Richard Yates lands coveted angling championship title after dramatic end to two-day final on the Theatres of Breams

Last weekend saw 40 of the finest feeder fishermen from around the country descend on the Theatres of Breams – Anglezarke and Upper Rivington reservoirs – thanks to Southport and District Anglers Association, for the two-day final of the Adlington Angling Centre and Daiwa Sports Feeder Championships 2021.
Richard YatesRichard Yates
Richard Yates

Not only were are all the anglers competing to have their name etched on the prestigious trophy, but there was £5,000 in prize money to be won, plus £1,500 of tackle and bait that Daiwa Sports had kindly donated.

On Saturday, the draw took place at 9am on the sun-basked dam walls on Horrobin Lane, as well as Back Lane, which lit up the banks of the West Pennine Moors in all its glory.

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Over the past few weeks, the fishing had been hard across the reservoirs, due to the amount of water that had filled them to peak winter levels, but that didn’t deter these hardy anglers.

Once the draw for pegs had been made, all the competitors had two hours to make their way to their swims and get ready for the ‘all in’ being cried out at 10.30am.

As all the anglers made their first casts in unison on Upper Rivington, the reservoir looked like a mill pond, without a ripple on its glass-like surface.

And John Fletcher, fishing on peg 15 on Horrobin Lane dam wall, fared best as he fished his cage feeder out at 30m, in what proved to be a skimmer soup in front of him, resulting in him bagging a stunning 14lb 6oz of fish for the reservoir win, as well as the best weight over the two reservoirs on day one.

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Further down the same dam wall, Adlington Angling Centre’s Lee Syddall was fishing peg 19, and after a great start, catching a small bream, he backed that up with some nice skimmers and roach on the way to weighing in 13lb for second place on that reservoir.

Over on the The Street dam wall, Ronnie Ranson on peg 6 was faring best as he fished two lines at 21m and 60m, using a 50/50 mix of Ringers Dark and Natural, which resulted in him catching a nice stamp of skimmers on the way to weighing in a fine 10lb 7oz for third place on the day.

Matrix LTB’s Richard Yates, on the same dam wall, was fishing peg 7 , and finished a hair’s breadth away in fourth place, fishing dead red maggots at range for a lovely net of skimmers for 9lb 9oz

Over on the open Anglzarke reservoir, the fishing proved very tough with the lack of a wind blowing across the water, but Mark Phillips, fishing on peg 20,came out on top on the first day as he wisely opted to fish a short line for the abundant silver fish, where he fished his dead red maggot hook bait over a nice bed of dark crumb for a fine net of fish for 8lb 8oz to win the match on Anglezarke reservoir on day one.

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At the other end of the reservoir on peg 4 was Matrix LTB’s Dave McManus, who opted to rotate fishing two lines at 50m and 80m, using Sonubaits F1 Dark mixed with Worm Fishmeal in his feeder with dead red maggots and a worm as hook bait, which proved just too irresistible for the residing skimmers.

Then in the second half of the match he got just the bite he was waiting for in the shape of lovely bream that boosted his net on the way to 7lb 7oz for second place on that reservoir on the day.

Further up the reservoir was his John Pryers on peg 10, fishing a tidy match with his red maggot and worm combo on his double hook set up over a nice bed of dark crumb, which tempted a good stamp of skimmers to his net on his way to weighing in a fine 7lb 3oz of fish for third place on that reservoir on the day.

Alan Wilson on peg 1 filled the the places in fourth with 6lb 15ozoz.

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Going into the second day, you could cut the tension with a knife with more than half the field of competitors still in with a chance of being crowned champion.

And as the fishing conditions changed, with more favourable overcast fishing conditions, alongside a nice North Easterly whistling down the reservoirs, all the competitors were optimistic for a bite or two.

As it turned out, Anglezarke reservoir was the place to be, as all of the weights on the day came from there, but none of the anglers were quite prepared for the climax to the match as Matrix LTB’s Richard Yates made his move in his quest for glory!

On day one, Richard fished peg 7 on Upper Rivington reservoir, finishing fourth overall with 9lb 9oz.

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On day 2, Richard managed to draw peg 12 on Anglezarke reservoir, and he instantly made the most of the conditions as he cast his feeder alongside his red worm hook bait to 85m, which, within moments of him putting his rod on his rest, saw his tip wrapped round, resulting in a good stamp of skimmer, which he soon followed up with yet another skimmer.

That is when he knew that the fish were already there residing in his swim, and this top angler sure took full advantage as he scooped up skimmer after skimmer, before, suddenly, his bites dried up!

But with an hour to go, he started getting indications as the much sought-after bream moved into his swim, resulting in him bagging a lovely stamp of slabs.

And with just five minutes to go, knowing he needed just one more bream to be in contention, he got just the bite he needed as his tip hooped round, as he banked a 3lb 2oz bream just before the ‘all out’ was cried out across the reservoir, as he went on to weigh in a cracking 15lb 1oz net of fish on the day!

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Once that weight was added to his day one total, Richard finished with a stunning 24lb 10oz, which was good enough to be crowned the Adlington Angling Centre and Daiwa Sports

Feeder Champion 2021, with that fine 3lb 2oz bream proving the crucial fish!

Further down the dam wall, after finishing day one with a stunning 13lb, Adlington Angling Centre’s Lee Syddall was fishing peg 8, and he’d decided to attack the reservoir from the off, which resulted in him catching a nice stamp of skimmers, before he backed that up with a nice 3lb 4oz bream in the second half of the match, for a cracking 9lb 10oz net of fish.

Once that was added to his day one weight of 13lb, Lee had a total of 22lb 10oz, which was good enough for second place overall in the tournament.

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On peg 11 was Bag’em Matchbaits’ Gordon Simm, who had weighed in 6lb 1oz on day one.

He also made the great decision to attack his swim from the off, and he was soon smashing up the skimmers, fishing at range with two dead red maggots as hook bait, before he started to slam in the much sought-after slabs, which resulted in him weighing in a cracking 16lb net of fish, which was the best weight on Anglezarke reservoir on the day.

Once that was added to his day one weight of 6lb 1oz,Gordon had a total of 22lb 1oz which was good enough for third place overall.

Meanwhile, over on Upper Rivington reservoir, Darren Hanley on peg 18 had finished with a nice 5lb 4oz net of fish after the first day, and he picked up day two just how he left off.

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He targeted the skimmer soup out in front of him, and netted skimmer after skimmer, which resulted in him weighing in cracking 16lb 4oz net of fish – the best weight on Upper Rivington, and the best weight over both reservoirs on the day.

Once that was added to his day one weight, Darren had a total of 21lb 8oz, which was good enough for fourth place overall.

All in all it was a fantastic tournament, with a great set of anglers, and everyone is already looking forward to 2022 when the tournament returns.

Stay tuned to these pages over the coming months as I will be announcing details of how this event will return next year as we bring it back ever bigger and better.