WEST Yorkshire aces Slaithwaite & District AC were full of praise for Warrington's Steve Conroy as they celebrated a magnificent victory in the Team event at the Embassy Division Four National Angling Championship on the Bridgewater Canal at Warrington on Saturday (June 21).
A total of 23 teams took part and, with the National Federation of Anglers restructuring the National Championships to four Divisions next season, the top 20 teams were promoted to Division Three with the remaining three teams staying to fight it out again in Division Four.

Not a dry net!
In a match which didn't produce a single dry net, Slaithwaite & District, who are based in and around Huddersfield, collected £630 as they totalled 210 points, just three points clear of Sussex outfit Fox Match Arun. It is the second year in a row that Slaithwaite have been promoted. And Slaithwaite "coach" Steve Conroy, who fishes for Drennan North West and is the brother of England star Stu, was there to join in the celebrations as his expert knowledge of the Bridgewater Canal paid off in style.

A long time coming
Slaithwaite skipper Dean Harris, a 41-year-old cloth finisher from Huddersfield, said: "The club has been going for around 100 years and this is the greatest result we have achieved as a team. We are a squad of canal anglers and we really thought we could do something at this match as it was almost a local water for us. We hoped it might be our year at long last and we put in six weeks of really hard practice. "But we couldn't have won the title without all the fantastic help we received from Steve Conroy, we couldn't have done it without him. A mutual friend introduced us and Steve has been brilliant. He gave us a peg-by-peg run-down of the canal, he has been down to help us practise and he's even attended a club meeting to give us more advice. Then, Steve also turned up on the day and it's just been a tremendous result for everyone involved."
Steve Conroy said: "I'm chuffed to bits, I really enjoyed helping out and to win the title made it all worthwhile. They are a great bunch of lads, they were willing to listen and learn and they thoroughly deserved this victory."
Using Van Den Eynde Super Cup and Super Match groundbait, Slaithwaite's team plan was to fish at 13-14+ metres halfway up the far shelf with white maggot over squatt and also to fish punched bread and white maggot over bread.
Slaithwaite's top performer was Huddersfield's Stuart Whitwam who landed small bream and roach to win F Section and finish 10th overall with 2.790kg. Three Slaithwaite anglers also finished third in their Sections, skipper Dean, in his third year in charge, weighed in 1.860kg in J section, Mark Turner netted 1.450kg in A Section and John Harman put 1.800kg on the scales in C Section.

No mistakes this time
Fox Match Arun (above) had just missed out on promotion in two of the last three years but they made no mistake this time when they collected the silver medals and £450 with 207 points. Arun skipper Bob Docker, a 38-year-old self-employed builder from Hove, East Sussex, said: "We were fifth in 2000 when three teams were promoted and 11th last year when 10 teams went up. Now we have not only won promotion but picked up a silver medal as well - it's been a great day out."
Like many teams, Arun opted to go for small fish, aiming for up to 1kg a man after eight of the team spent two days practising on the canal the previous weekend. Their best performer was Worthing's Darren Barton who won A Section and came 11th overall with 2.670kg while they had two anglers in second place in their sections - Horsham's Neil Boniface with 1.840kg in C Section and Worthing's Steve Peacock with 2.260kg in F Section. Steve was also 15th in the Individual.

Two Nationals...Two Medals!
The bronze medals and £360 in the Team event went to Essex side, Fox Match Ockendon (above) with 196 points. This was only the second time that Ockendon had entered a National and they certainly have an impressive record after coming home second in Division Five on the River Nene last year!
Ockendon skipper Gerry Edwards, a 38-year-old pattern maker from Rainham, Essex, said: "To win silver and bronze medals in our first two years is a great performance by the whole squad - now we can't wait to fish in Division Three". They also opted for a squatt approach, looking for 1kg a man.
Edwards added: "We came up last week to practise and had a good look at the canal with four anglers fishing the match and eight anglers walking the banks. We had a couple of low scores in the National but, overall, it was an excellent team performance."
Ockendon's top points scorer was Paul Stanley, a 35-year-old French polisher from Hackney, East London, who finished a superb sixth overall in the Individual event when he won B Section with 3.020kg - a catch that included a carp of nearly 2kg. "I was catching small roach, perch and gudgeon at 11 metres when, halfway through the match, I noticed a carp on the far bank between the brambles. I went for it and hooked it almost immediately, it went straight for a nearby tree but I managed to get it out and into the net," said Paul who tempted the carp on double caster on a size 16 hook to 4lb line at 16 metres.

Quality swings it for Mike
There was double glory for West Yorkshire as Mike Sharpe, a 46-year-old systems analyst from Outwood, near Wakefield, picked up £1,110 for winning the Individual title with 4.000kg - from a peg where he thought he "didn't have a chance."

Mike caught more than 80 roach but it was two quality bream to almost 1kg that swung the title his way from Peg H9 near Moore village. Fishing squatt over groundbait on a size 26 hook on the far shelf, Mike hooked the first good bream after 90 minutes and then netted the title clinching bream with an hour to go.
"This is easily the biggest win of my life, it's a fantastic feeling to be a National champion," said a happy Mike whose £1,110 winnings included a pay-out of £510 from bookmaker Billy Knott after a £5 each way bet. However, Mike added: "I nearly didn't have a bet but a mate said I should have a go, so I did."

But Mike was far from confident at the start as he said: "I walked past some really good pegs and then I came to my peg - I didn't fancy it all and I thought I didn't have a chance. It was completely featureless with just a concrete bank - no trees and no rushes and nothing to make me think I wouldn't even get a good weight let alone win a National."

Don't do bets!
Billy Usher, a 48-year-old former steel erector from Hawkinge, Kent, landed four decent bream up to 0.5kg, a perch of nearly 0.5kg, a couple of bonus roach and some smaller fish to finish second with 3.870kg and pick up £514. He could have won more but he said: "I didn't have a bet, I never do."

Billy fished close to the weeds on the far bank with worm on a size 16 hook, and it was those reeds which nearly cost him dear. He said: "Halfway through the match, I got caught up in the reeds and as I pulled clear, my pole came undone at the sixth section and shot across the canal. Luckily, I was able to use my four section landing net handle to fit into the floating sections and bring the pole near enough to the bank to grab hold of it. Otherwise, I think I would have had to go in for a swim to get my pole back." It was his best result in a big match and his team, Cinque Ports AS, also gained promotion in fourth place with 180 points. Last year, Billy won a Team bronze as Cinque Ports came home third in Division Five and he said: "It's been a great two years for me in National events."

Veteran 'Del Boy' does good up North

There might have been a fairytale golden double for 73-year-old Derek Powell - probably the oldest competitor in the match, but he had to settle for a bronze medal and £492 in the Individual event with 3.520kg from Peg M20 near Walton Bridge. It's the most money Derek has won in a match!

Two years ago, Derek, a retired toolmaker from Witham, Essex, captured the Embassy Veterans' National title on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and he said: "I must like fishing in the North West, I am really proud to have added this bronze medal to my gold. I had never seen the water before and the team plan was to 'catch what you can'."

Fishing a double pinkie on a size 22 hook, Derek did really well to play and net a fine carp of just over 3kg and he also added some small bream. And there was a bonus for Derek as his Billericay & District AC squad clinched promotion in 13th place with 136 points.

Billericay & District also supplied the fourth placed angler in Barry Lewis, a 61-year-old taxi driver from Danbury, Essex, who won K Section with 3.100kg, a catch that included a carp of around 2.25kg that he caught with three hours to go. He said: "I started for small fish but hooked a carp which not only broke me but smashed the No.4 section of my pole. So, I changed up to double caster on 7lb line and managed to hold the second carp. This is my best performance in a National." Including money from a £5 each way bet, he went home with £500.

Dave Phillips, 42, and an electrician from South Reddish, Stockport, was fifth with 3.070kg from H23 and banked £292. Dave, who fishes for Emigration AC, started on bread punch at eight metres and later alternated between squatt and caster on a size 18 hook to land bream up to 1kg and some roach. He did lose a carp after three and a half hours but knew he didn't have much chance of landing the fish on such light tackle!

Above: BOAT AHOY…a scenic shot in B Section at Red Brow Lane.

Above: A BRIDGE OVER RIPPLED WATERS…anglers in A Section near the M56 motorway.

Right: A BRIDGE OVER RIPPLED WATERS…anglers in A Section near the M56 motorway.

Below: IN THE NET…Keith Wilson (BICC Prescot) lands a bream from A18.

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