With fishing times being pushed back to accommodate the Evesham River Festival, anglers were optimistic that the later finish would lead to increased catches.
Alcester rod George Avery took top spot with a 7-8-0 net of perch and roach from peg seven. George started by fishing maggots on the long pole at 13 metres, where he took perch, roach and dace on a running through rig. When bites dried up, he switched to a waggler fished with maggots which kept bites coming for the duration of the match.
In second place was Middlesex based Darren Davies. Darren started his match on a flat float fished with chopped worm, where he found a couple of early eels. When bites stopped, he alternated between two maggot lines to keep small fish coming for a 6-5-8 total.
On his first visit to the river this season, Sensas backed Paul Downes took third spot with 6-5-0 from peg one. The Birmingham backed rod found several perch and a bonus eel on waggler and maggots.
1 George Avery (Alcester Sports) 7-8-0 (peg 7)2 Darren Davies (Drennan) 6-5-8 (peg 15)
3 Paul Downes (Sensas) 6-5-0 (peg 1)
4 Terry Parrott (Alans Tackle) 6-3-0 (peg 2)
Tim Noke (WB Clarke) 6-3-0 (peg 35)
5 Rob Perkins (Dynamite Baits) 5-12-0 (peg 22)
Tony Skinner (Shakespeare Superteam) 5-12-0 (peg 17)
6 Jason Jones 5-8-8 (peg 80)
7 Tom Scholey (Pole Fishing) 5-2-0 (peg 72)
Paul Jackson 5-2-0 (peg 13)
8 Tim Kaye (QuornVan Den Eydne) 4-11-0 (peg 16)
Qualifiers:
George Avery
Tim Noke
Jason Jones
