River Ouse below York 04/07/20
On a rising river it was always going to be dominated by anglers using the feeder and so it proved with all prize winners catching a few bream and skimmers. Taking the honors and winning the match from zone B was Dean Grace, drawing one of the fancied pegs opposite the Palace Dean fished a small ground bait feeder mid river to catch a few bream and skimmers feeding casters and maggots through the feeder and using maggots on the hook bagging a total of 19lb – 10oz.
Runners up and zone A winner was Paul Townend with16lb – 15oz, Paul drew peg 3 on the pumper section at Fulford and with ground bait feeder tactics at around 25m to the edge of the main flow feeding caster, dead maggots and a little chopped worm and using maggots on the hook went on to bag 5 Bream and a Skimmer.
The other qualifiers were Steve Lowther (zone C) with 7lb – 12oz and Dave Miles (zone D) with 13lb – 00oz
River Swale 18/07/2020
With the river fining down after recent high levels with a slight tinge of colour most were expecting a Chub bonanza but sadly that didn’t happen for most, however there were plenty of smaller Gish available and that was good to see.
Winner on the day was Dave Atha with 51lb – 08oz (from Zone 1 peg 8) his catch consisted of 15 Chub falling to both stick and waggler tactics, feeding caster and hemp but fishing maggots on the hook Dave caught the odd fish throughout the match except for the last hour.
Second place went to Matty Prudhoe off fancied peg 36 where he landed all Chub on the bomb and meat to weigh 31lb – 04oz and qualify from Zone 3.
Third on the day and qualifying from Zone 2 was Graham Hall with 29lb – 01oz of waggler caught Chub and a few silvers off peg 15.
Final qualifier from Zone 4 off peg 39 was Tim Richardson with 3 bomb caught Chub for 11lb – 05oz
Lower Tees 25/07/20
The river fished quite well for this one considering the water clarity and bright sunshine combination, winner on the day was Brownings Nick Crooks with a decent catch consisting of around 20 Skimmers and a couple of Roach all taken on the ground bait feeder and maggot mid river from peg 164 at Yarm for a weight of 20lb- 12oz.
Runner up and also qualifying for a shot at £5,000 first prize was Barnsley Black angler James Dent, fishing peg 190 James had a similar bag of Skimmers using the same tactics as Nick to weigh 18lb – 12oz.
The other anglers through to the final are: Pat Adams with 15lb – 09oz from peg 11: Paul Healey with 17lb -03oz from peg 92: Nicky Jose with 16lb – 01oz from peg 50.
River Clyde 01/08/20
We all were looking forward to this one and after seeing the river on Friday afternoon before the match we were hoping for a silvers bonanza as fish were topping everywhere, but as we all know nothing goes to plan and thunderstorms during the evening put some extra cold water in the river and the Dace and Roach populations decided not to respond as we’d hoped!
Still we had a match on and the winner on the day was Martin Greene with a fantastic display using the pole and ground bait approach with caster, hemp and maggot feed and generally maggots on the hook to bag 13lb – 03oz from end peg 28 In zone C to finish clear of the man in second place (and unlucky not to qualify) Neil Stanhope on peg 22 with 10lb – 10oz of stick and loose fed maggots, caster and hemp and again maggots on the hook.
Other qualifiers were John Sweetland and David Brettell from zone B both with a weight of 5lb – 10oz (rules cover this and both go through to the final) and the the qualifier from zone A with a weight of 7lb – 13oz was Barrie Lockey
River Nidd 15/08/20
A tough day for all really but we still have four qualifiers and topping the frame was Neil Stanhope from peg 18. Neil started on the bread using his trusty Avon float method to bag a Chub early in the match and with another falling to a cube of meat using similar tactics he was not going to be caught and after adding a few smaller fish ended the day with 11lb – 06oz. Second in the match and also qualifying is Stewart Holt with a bag of 10lb – 06oz from peg 3. The other two anglers through are Fred Prudham (Peg57) with 8lb – 06oz and finally Andy Jaques with (peg40) with 6lb – 06oz
River Don 22/08/20
Another tough test for most on this one as recent results on the river pointed towards Skimmers and Bream producing the qualifiers but as usual things turned out a lot differently with Roach dominating along the whole match length and it was the anglers in the know and those willing to gamble on the bream not showing up in any numbers that did the damage.
Winner on the day was Chris Greensides with a weight of 15lb – 06oz from peg 59, the bulk of his catch being Roach falling to pole fished maggot over a bed of ground bait and loose fed hemp. Second on the day and also securing his place in the final was Phil Hirst from peg 47 with a weight of 14lb – 12oz, after bagging an early Skimmer on the feeder then a few Roach on the pole at 13m he bagged the bulk of his Roach catch at 7m on hemp and tare. The other qualifiers on the day were Darren Cook (peg 84) and finally Peter Kitwood (peg 63) with 6lb – 09oz
River Aire 05/09/20
Another tough match this one although most had a few bites off the Roach. Winner on the day was Keith Mitchell with 13lb – 02oz from peg 54, the other qualifiers were Dave Armitage with 7lb – 09oz, Dave Pollit 12lb – 02oz and Neil Mallinson with 10lb – 12oz
River Ure 19/09/20
Yet another very tough match for most anglers today with lots of blanks around but as always we get more qualifiers heading into the final next March. Winner on the day was John Martin with a single bream of 6lb – 10oz plus a couple of Roach caught on the maggot feeder giving a total weight of 6lb – 14oz. Others to qualify were Glyn Brown with 4lb – 12oz, John Cosgrove 4lb – 02oz and Dave Moss 2lb – 08oz
River Tees Dinsdale 27/09/20
Cracking qualifier this one, plenty of Dace to be had but it was the Chub that did the damage on the day with the winner Chris Brown heading into the final after bagging 19 small ones on the waggler and caster for a weight of 26lb – 06oz from one of the favourite pegs just below the weir. Joining Chris in the final are Jeff Herbert with 4 Chub on the bomb and meat for 14lb – 10oz, Lewis Macintosh 10lb – 05oz and Mal Wilkinson with 19lb – 12oz
River Hull 10/10/20
Yet another tough match this one, after two weeks of consistent big weights of Roach everyone was looking forward to it but the rain gods had other plans and the river was full of extra water making the fishing very difficult. We had a winner though (in fact two) as tying for first Place off adjacent pegs on the Tickton zone with 7lb-8oz was Paul Kozyra and Anthony Hatto. Joining them in the final are Craig Hirst 4lb-10oz, Barry sayer 4lb-04oz and Mike Lee 6lb-03oz.
River Ouse Linton 24/10/20
What a horrible day this one was weather wise and with the river carrying extra water and rising it was always going to be a difficult one, but as we keep saying anglers do have to qualify and the 4 through to the final are (from left to right) Scott lister with 6lb – 00oz (one late Bream securing his place) next up Ryan Knox with 5lb – 04oz with dad Roy Knox also winning his zone with 2lb -05oz Ian Exley winning the match with two big Bream for 12lb -13oz
River Calder 31/10/20
The penultimate qualifier and yet another testing match with the river carrying extra water, but most managed to put some fish in the net and again 4 anglers have squeezed into the final. From left to right: Nigel Hirst 4lb – 12oz Martyn Highe 9lb – 02oz Paul Clark with a match winning weight of 15lb – 10oz and finally Kevin Weighell 9lb – 13oz
River Tyne 01/11/20
Final match for this season’s qualifiers and the mighty river Tyne has produced some very good weights. The last 4 anglers making it into the final are (from left to right) Stephen Wood winning his zone with 16lb – 06oz of quality Dace next through with a very last minute reserve ticket was the ever green Mick Broadley with a fantastic Dace bag of 24lb – 04oz. Next up was your match winner Nigel Collis with a bag of specimen Dace topped up with 3 Chub for a brilliant weight of 35lb – 14oz all caught on the stick float. Phil Rippon making up the quartet with another great weight of 21lb – 00oz
We at Northern River Masters HQ would like to thank everyone who has taken part this season and look forward to seeing you again for next seasons bigger and better competition!
