MERSEYSIDE ANGLER WINS 2009 SAMF UK MASTERS

Merseyside angler Ian Brookes won the 2009 SAMF UK MASTERS on the beaches of Skegness in Lincolnshire 6th & 7th November.

54 qualifying anglers from England and Wales competed for the title and the weather conditions were just right for the matches. Even with the strong breezes the sea conditions were just right and the coloured water helped to produce good catches.
On the first day competitors needed between 26 to 45 fish to come in the top four in their sections. Bob Gascoigne from Cramlington had the best overall catch weighing 22lb 7oz. Mainly whiting and flatfish. The two heaviest fish were whiting, the biggest being a fish of 1lb 2oz. for Simon Drayton from Gainsborough.

The zone positions on day 1 were:-
A zone 1st   Bob Gascoigne                 22lb 7oz.       
A zone 2nd    Ben Richards                   18lb 1oz.         
A zone 3rd   Neville Charlesworth       17lb 15oz
A zone 4th   Damian O’Mara                17lb 4oz

B zone 1st     Joe Arch                        15lb 7oz.
B zone 2nd     Ian Brookes                              14lb 3oz
B zone 3d     Steve Tucker                  13lb 8oz
B zone 4th    Orry Turner                    12lb 3oz

ALL SAMF MATCHES ARE FISHED ON A CATCH AND RETURN FORMULA, THE FISH ARE MEASURED AND THEN IMMEDIATELY RETURNED. A CONVERSION CHART THEN CONVERTS THE LENGTH TO WEIGHT. LAST YEAR, AS A TRIAL, SAMF INTRODUCED SIZE LIMITS IN THEIR MAJOR COMPETITIONS ON COD, WHITING AND BASS TO TRY AND ENCOURAGE MORE ANGLERS TO FISH MATCHES. AS A RESULT THIS REDUCED THE ACTUAL NUMBERS OF FISH COUNTING TO AN ANGLERS SCORE BUT GAVE EVERY ANGLER THE POSSIBILITY OF DOING WELL EVEN ON THE LAST CAST BY CATCHING A LARGE FISH.
Day 2 again saw good conditions but once again anglers need double figure bags of fish to score well. Top catch was made by Paul McIntyre from Jarrow 18lb 10oz. The biggest fish, once again was a whiting of 1lb 4oz caught by Andrew Hutchings from Cardiff.

Day 2 zone winners
A zone 1st   Paul McIntyre                  18lb 10oz
A zone 2nd   Ian Brookes                    18lb 3oz
A zone 3rd   Simon Drayton                 15lb 10oz
A zone 4th   Gary Hutson                    12lb 9oz

B zone 1st     George Smith                  10lb 2oz
B zone 2nd    Neville Charlesworth       9lb 14oz
B zone 3rd    Eddie Painter                  9lb 10oz
B zone 4th    Michael Emery                 8lb 5oz

FINAL POSITIONS
1        Ian Brookes                    7 pts          
2        Neville Charlesworth       8 pts          
3        George Smith                  13 pts                  
4        Paul McIntyre                 15 pts
5        Damian O’Mara                17 pts                   1213 fish points
6        Orry Turner                    17pts           1132 fish points
7        Gary Hutson                    19 pts                  
8        Simon Drayton                 21 pts                    1254 fish points
9        Eddie painter                  21 pts                    1112 fish points    
10      Ben Richards                   25 pts         1139 fish points    
11       Steve Tucker                  25pts          984 fish points
12      Bob Gascoigne                 29pts

A pairs competition was run within the match and winners were:-

1. Neville Charlesworth (Withernsea) & Simon Drayton (Gainsborough)
2. Gary Hutson (Cleethorpes) & George Smith (Grimsby)
3. Damian O’Mara (Llanelli) & Steve Tucker (Wirral)

Ian was overall champion with two 2nd places in his zone giving him 7 points. Neville Charlesworth from Withernsea ran him close with a day 1 zone 3rd and a day 2 zone 2nd giving him 9 points.  
Only one lady qualified to fish the championship this year, Heather Lindfield from Merseyside.
A total of 1641 fish were caught during the two days, mainly whiting and flatfish with a few coalfish and one bass making up the catches.
Cash prizes down to 12th position overall and section pools down to 4th place in both sections each day giving a total cash prize fund of £3300, plus tackle prizes and trophies. SAMF is grateful to the following tackle companies for donating tackle for prizes: ANYFISH ANYWHERE, DAIWA & ULTIMA.
Everyone who attended agreed that once again the event had been successful, and this venue will be used again for major events.

Next years final will be fished at Chesil in October. Qualifying matches are already being run around the country. Contact Andy Steele , 01772 611597,for details of local events.