There was a superb turnout in admiration of one of Liverpool’s most respected anglers as 66 canal match men lined up on the banks of Maghull last Sunday.
Fred Moss, a past chairman and lifelong member of Liverpool & District Angling Association was known nationwide within angling circles and anglers travelled far and wide to attend this now coveted and prestigious event upon Liverpool & DAA’s calendar.
Carefully put together by L&DAA match secretary Mike Dickson, the match started at the top end of the duck’s length at Westway and went back to Liverpool through the legion, cricket pitch, Hall Lane and out to Brewery Lane at Melling.
Pre-match forecasts by locals had offered visitors some good advice that this one was possibly going to be a ‘big fish’ match and one that would record a decent weight or two on a length that covered many prime bream ‘beats’ and certainly strong tench haunts throughout it.
As roach specialists, many canal anglers do have to change tactical view on occasions like this and the roach not really feeding possibly due to spawning was proved by the overall outcome.
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Ironically, pegged upon an ‘unfancied area’ that hasn’t produced for a long time, Daz Shaw from Greater Manchester made his trip down the East Lancashire Road more that worthwhile. Shaw put together a fantastic 36.14.0 of bream and skimmers from Hall Lane’s old Bowling Green to win this one and pocket not only the £240 prize money, but take hold of the prestigious trophy in the name of Fred Moss.
Following suit with another superb weight was fellow Mancunian Mark Webb. Webb, pegged on the legion, again made the most of a bream feeding frenzy as he put together another top weight for 33.2.0 and second place worth £180.
Paul Hughes, another Manchester angler, made it a hat-trick as he took another creditable weight of 27.8.0 for third place also from the legion. Gordon Griffiths, travelling over from Oswestry, took fourth place as he tackled the motorway length’s notorious lily pads, taking 26.4.0 and Wigan’s Sean Wharton rounded off a superb frame in fifth place with 24.12.0.
Within a grand finale, Mike Dickson rounded off an amazing day which began with his fiancee Steph’s fundraising breakfast barms. Then with a superb raffle and lots of prizes offered by many of those attending and also those kindly donated by Angling Direct, £500 was raised which will go to supplying a secure unit for a defibrillator. The unit will be mounted outside the L&DAA Headquarters at Maghull Community Association.
With a quick round-up on the commercial front, Jay Cloney took the honours on Mistral Lake at Mescar Fisheries on Sunday. Cloney (Vine Baits) took a near ton with 94.4.0. Maghull’s Matty Higgins took second with 82.2.0.
On the club scene, the much-travelled Alliance took a trip over to Weston Pools. Southport’s Dave Langton took the top points winning with 68.1.0. Colin Pellow took second with a close 66.8.0 and Kevin Bradshaw, 63.8.0 took third.
