On Wednesday 22md July 9 young anglers turned up to have a bash at the the very old Water Lily cup, I remember fishing for this when I was 8 and it was old then, they fished opposite the boat club at the nearest end of "B" Section to the river bridge.
It was really good to see increasing numbers over last years event, I assume there was a power cut and they could'nt find anything else to do. firstly big thanks go to Pete Milburn for the organising, advertising and general overseeing of the event. The conditions were good with a back wind and silver fish in evidence, the older over 13's group was won by Michael Sparks with 1lb 13oz which in an hour and a half was a good result, he caught silvers and Perch fishing maggot over Hemp. in second place was Mahsin Khurshid with 1lb 5oz mainly Perch with a couple of Roach and Dace, Mahsin managed to throw back a 5 oz Roach and lose a couple of decent Perch which might have made all the difference. Third place went to Ben Croker with 9oz followed by Lewis Brant and Peter Gibbs.
In the under 13's group young Rhis Nesbit carried off the title showing her dad how to do it with a round 1lb of Perch and she was followed by Simon Budd with 2oz and Brandon Evans with .5oz with Joe Welton in next place
At the end of the match Pete presented all the entrants with prizes donated by the angling club and everyone had a very reasonable prize to take home for their efforts. As a final thought thanks go to several of the anglers from the St Ives club who came to give the benefit of their experience to the youngsters, Compo only managed to scare them and DNW and Senior both said thank you to the lads they were watching as they had learnt loads, not sure it was supposed to be the kids teaching the adults but some of us are still grasping at the basics.
Onward to the Claude Smith in August
Michael Sparks (13) 1 lb 13 oz 1st in 13 to 15 group
Mahsin Khurshid (15) 1 lb 5 oz 2nd in 13 to 15 group
Ben Croker (13) 9 oz 3rd in 13 to 15 group
Lewis Brant (13) 2.5 oz 4th in 13 to 15 group
Peter Gibbs (13) 2.5 oz 4th in 13 to 15 group
Rhia Nesbit (9) 1 lb 1st in 9 to 12 group
Simon Budd (12) 2 oz 2nd in 9 to 12 group
Brandon Evans (11) 1/2 oz 3rd in 9 to 12 group
Joe Welton (12) No Fish 4th in 9 to 12 group
Water Lily