By Martyn Russ (Club F.A.W.)
As spring breaks and the weather improves it marks the beginning of the Welsh Carp Championship sponsored by Fox and many other big Tackle companies including Pro Baits UK who was also one of the hosts for the first round of the qualifiers being held at The Birch Syndicate water in Newport, South Wales. The competition is done over a few different venues to make it fair for the anglers who, if they are quick to register, get the pick of venue to take part on. If they are then successful they will then qualify for the final. This year they will be held over 7 different venues with each match lasting 48 hours with pairs of anglers competing for the largest accumulative weight of carp.
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| The Birch Syndicate Lake and Swim Layout Qualifiers |
The Birch Syndicate 6-8 May 2016
Lamby Lake 20-22 May 2016
The Fendrod 17-19 June 2016
White Springs 24-26 June 2016
Cefn Mably Lakes 1-3rd July 2016
The Wharf 15-17 July 2016
The Final
The Fendrod 9-11 September 2016
Once again the beginning of the WCC was an amazing event hosted at Peterstone Lakes, home of the Birch Syndicate on the private syndicate lake. The anglers didn't take long to start landing the fish and building those important weight totals. The weather was a little difficult shifting from windy overcast conditions back to bright sun and then again wind and rain, it just didn't seem to settle down for the entire weekend. This didn't put the anglers off as those weights were building fast with only a few failing to get on the score board.
Round 1 : Birch Results:
After the first 24 hours the scores were:
1st. Luke Hayes /Mike Robb 119lb. 3oz
2nd. Carl Shaw/ Wayne Aguis. 73 lb 9 oz
3rd Paul Davis /Steve larvo. 73 lb 9 oz
4th. Mathew and Gareth Gronow 51 lb 6 oz
5th Harry Wakling /Andrew Tucker 20lb 12oz
After the first day the leaders started to show and were building the weights quickly making the lead even more difficult to chase. A few of the anglers were doing well despite the difficult conditions and erratic weather changes and even the last year winners found it difficult but were managing to get on the score board and start chasing the leader. The birch contains quite a head of fish with some absolute beautiful specimens up in the high 30's so each angler was in with a good chance to build a good score and the leader was in now way a sure thing as it could all change during the next 24 hours.
Hour and a half left of the comp and
1st Luke and Mike 222lb 15oz
2nd Carl and Wayne. 150lb 14oz
3rd. Paul and Steve. 73lb 9oz
4th. Mathew and Gareth 51lb 6oz
5th. Harry and Andrew. 20lb 12oz
All other pegs have not caught
The second day was turning out to be a blinder of a session as the anglers who had managed to get on the score board were all catching well and building the important weights . They were not making it easy for the leaders as they were chasing hard and making sure this was a close competition. With just an hour left of the competition it started to look a sure thing for the leaders Luke Hayes and Mike Robb with an impressive weight of carp at 222 lb with the closest chaser at only 150 lb meaning they would have to catch 3 of the biggest fish in the lake within the last hour, possible on a good day but by no means an easy task. The competition , despite the difficult weather, had turned out to be an amazing event with the leader taking a huge leap ahead of the chasing group. The other pegs that didn't catch just proved that the conditions were not easy and the weather was also making the fishing hard but those that caught managed to catch some amazing specimens.
Final Results
Luke Hayes & Mike Robb 222lb 15oz
Karl Shaw & Wayne Aguis 150lb 14oz
Paul Davis & Steven Lavinaro 73lb 9oz
Matthew & Gareth Gronow 51lb 6oz
Harry Wakeling & Andrew Tucker 20lb 12oz
I for one can't wait for the second round being held at Lamby Lake Syndicate Water this coming weekend and the final is going to be an amazing competition if the first qualifier is anything to go by.
Good Luck Lads, Tight Lines from Club FAW.
