Saturday April 29th – Monday May 1st, 2006

This inaugural event has three superbly hand-grafted quality glassware trophies up for grabs. They are not you’re typically cheap and shiny plastic ones which are likely to be thrown in the attic or garden shed and then forgotten about… these are something a little bit special and unique! They have been sponsored and donated by one of the biggest fishing tackle shops in Europe, BEVER HENGELSPORT, Willebroek, who are proud to be associated with this competition.

PLENTY TO FISH FOR
If 1,000 euro’s is not incentive enough, Browning/Zebco have generously supplied an array of products for the weekend, obviously seeing the potential of an annual European open match, which attracts match anglers from around the Continent.

TWO SPECIAL TROPHIES
BIGGEST FISH caught during the individual competition, so with carp in the canal pushing 20lb, bream to 6lb, roach to 1lb and ide to 3lb… this could be an interesting award.
BEST PERFORMANCE (not necessarily the winner) as decided by Dave Johnson from Matchangler.com who will be prowling and photographing the event for the web site. He’ll be making his judgment based on who did well on the day, from where they were. It could be a good net of small silvers or someone who gave a great performance on a particular method.

SOME POINTS WORTH NOTING
On the day of the match you’ll have plenty of time to get to your peg, everyone will enter their zone at the same time… 10:00. All-in will commence at 12:00.

All stewards will be wearing YELLOW tabbards and the organising officials ORANGE, so if you have any concerns or are unsure about anything, please feel free to ask them… they are there to make your day run smoothly.

A copy of the rules will be available online and on-site in both French and English, they will also be covered during the draw at 08.15am

Directions to the canal will be clearly sign-posted when you arrive in Pommeroeul so you should have no trouble arriving for your practise.

THE POMMEROEUL CANAL
It was my task to go and fish the canal before the match and show what fish were on offer come match day and also give some background information for our travelling anglers.
A cold night, with an overnight frost, was followed by a day of bright clear conditions… not exactly ideal for fishing, ANYWHERE! The canal was gin clear and it looked as though I’d picked a tough day to show what this venue has to offer the travelling angler.
I decided upon a peg exactly halfway along the match length, opposite the crooked steeple of the famous church in the village of Pommeroeul. Apparently this is due to the main structure of the steeple being made of wood, which has warped over time! One thing’s sure, it gives a good landmark for angler’s to head for.
I made my way to my peg along the road at the side of the canal by car, access is perfect at every peg, no long walks, no trolleys required. Just park up, get out and fish… simple!

As you can see from the photo, the venue couldn’t be more even and fair. It’s a typical CIPS regulation venue, constant in depth throughout its whole length. Long, straight and featureless, it resembles a water autobahn and consequently doesn’t have any hot spots, it can be won from just about anywhere, which is why it is such a popular match venue with local anglers.

As I was setting up, Emile Battard turned up to discuss a few details about the EuroMeet. Emile is head of the local fishing club who are our on the spot organisers. They will be assisting on the bank during the weekend’s practice sessions and competitions and will deal with general facilities, refreshment, stewarding and weighing in. Emile and his members were more than pleased to invite us onto their water and MA.com owes a debt of gratitude for their efforts in producing what we hope will be a unique event.

I first asked him what my chances were of catching and he thought I would blank in such hard conditions, but was optimistic that in a couple of weeks, when the weather settles down, that the fish would feed in good time for the match. We discussed a few more things before he had to leave.

During this information gathering exercise, I decided to try the SLIDER and POLE. The reason for this is I thought if I could catch on the slider then it would go without saying that the FEEDER would work in the match and with pegs being 15 metres apart it would easily accommodate the feeder angler.

I didn’t try the WHIP as the water was far too cold and clear for any significant number of fish to come in close. It’s likely to be worse during the match weekend.

On the pole line at 13 metres, the depth was no more than a top four. This is exactly where the concrete slope ends all along the length, so is an obvious place to target the bream and roach. In fact my top four (which are cut well back) proved the perfect length for my rig including a foot of line to the float.

Floats
Floats for roach need to be around 0.8 gram to 1 gram (above) with a fine tip for bloodworm fishing. I’d also suggest a caster rig with a slightly more robust float for on the bottom, as some better roach around 10oz are available which could make up some excellent weights if they show. Floats for bream need to be around 1gr. to 1.5gr. (below) dependent on conditions.

I also set up a slider rod with a semi-loaded 4 gram insert float and set the depth using the bulk as my plumb weight. The depth was approximately 12 to 13 ft.
I keep my slider rods set up in a special holdall with the hook and float wrapped onto a large winder which means I’m ready to fish within seconds.

Groundbait
Every time I’ve fished this canal I’ve used BLACK groundbait with black LEAM, purely because the water is so clear. I’ve always done well on this canal so I have no reason to start using anything else. A lighter colour may work when the fish are really having a go, but I wouldn’t take the risk, especially as we’re fishing in late April, not August.
As a guide ny mix was made up as follows: 2kg Etang Noir, 2kg Canal Black, 1kg Epiciene Noir, 1kg Gros Gardon Noir. They were thoroughly mixed wet the night before to ensure that the mixture was completely inert.

I split my joker and incorporated some into the pole line mix, saving some for topping up later as required, as well as adding some to my slider line mixture.

I prepared 10 to 12 good sized balls to put in on the pole line and then prepared some for firing out with a groundbait catapult on the slider line.

Other baits
It goes without saying that you’ll need good bloodworm and joker. Red maggots and pinkies are allowed in this French part of Belgium, so are an essential bait, along with plenty of caster… a few redworms which could prove a useful change bait.
Limits for these during the match will be:
Joker: 2.2 pints
Caster, maggot, pinkie, worms: 4.4 pints maximum
Groundbait (including hemp and corn): 17 litres maximum.

Fishing
With both lines fed, I decided to give the pole a go first, hoping for some quick fish from the initial balling in. One roach after an hour and things were not looking good, perhaps Emile knew something! A switch from bloodworm to maggot resulted in a decent bream of 2lb, but the line just wasn’t fishing in the conditions.
Having given the pole a good workout I felt it was time to try the slider and after a few initial touches started to get into some of the venues better bream. These were good fish of around 4lb and proved a welcome sight, not to mention a relief, on my trial visit.
By the end of the session I’d taken a haul of 10 good bream and 4 decent sized roach which I asked a passer-by to take shot of me with. I was more than pleased that I’d been able to show the canals potential, which in turn promises a potentially fair and even match for the EuroMeet Open. My feeling is, it could be won from anywhere!

Right: Part of Mark's catch from the Pommeroeul Canal.

I hope this gives some idea of what to expect and I look forward to seeing you at the event, if you have any questions, you can either e-mail me at the site or have a chat on the bank during the weekend.