FARNHAM Angling Society fished the Jack Frost Memorial Charity Pairs 24-hour match at Badshot Lea Big Pond. Some spectacular fish were caught and over £8,000 was raised for charity.
The winners this year were Rob Szewciw and Sarah Austin with 284lb 13oz of mostly carp. They were chased all the way to the final whistle by runners-up Joe Lunn and Dan Ibbott who recorded 218lb and Andy Cooper and John Lucas finished third with a respectable 134lb 8oz.
The teams caught mostly carp and bream, while a few catfish made an appearance this year. The carp proved trickier over the weekend and looked like they were about to spawn.
Every team banked a fish and, at any point, the leaderboard could have been turned on its head by one of the lake’s larger fish.
The specialist prizes for biggest fish went to Sarah Austin with a 20lb common carp and Ashleigh Boxall with a 7lb bream. The biggest tench of 5lb 4oz fell to Ben Cockram and the heaviest fish of all was a catfish of 23lb 7oz, caught by Paul Davies.
The biggest fund-raiser was Paul Stevens, a representative from Second Chance Charity, who collected a staggering £5,000. As a collective, the anglers have raised £8,330, and match organiser Jon Hyatt says there is more to come.
“The event was set out a lot better,” he said, “and is the biggest charity match to date with a record 20 teams fishing.”
The annual match has raised over £42,000 since it began in 2001 and this year’s amount will go to The Second Chance Charity, including a donation of £330 from The Tenchfishers at their Mill Lane fish-in.
Jon Hyatt paid tribute to all those who took part and to Trevor Hopkins who marshalled the event and assisted with organisation on the day.
Farnham AS were also grateful to the companies who donated prizes: Farnham Angling Society, Gardner, Fishing Republic, Hampshire Tackle, Tackle up Fleet, Bordon Angling Pentangle, Backhurst Bait Supplies, Willow Park, Raisins/Gold Valley, Carp Particles UK, Crowthorne Angling, Eric’s Angling, Assassin Tackle and Touchdown Leads.
• Anyone interested in joining Farnham Angling Society can call 07546 724317 or visit the website www.farnhamanglingsociety.com