So many matches are won and lost due to choices made by an angler in the heat of battle, and for Steve Hemingray, his decision to fish down one hole all-day in a talent-packed Angling Trust/ZeroFit Silverfish Final proved to be the perfect one as he picked up the £5,000 top prize with a 68-7-0 net of skimmers.
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Fishing from peg 38 on the river bank of Barston Lakes, Drennan-backed Steve put all of his eggs into one basket with a 13m pole line, catching well after a blank opening hour to finish just 3lb ahead of runner-up Dave Wilmott on 65-10-0.
He was on peg 121 on the golf course bank, the swim that had won the practice match the day before, that performance earning the Somerset man £2,000, Andy Oldham rounding off the top three with 63-8-0 off peg 50 for £1,250 in winnings.
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Steve fed micro pellets and maggots initially in a small pot, changing that to loosefed maggots once he began catching, double maggot on 0.2g and 0.3g proving to be the winning tactics.
Although it took an hour to catch, when the skimmers arrived, he cashed in, enjoying a brilliant two and a half hours of a fish a chuck.
After that, the peg faded a little, but he kept on adding a few fish to the net, every single one proving to be crucial in the final reckoning!
Result: 1 S Hemingray, Drennan, 68-7-0; 2 D Wilmott, Somerset, 65-10-0; 3 A Oldham, Hallcroft, 63-8-0; 4 A Wakelin, Daiwa, 58-1-0; 5 A Bennett, Guru/Blakes Bait, 56-8-0; 6 S Harwood, Daiwa, 50-13-0.
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