Saturday 31st March and Sunday 1st April saw 60 top anglers from around the country descend onto West end beach at Morecambe to fish the prestigious two day low water match organised and sponsored by Gerrys of Morecambe

World No1 Joe Arch was in attendance along with Julian Shambrook of AnyfishAnywhere and many more top matchmen, including Gareth Griffiths, Ged Stevens, Ashley Sampson and Steve Smith

Our very own TerryG meeting one his heroes Julian Shambrook, very nice fella who took the time to have a chat just before the match started

England International Ashley Sampson on the left with match organiser John Walker and Sam Hamblett

Dave Hutchinson whipping his peeler crab on

The species were mainly flatfish, with plaice dabs and flounder the usual quarry. The match was catch & release so all fish were returned after measuring to fight another day 

Terry even managed to charm World No 1 Joe Arch from Cardiff into passing on a few tips & tricks

Results

Day One
zone A G.thornes
zone B J.Arch
zone C S.Dewhurst
zone D M.Emery
Biggest flatfish I.Brooks 45cm plaice
Biggest round (no round so second biggest flat)
P.Corker/M.Emery both 42 cm flounder

Day Two
zone A J.Shambrook
zone B A. Fellows
zone C S. Potts
zone D G. Griffins
Biggest flat S.Ball 45cm plaice
Biggest round B.Lindfeild 21cm whiting lol

Overall winners over the two days were
1st Stuart Dewhurst
2nd Joe Perry
3rd S Potts
4th Kenny McCoy
5th Gordon Forbes

The winner Stuart Dewhurst collecting his tropthy & prize money off event sponsor Gerry Foote of Gerrys Fishing

The weather was kind and the rain stayed away, but with a brisk and cold northerly wind.
The fishing was a bit slow over both days with mainly flatfish being caught, the biggest flatfish on day one was a 45cm plaice, with a 45cm plaice also winning day two.

I was surprised how friendly and chatty all the anglers were, I expected serious concentrated faces and secret methods, but without exception all the participants were happy to have a chat and discuss tactics.
All the anglers I spoke to enjoyed the event and it was well run and organised by John Walker and Dave Hutchinson, well done fellas 

The presentation after was a site to behold, a room full of grizzled anglers in a mad scramble for food when it was put out. Our very own Jags managed TWO plates full, I thought I liked my food!   

Overall, it was an excellent well attended match. The fishing could have been more prolific but this tested the anglers abilities to the limit, with differing methods/baits tried with varying degrees of success. There are more matches planned for later in the year, and after seeing first hand what good fun it looked, I’ll be hoping to attend at least one.