After a week of glorious sunshine the 56 competitors were faced with a cold overcast day accompanied by a howling gale for the first round of the 2015 Angling Trust & Canal & River Trust Pairs Championship qualifier on Sunday 12th April held on the Loughborough Canal.

This not only affected the sport, but cost several competitors dear in terms of broken pole sections and tackle blown into the canal.Despite this the results were quite credible.

The individual winner Jason Cunningham (Shakespeare Superteam) put together a quality net of roach fishing squatts on peg A14 outside the Boat Inn for a weight of 4.880 kg.In second place fishing the fancied end peg at Swingbridge was Steve Brookes (Bennets Bait and Tackle) with a weight of 3.940 kg. Steve caught a mixture of skimmers and perch on casters and worm.Third place went to Steve’s pairs partner Dave Mawby (Bennetts Bait and Tackle) with 2.600 kg from peg A22 at Hawes with some nice roach and perch on chopped worm.

Top 6 results1) A14  Jason Cunningham (Shakespeare Superteam) 4.800 kg2) B34 Steve Brookes (Bennets Bait and Tackle) 3.940 kg3) A33  Dave Mawby (Bennetts Bait and Tackle) 2.600 kg4) A16  Dave McCall (Shakespeare Superteam) 2.550 kg5) A7  Terry Nutt 2.540 kg6) B24 Ron Scales (Notts AA) 2.480 kg

Steve Brookes and Dave Mawby were clear winners with a section win and a section second for 55 points closely followed by Dave McCall and Steve Broome with 52 points.Top 5 pairs going into the final on Saturday 24th October on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal are;

Steve Brookes and Dave Mawby 55 pointsDave McCall and Steve Broome 52 pointsRoger Marlow and Dean Guess 46 pointsTony Barker and Mick Hatchard 41 pointsSam Merry and Rob Wootton 41 points

The Angling Trust and Canal & River Trust would like to thank the organisers and local representatives for all their help on the Loughborough Canal.

Photo – from left to right – Dean Guess, Roger Marlow, Steve Brookes, Dave Mawby, Sam Merry and Rob Wootton.