaging over 22 anglers per match. It was also great to welcome some new junior anglers to the club, as well as newcomers Shane Stock and Niall Murphy who were completely new to match fishing this year and achieved some excellent results. A good number of anglers from the Erne Anglers also joined throughout the league, creating a brilliant atmosphere and strong competition.
Exciting times ahead for the club and it will be interesting to see what the future holds.
