News

Grand Final 30th September 2023

26 finalists had battled their way to the Grand Final hosted by Larford Lakes located nr Stourport on Severn.
A very strong field of top flight finalists made their live draw at 9am and fishing commenced at 12pm until 5pm.

Nobody could have predicted where the winner would come from on the day as weights previously had come from all over the lake.

Conditions on the day were not ideal with a high pressure change, 9C rising to around 18C. A stiff breeze on the morning coupled with a full moon.

Needless to say, these conditions did have an adverse effect on the lake but overall, the final was very close with at least 10 anglers challenging over the five hour competition.

Winner of the 2023 Golden Reel Championship for a second time was Andy Power from peg 5 on the Grass Bank.
Andy started on the bomb & pellet for the first couple of hours landing a few carp but was not in contention at this point.
Switching to his edges on the pole with two hours remaining, Andy started to find some quality carp to dead reds fished over ground bait to weigh in 118-11-0 and lift the prestigious trophy and title and a massive £35,000.

Challenging all the way was second placed Steve Forster who drew peg 17 on the Burr Bank.
Steve fished the pole long to start with, with pellet hook baits to depth.
Later switching to his short line and down his edges, weighing 103-6-0 of carp and F1’s.

Steve was leading the way for most of the match but found the last hour difficult which allowed Andy Power the ground for a late challenge for the title.

Third placed Ryan Bennett drew peg 21 on the Burr Bank who fished short pole and down his edges.
Ryan fished pellet and dead reds to weigh a bag of carp, skimmers and F1’s that scaled in at 102-10-0.

Fourth placed Matt Pillay pushed hard for the full five hours, catching steady from peg 6 on the grass bank.
Matt caugh around 40lbs of carp on the bomb & pellet and method feeder, but late in the match switched to his edges where the carp were clearly showing down his margins.
Matt finished the day with 99-8-0.

Fifth placed Kristian Jones was always in the running from peg 8 on the grass bank.
Kristan caught most of his fish short and down his edges, finishing the day with 98-12-0

As finals go, the weights were very tight with any of the top 10 in the race for the title.

What a final that presented a nail-biting finish. You can watch back all the action on out Facebook page or watch the round up video below.

1st Andy Power (peg 5) 118-11-0 £35,000
2nd Steve Forster (peg 17) 103-6-0 £3,000
3rd Ryan Bennett (peg 21) 102-10-0 £2,000

Full results-

Qualifier Weight Peg
Andy Power 118-11-0 5
Steve Forster 103-6-0 16
Ryan Bennett 102-10-0 21
Matt Pillay 99-8-0 6
Kristian Jones 98-12-0 8
Rob Taylor 97-7-0 24
Ian Giddins 96-7-0 23
Dean Lock 83-3-0 25
Lee Thornton 80-6-0 1
Des Shipp 79-9-0 14
Dale Shepherd 72-10-0 2
Matt Roberts 71-2-0 22
Sam Brown 63-4-0 19
George Parker 56-3-0 20
Ryan Lidgard 52-4-0 3
Adrian Twist 46-11-0 26
Steve Freeman 37-15-0 18
Dan Bennet 32-15-0 15
Harry Campbell 26-7-0 13
Jordan Holloway 24-8-0 12
Peter Upperton 23-13-0 11
Jack O’Sullivan 19-8-0 9
Kieron Rich 15-0-0 4
Ryan MacDonald DNW 7
Jason Davies DNW 10
Steve Barraclough DNW 17

 

Section Winners, collecting £1000 per section-

Section 1, pegs 1-6, Matt Pillay 99-8-0 peg 6
Section 2, pegs 7-13, Kristian Jones 98-12-0 peg 8
Section 3, pegs 14-19, Des Shipp 79-9-0 peg 14
Section 4, pegs 20-26, Rob Taylor 97-7-0 peg 24

 

Woodlands View qualifier Saturday 22nd July 2023

Dear Competitor,

Due to the extreme lack of support for the Golden Reel, Woodlands View qualifier scheduled for Saturday 22nd July 2023, we have no alternative other than the cancellation of this particular date and venue.

We have great regerts over this decision as we believe Woodlands View to be a very professional and high profile venue which offers first class fishing and facilities.

We will now schedule a new date and venue to replace this cancellation so the few tickets that have been pre-ordered will receive a full refund within the next few days.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused, which unfortunately is outside out control.

Yours Sincerely
Phil Briscoe
Event Organiser


 

Golden Reel Grand Final Saturday 10th September 2022. 

Another Golden Reel campaign of 25 qualifiers & the Semi Final reached it’s conclusion with 27 Grand Finalists fishing for the title of Golden Reel Champion 2022

The conditions for the final were not ideal as it was a muggy breathless day with highs of around 22C.
The wind directions was also difficult and a high pressure moved in.

Needless to say, there was hundreds of fish swimming shallow and the edges were alive with fish until the 12 noon hooter sounded for the start of the match.

Some early fish were caught in the first 30 minutes and it was at that stage looking positive.
Then the venue switched off with only odd fish being caught.

Section A, pegs 1-7 on the grass bank was proving to be very difficult section with some of the finalists in this section reverting to fishing for silvers.

Section B, pegs 8-13 was also very moody, but some early carp were being caught.

Section C, pegs 14-20 was out fishing the other sections with Matt Dawes, Luke Bamford, Pete Upperton and Neil Colcombe all catching a few fish.

Section D, pegs 21-27 was equally difficult with Sam Brown and Lee Riley making the running.

After 2 ½ hrs, it was quite evident that weights were well below par and the damage could only be repaired by way of edge fish making a showing.

True to form, the last two hours, 3-5pm, edge fish showed up, but they were very difficult to catch.

We had at this point got Luke Bamford on peg 17 as the clear front runner.
Luke was catching on a method feeder cast tight to the island.

Pete Upperton had started his edge run of fish, pole fishing down his margins with meat.

Neil Colcombe was on peg 19 and pushing Pete Upperton hard, also catching down his margins.

The last two hours also started to put Artur Hilmi in a strong position on peg 11.
Artur was catching good carp short and down his edges.

The only other finalist pushing hard was Lee Riley on peg 27 on the Burr bank.
Lee was catching well down his edges.

With 30 minutes remaining, our money was still on Luke Bamford, and we estimated he had a weight of around 120lbs. Artur Hilmi was still catching well from peg 11 and our estimate at this point was 90 -100lbs.

Peter Upperton was still finding some lumps down his edges and we put him at around 80lbs.

Lee Riley on peg 27 was still catching good carp down his edges, but we still thought Luke Bamford was leading the way.

With 10 minutes to go, the three front runners were clear, Luke Bamford, Artur Hilmi and Lee Riley.

At the whistle the scales would decide who the 2022 champion was going to be.

Artur Hilmi weighed in at 115-14-0, Luke Bamford 132-11-0. We thought that was enough to lift the trophy.

Then came peg 27, Lee Riley, who weighed in a level 140-0-0 to lift the crown and a £35,000 cheque.

So the final itself didn’t have a run away winner with only 8lbs separating first and second.

A huge congratulations is extended to the new champion Lee Riley.
Lee suffered a horrific industrial accident falling 30’ whilst renovating a building and to this day is reliant on walking sticks.
What an achievement, Lee is currently moving house and need to change facilities to help him move around his new property due to his condition.

We sincerely hope that his massive Golden Reel cheque helps him to achieve the comforts and life style he needs and deserves.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in another final because his angling ability is remarkable.

Also like to congratulate second placed Luke Bamford who led the competition all the way.
Also Artur Hilmi for his superb performance and a lesson on edge fishing.

Last but not least, congratulations to all the finalists. To reach the final itself is a remarkable achievement.

Phil Briscoe
Event Organiser

Pictured – Phil Briscoe presenting the Golden Reel Trophy to Lee Riley.
(the hat was donated by Severn Sports & Leisure, Larford Lakes.)

Lee is known to us now as the Viking!

Top 6 Overall

1st Lee Riley Peg 27 140-0-0 £35,000
2nd Luke Bamford Peg 17 132-11-0 £3,000
3rd Artur Hilmi Peg 11 115-14-0 £2,000
4th Pete Upperton Peg 18 96-0-0  
5th Neil Colcombe Peg 19 84-12-0  
6th Matt Dawes Peg 14 79-9-0  

 

Section Winners – 

Sec A 1-7 John Jones 56-3-0 £1000
Sec B 8-13 Dale Shepherd 58-8-0 £1000
Sec C 14-20 Peter Upperton 96-0-0 £1000
Sec D 21-27 Lee Thornton 56-7-0 £1000

 

Winning Blocker – Mark Skidmore 114-13-0 £100

 

All qualifiers – 

Qualifier Peg Number Permanent Peg Weight
Matt McGuire 1 4 51-15-0
Mike McMillan 2 6  24-0-0
Andy Power 3 8  30-8-0
Jordan Holloway 4 10  49-1-0
Calum Dicks 5 12  27-8-0
Danny Crewe 6 14  30-4-0
John Jones 7 16  56-3-0
Dave Roberts 8 18  29-0-0
Steven Roberts 9 20  54-15-0
Ian Latham 10 22  34-9-0
3rd Artur Hilmi 11 24  115-14-0
Des Shipp 12 26  19-2-0
Dale Shepherd 13 28  58-8-0
Matt Dawes 14 37  79-9-0
Tom Newton 15 39  30-5-0
Mick Bull 16 43  31-5-0
2nd Luke Bamford 17 45  132-11-0
Peter Upperton 18 47  96-0-0
Neil Colcombe 19 49  84-12-0
Adam Rumble 20 51  34-5-0
Barry Byrd 21 53  33-0-0
John Alexander 22 55  31-11-0
Sam Brown 23 57  53-15-0
Adam Major 24 59  DNW
Zac Werby-Smith 25 61  43-0-0
Lee Thornton 26 63  56-7-0
1st Lee Riley 27 65  140-0-0

Sections were 1-7, 8-13, 14-20, 21-27 Sections winners are in Bold

 

 

 


Golden Reel Championship 2022 Venues & Dates

Tickets go on sale Friday 1st October 2021 7pm for the 2022 series. 

DateLocationPegs
Saturday 2nd April 2022Meadowlands80 Pegs
Saturday 9th April 2022Hallcroft100 Pegs
Saturday 16th April 2022Lindholme100 Pegs
Saturday 23rd April 2022Larford Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 30th April 2022The Glebe100 Pegs
Saturday 7th May 2022Moorlands Farm100 Pegs
Sunday 8th May 2022The Glebe100 Pegs
Saturday 14th May 2022Larford Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 21st May 2022Barston Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 28th May 2022Woodlands View100 Pegs
Sunday 5th June 2022Larford Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 11th June 2022Partridge Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 18th June 2022Decoy Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 25th June 2022Lindholme Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 3rd July 2022Meadowlands80 Pegs
Wednesday 6th July 2022The Glebe100 Pegs
Saturday 9th July 2022Barston Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 16th July 2022Moorlands Farm100 Pegs
Saturday 23rd July 2022Hallcroft100 Pegs
Saturday 30th July 2022Lindholme100 Pegs
Sunday 31st July 2022Larford Lakes80 Pegs
Saturday 6th August 2022Decoy Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 13th August 2022Partridge Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 20th August 2022Barston Lakes80 Pegs
Sunday 28th August 2022Larford Lakes80 Pegs

With the Grand Final on Saturday 10th September 2022

 


 

 Golden Reel Final, Saturday September 11th 2021

The long road of national qualifiers finally concluded with the Grand Final at Larford Lakes on Saturday 11th September.

All the qualifiers made their draw on the podium on the morning at 9:30am, a recording of the draw can be viewed on Facebook HERE.

The draw listed the anglers in the following order:-

PegAnglerPermanent peg
1Andy Power4
2Scott Jones6
3Steve Openshaw8
4Lee Edwards10
5James Hall12
6Mick bull14
7Ken Portas16
8Perry Stone18
9Andy Bennett20
10Ryan Bennett22
11Chris Weeder24
12Jordan Holloway26
13Kevin Wadge28
14Andy Christie40
15Stuart Fotheringham42
16Alex Walker44
17Barry Mason46
18Andy Kinder48
19Tom Edwards50
20Ashley Blunt52
21Paddy Mc Mahon54
22Andy Fulleylove56
23Jon Radford58
24Paul Carnwell60
25Alan Scotthorne62
26John Jones64

Conditions on the day were bright sunshine, gentle breeze with highs of around 22C.

So the stage was set for the 5th Golden Reel Grand Final here at Larford Lakes.
The match started at 12 noon and concluded at 5pm and from the off carp were hooked short and on bomb & pellet.

Early leaders were Kevin Wadge from peg 13 by the end of the Island, Jordan Holloway from peg 12 in the channel, Stuart Fotheringham on peg 15 on the burr fishing to the nose of the island and Andy Christie from peg 14.
Overall, it was a slow start for most of the field which came as no surprise.

By the halfway point everyone was catching fish but a clear leader was Stuart Fotheringham who was catching quality carp to the method feeder, casting tight to the island and Stuart was admitting to 60lbs.

In second place at the half way stage it was tight between Kevin Wadge, Jordan Holloway and Andy Christie all with around 45-50lbs.

Typically in the last two hours the match started to throw up some great weights with quality carp being caught tight down the edges on both banks.

With one hour remaining, peg1, Andy Power was catching well and was probably looking at 80-90lbs.
Andy Bennett was catching well, also finding fish down his edges and well in the race. Andy was looking at around 80lbs at this stage of the match.
Kevin Wadge and Andy Christie were neck and neck with around 75-85lbs.
But it was Stuart Fotheringham who was taking a comfortable lead going into the last lour with an estimated 100lbs plus. Stuart was still catching well on the method tight to the island.

The last sixty minutes was difficult to keep up with, as many of the field were catching very well down their margins.
With fish averaging 8-10lbs it could have gone anyway with fifty percent of the field in contention.
All that being said, it was Stuart Fotheringham who kept his cool head and remained on the feeder line even though the margins were brimming with feeding carp.

At the whistle it was evident that Stuart was well in front but great weights had been recorded by many of the field.

At the scales, it was quickly confirmed that Stu Fotheringham had the winning weight of 174-9-0 making Stu, for a second time, Golden Reel Champion 2021.

Second place went to Andy Bennett from peg9 with 136-15-0 of mainly quality edge fish.

Third place was awarded to Andy Power from peg 1 weighing in an impressive 122-5-0.

Fourth placed Andy Christie weighed in 103-2-0 from peg 14.

Section Winners :-

Section A. pegs 1-6 – Steve Openshaw, peg 3 111-3-0 £1000
Section B, pegs 7-13 – Jordan Holloway, peg 12 £1000
Section C, pegs 14-20 – Andy Christie, peg 14 103-5-0 £1000
Section D pegs 21-26 – John Jones, Peg 26 69-5-0 £1000

Top 10

PositionPegPermanent pegNameWeight
11542Stuart Fotheringham174-9-0
2920Andy Bennett136-15-0
314Andy Power122-5-0
438Steve Openshaw111-3-0
51226Jordan Holloway106-5-0
61440Andy Christie103-2-0
71328Kevin Wadge101-2-0
8614Mick bull85-14-0
9410Lee Edwards83-5-0
101746Barry Mason74-15-0

Blockers –

Mark Hawthorne DNW
Mark Skidmore 89-15-0
Steve Rocke 209-8-0 (winning £100)
Neil Colcombe 168-15-0

So in all, a truly fantastic day and a big congratulations to second time winner Stuart Fotheringham collecting a massive winners cheque of £50,000.

Also a big well done to Andy Bennett for securing second place and collecting £3000.

Third place to Andy Power who collected £2000, plus the 4 section winners all collecting £1000 each.

The final was covered brilliantly by Jamie Harrison, whom posted on his own fishing channel, Larford Lakes and the Golden Reel Facebook pages.

Here is a highlights video of the day –

 

 

Tickets go live for 2022 on the Golden Reel sire for next years event from Friday October 1st 2021 7pm.

If you’re in it, you can win it!

Phil Briscoe
Golden Reel Event Organiser

Full results –

PositionPegPermanent pegNameWeight
11542Stuart Fotheringham174-9-0
2920Andy Bennett136-15-0
314Andy Power122-5-0
438Steve Openshaw111-3-0
51226Jordan Holloway106-5-0
61440Andy Christie103-2-0
71328Kevin Wadge101-2-0
8614Mick bull85-14-0
9410Lee Edwards83-5-0
101746Barry Mason74-15-0
112626John Jones69-5-0
122020Ashley Blunt67-10-0
131919Tom Edwards64-1-0
142525Alan Scotthorne57-3-0
151818Andy Kinder46-15-0
162222Andy Fulleylove37-4-0
171010Ryan Bennett36-12-0
181111Chris Weeder34-8-0
19512James Hall29-10-0
20818Perry Stone29-7-0
211616Alex Walker28-0-0
22716Ken Portas27-9-0
232154Paddy Mc Mahon22-12-0
2426Scott JonesDNW
252358Jon RadfordDNW
262460Paul CarnwellDNW

IMG_5006

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The Golden Reel Angling Championship Grand Final

The draw has taken place, here are the placings today – 

Who is your money on? Place your bets with Bresbet.com

Andy Power 1
Scott Jones 2
Steve Openshaw 3
Lee Edwards 4
James Hall 5
Mick bull 6
Ken Portas 7
Perry Stone 8
Andy Bennett 9
Ryan Bennett 10
Chris Weeder 11
Jordan Holloway 12
Kevin Wadge 13
Andy Christie 14
Stuart Fotheringham 15
Alex Walker 16
Barry Mason 17
Andy Kinder 18
Tom Edwards 19
Ashley Blunt 20
Paddy Mc Mahon 21
Andy Fulleylove 22
Jon Radford 23
Paul Carnwell 24
Alan Scotthorne 25
John Jones 26

 


 

The Golden Reel Angling Championship Semi Final

The semi final will be at Larford Lakes on Wednesday September 1st 2021.

Draw between 8am – 9am
Fish 11am – 4pm
Pools on the day £30

No1 Larford Lakes  Sunday 11th April Ray Lamb Chris Senter
No2 Woodland Thirsk  Sunday 18th April Ryan Laycock Anthony Alderson
No3 Barston Lake  Saturday 24th April Jon Arthur alex walker
No4 Woodland Thirsk  Sunday 9th May James Dent Ethan Bradley
No5 Larford Lakes  Saturday 15th May Carlos Passeira Chris Jones
No6 Barston Lake  Sunday 23rd  May Fran O’Relly Matt Godfery
No7 The Glebe  Wednesday 26th May Kieron Rich Joshua Pace
No8 Woodlands View  Saturday 29th May Matt Higgins Dale Lynch
No9 Decoy Lakes  Saturday 5th June Jon Whincup Chris Barley
No10 Lindholme Fishery  Sunday 6th June Dale Shepherd Matt Dawes
No11 Partridge Lakes  Saturday 12th June Kristian Jones Graham Ramsdale
No12 The Glebe  Wednesday 16th June Darren Connock Reese Miles
No13 Larford Lakes  Sunday 20th June Krzysztof Frackowiak Prezmek Solski
No14 Woodland View  Saturday 26th June Kev Slade Mark Taylor
No15 Barston Lake  Saturday 3rd  July Mark Stainsby Andy Kinder
No16 Larford Lakes  Wednesday 7th July Pete Upperton Sam Brown
No17 Meadowlands  Sunday 11th July Stuart Fotheringham Jason Cawthorne
No18 Decoy Lakes  Tuesday 13th July Simon Skelton Ben Bell
No19 Lindholme Fishery  Saturday 24th July Jimmy Brooks Nick Smith
No20 Larford Lakes  Sunday 1st August Steve Forster Chris Lane
No21 Barston Lake  Sunday 8th August Darren Sanders Lee Farmer
No22 Partridge Lakes  Saturday 14th August Rob Parker Andy Christie
No23 The Glebe  Sunday 15th August Mark Griffiths James Taylor
No24 Larford Lakes  Sunday 22nd  August Keith Pentland Steve Roberts

 

Semi Finalists will be drawn as follows:-

24 Anglers – Speci Lake
24 Anglers – Match Lake

Winner of each lake will progress to the September 11th Grand Final, fishing for the trophy and 1st place payout of £50,000.

Phil Briscoe
Event Organiser
Golden Reel Angling LTD

 

Larford Lakes, Larford Lane, Larford Nr Stourport on Severn, DY130SQ

 

Tony Coates Wins £50,000 Golden Reel 2020 Final!

Golden Reel Grand Final, Larford Lakes, Saturday 12th September 2020

The long and difficult year of nationwide qualifiers concluded at Larford Lakes on Saturday 12th September.

The field of 22 finalists arrived to make their Golden draw at 9am all hoping for the winning £50,000 peg.
Leading up to the final, it was virtually impossible to forecast where it could be won from with most, it not all the finalists pegs fishing really well.
By 9:30am the draw was concluded, placing anglers on the pegs as listed –

Peg 1 Gareth Lenox Peg 12 Kieran Marsden
Peg 2 Tom Edwards Peg 13 Rob Taylor
Peg 3 Fran O’Rielly Peg 14 Matt Wiles
Peg 4 Chris Weeder Jnr Peg 15 Ben Townsend
Peg 5 Luke Bamford Peg 16 Andy Power
Peg 6 Gareth Gronow Peg 17 Craig Edmunds
Peg 7 Sam Brown Peg 18 Ryan McKinley
Peg 8 Sam Slockett Peg 19 Lee Riley
Peg 9 Mikey Williams Peg 20 Perry Stone
Peg 10 James Evans Peg 21 Jason Dunwoth
Peg 11 Tony Coates Peg 22 John Hannam

 

Fishing was from 12-5pm, conditions were difficult with a very high pressure set it, gentle breeze and highs of around 22C and bright sunshine.
Needless to say, the lakes totally switched off with fish swimming shallow and certainly not looking to feed.

The early runner were Sam Brown from peg 7 who caught a few decent carp on the method feeder, Mickey Williams from peg 9 to both feeder and pole, James Evans from peg 10 also on the feeder.
At the half way point, it was evident that the fish were in a very difficult mood with 40lbs being a good weight at this stage.

As the match progressed, peg 28 started to catch well and it was Tony Coates leading the field.
The last hour started to produce a few edge fish and in all fairness, anyone could win if they were to put together a string of decent edge fish.
The last 30 minutes saw peg 22 catching well and it was Welsh rod, John Hannam doing the damage on bomb and pellet.

On the whistle, it was evident that both peg 11 and peg 22 were close.

At the scales, John Hannam, peg 22 weighed in 59-1-0 of carp and F1’s and peg 28 lifting the trophy and £50,000 winning cheque with 68-1-0

It was a remarkable performance by Tony Coates, who qualified from Wednesday’s Semi -Final with 222-8-0 from peg 28.

To draw the same peg again against all the odds but on a very difficult day, his method feeder tactics casting tight to the island rewarded him with the Golden Reel Champion title 2020 and a massive pay day of £50,000.

1st Peg 11 Tony Coates 68.01
2nd Peg 22 John Hannam 59.01
3rd Peg 10 James Evans 45.13
4th Peg 18 Ryan McKinley 44.09
5th Peg 2 Tom Edwards 43.09
6th Peg 14 Matt Wiles 40.13
7th Peg 12 Kieran Marsden 40.09
8th Peg 9 Mikey Williams 35.15
9th Peg 7 Sam Brown 35.08
10th Peg 19 Lee Riley 30.04
11th Peg 6 Gareth Gronow 29.14
12th Peg 8 Sam Slockett 27.05
13th Peg 1 Gareth Lenox 27.01
14th Peg 17 Craig Edmunds 25.05
15th Peg 21 Jason Dunwoth 20.09
16th Peg 16 Andy Power 19.02
17th Peg 5 Luke Bamford 18.02
18th Peg 13 Rob Taylor 17
19th Peg 4 Chris Weeder Jnr 11.14
20th Peg 20 Perry Stone 10.03
21st Peg 15 Ben Townsend 8.08
22nd Peg 3 Fran O’Rielly 0

 

Golden Reel 2020 Draw

Who is your money on to collect the £50,000 today??

Golden Reel Angling Championship 2020
.

The Golden Reel Championship 2020

Following the success of the 2019 Golden Reel Final, the dates and venues for the 2020 campaign will go on sale from Monday 4th November 2019 7pm.

By popular demand, 9 of the qualifiers have been booked for Sunday’s and just two mid-week Wednesday matches. The remaining qualifiers will take place on Saturday’s.
All selected venues will be MAXIMUM 100 peg qualifiers so to allow extra space for participating anglers.

DateLocationPegs
Sunday 11th April 2021Larford Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 18th April 2021Woodland Thursk100 Pegs
Saturday 24th April 2021Barston Lake80 Pegs
Sunday 9th May 2021Woodland Thursk100 Pegs
Saturday 15th May 2021Larford Lakes90 Pegs
Sunday 23rd May 2021Barston Lake80 Pegs
Wednesday 26th May 2021The Glebe100 Pegs
Saturday 29th May 2021Woodlands View100 Pegs
Saturday 5th June 2021Decoy Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 6th June 2021Lindholme Fishery100 Pegs
Saturday 12th June 2021Partridge Lakes100 Pegs
Wednesday 16th June 2021The Glebe100 Pegs
Sunday 20th June 2021Larford Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 26th June 2021Woodland View100 Pegs
Saturday 3rd July 2021Barston Lake80 Pegs
Wednesday 7th July 2021Larford Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 11th July 2021Meadowlands80 Pegs
Tuesday 13th July 2021Decoy Lakes100 Pegs
Saturday 24th July 2021Lindholme Fishery100 Pegs
Sunday 1st August 2021Larford Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 8th August 2021Barston Lake80 Pegs
Saturday 14th August 2021Partridge Lakes100 Pegs
Sunday 15th August 2021The Glebe100 Pegs
Sunday 22nd August 2021Larford Lakes80 Pegs


For 2020, second and third placed anglers from all 24 qualifiers will progress to a fish-off (48 anglers) and the top 2 from this event will automatically progress to the September Grand Final for £50k.
The winner of each individual qualifier will progress to the grand final on Saturday 12th September 2020 to be fished on the Match Lake at Larford.

The 2nd and 3rd placed anglers from each qualifier will fish on both the Match and Specimen Lakes.
24 anglers will go head to head on the Match Lake.
24 anglers will go head to head on the Specimen Lake on Wednesday 9th September 2020

The overall winner from each lake will progress to the Grand Final so there is a chance of making the final fishing against just 24 anglers per lake.

Overall winning weight from each lake will decide who are the two additional finalists.

So 2020 presents new opportunities and greater chance to reach the prestigious final which will now be a 26 peg Grand Final.

If you’re in it, you can win it.
On Monday 4th November 2019 7pm book your ticket on:-

www.goldenreelangling.co.uk

Golden Reel Grand Final Saturday 14th September 2019

Final Result

Position Angler peg Weight  
1 Jamie Hughes 23 151-8 £50,000
2 Peter Upperton 24 146-11 £3,000
3 Andy May 19 112-06 £2,000
4 Jordan Holloway 20 86-4  
5 Connor Barlow 22 50-10  
6 Steve Barraclough 16 47-15  
7 Andy Morley 12 44-14  
8 Dan Bowen 2 43-11  
9 Andy Bennett 9 41-11  
10 Dan Hull 15 38-4  
11 Craig Edmunds 3 37-4  
12 Mark Wynne 7 37-13  
13 Aidan Mansfield 6 35-5  
14 Tom Edwards 1 34-4  
15 Andy Power 8 32-5  
16 Ryan Bennett 17 32-10  
17 Mikey Williams 21 29-15  
18 Phil Canning 5 25-1  
19 Paul Gibson 11 24-6  
20 Mick Bull 4 23-6  
21 Reece Hearn 14 19-6  
22 Dave Brown JNR 13 18-9  
23 Carl Barnfield 18 15-10  
24 Ryan Morgan 10 13-3  
Section Winners
Dan Bowen 43-11
Andy Morley 45-14
Steve Barraclough 47-15
Jordan Holloway 86-4

Golden Reel Grand Final
Saturday 14th September 2019
Larford Match Lake.

Saturday, September 14th presented the third Grand Final at the incredible Larford Lakes complex in Stourport on Severn.
24 qualifiers held at many of the UK’s finest fisheries gave the opportunity to pocket £50,000 and the prestigious title of Golden Reel Champion 2019.
All 24 qualifying events fished extremely well with many of the finalists needing more than 200lbs to qualify for the September final.
The draw for the winning peg took place on Friday 13th September at the very polished Gala night held at the five star Stourport Manor Hotel, where the competitors enjoyed a 3 course meal, entertainment and luxury bedroom accommodation at no cost to the finalists and their partners.
9pm the draw for the pegs was completed, but no one really knew which peg was the likely winner as permanent pegs 28, 30, 36, 38, 44, 46, 48, 14, 16, 18 & 62 were all potential winning pegs.

The weather on the day was superb for the public viewing with highs of around 22C, a gentle breeze and bright warm sunshine.
Conditions like this however, did not favour the anglers on the day.
Furthermore, Friday evening there was a massive ‘Harvest’ moon, which is something we only see every 18-20 years.
Big moons – hard fishing!!

Defending his Golden Reel Championship 2018 title was Andy Power who drew Golden Reel peg No 8 (permanent peg 22) which was not a fancied peg on the day.
Mick Bull, returning for the second year running drew peg 4 (permanent peg 14), a strong bomb & pellet peg, Andy Bennett also a 2018 finalist drew peg 9 (permanent peg 24) which had been producing big weights in previous matches.

Other returning 2018 finalists were Dan Hull, drawing peg 15 (permanent peg 44) which was the end peg on the Match Lake Burr bank and potentially a match winning peg, Mikey Williams peg 21 (permanent peg 56) and Jamie Hughes, peg 24 (permanent peg 62).

The start of the final produced early fish for many of the competitors but as the match progressed, the fish were clearly backing off with many of the resident carp swimming shallow and spooking easily.

The front runners after the first hour were Peter Upperton from peg 24 (permanent peg 62), Jordan Holloway, Andy May, Andy Bennett and Andy Power.

Most of the competitors started short with pellet, some on bomb and pellet and some down their edges.
It became evidently clear, that Peter Upperton was stealing a march, catching quality carp on meat down his edges and at the halfway point of the match, we were scoring Peter at around 65-70lbs.

Andy Bennett was catching carp long with pellet, as was Andy Power but no one other that Peter Upperton was bagging up.
As the match progressed, Andy May started to find some big carp short to pellet from peg 19 (permanent peg 52) and next peg to him was Jordan Holloway also finding big carp short and down his edges.

Peter Upperton at this point was well clear of the field and well in front of his neighbour, Jamie Hughes on peg 23 (permanent peg 60).
That being said, with around two hours to go, Jamie started to put together a string of quality carp from his edges.
Landing carp to 10lbs on corn, both Jamie and Peter Upperton were going fish for fish producing an epic last hours fishing.

With thirty minutes remaining, the scorecard was very tight with Peter Upperton in front, Jamie Hughes in second place and Andy May clear third.

Little more than 10lbs seprated first and second with both anglers losing some big fish and top kits being trashed.
The last 10 minutes, Peter had played a big fish but lost it right at the net, which proved to be very costly as Jamie Hughes had landed two big fish during the same 10 minute period.

So on the final whistle, no one knew the result as it was so tight between 1st and 2nd.

At the scales, peg 20 recorded Jordan Holloway with a weight of 86-4-0 securing 4th place.

Third place was taken by Andy May with a weight of 112-6-0 from peg 19.

Second placed Peter Upperton was gutted to say the least. The lost fish in the last ten minutes of the final had certainly lost him the Golden Reel Championship 2019 title, weighing in 146-11-0.

A new champion in Jamie Hughes with a weight of 151-8-0 from peg 23.
Jamie’s late run of fish rewarded him the title of Golden Reel Champion 2019 and a massive first prize cheque of £50,000.

Afterwards, Jamie Hughes commented, “this is a brilliant match and Phil Briscoe has helped me to cement my position in the match angling all time greats.”
“What he does for angling and the high profile of angling events he organises is remarkable and we should all get behind him at every opportunity.”
“I’ll be back next year to hopefully defend this prestigious title.”

Golden Reel 2018 Grand Final Results

The long hard road of nationwide qualifiers finally concluded with the September 15th final at the popular Larford Lakes complex.

The Draw

24 finalists attended the polished Gala Evening at a five star hotel in Stourport enjoying a 3 course meal, live entertainment and of course the all-important peg draw on the Friday before the final.

In terms of fancied pegs, Larford’s Match Lake was on fire in relation to the form guide.
Clearly, the lake had its fancied pegs but the form book was saying it could be won from literally any peg.

So the draw was concluded as below-

Qualifier Peg No Permanent peg   Qualifier Peg No Permanent peg
Mark Griffiths 1 6   Richard Bond 13 42
Matt Godfery 2 8   Les Marshall 14 44
Andy Stepney 3 10   Pemb Wrighting 15 46
Dale Shepherd 4 12   Jack Danby 16 48
Jake King 5 14   Danny Bache 17 50
Andy Power 6 16   Adam Major 18 52
Dan Hull 7 18   Chris Weeder 19 54
Mick Bull 8 20   Andy Bennett 20 56
Paul Morris 9 22   Jamie Hughes 21 58
Mikey Williams 10 24   Jason Brown 22 60
Ross Harold 11 26   Ian Wood 23 62
Dave Roberts 12 28   Dan White 24 64

Dale Shepherd drew with fancied peg 4 (permanent peg12) as did Jake King, peg 5 (permanent peg 14) and Andy Power peg 6 (permanent peg 16).
Mikey Williams, Ross Harold and Dave Roberts all drew well fishing the pegs in the channel facing the island and end peg 28 drawn by Dave Roberts.

On the opposite burr bank, Richard Bond, Les Marshall, Pemb Wrighting, Jack Danby, Danny Bache and Adam Major had drawn inform pegs.

So the stage was set for a showdown like never before.

On paper, it was seen as one of, if not the strongest field of commercial match anglers ever to fish a major European final.

With £50,000 up for grabs to the eventual winner, £5,000 to second and £3,000 to third, plus £4,000 in section prizes, a massive £62,000 was the overall prize fund.

Match Day

Fishing commenced at 12pm concluding at 5pm.

Conditions on the day were near perfect.
The match started with a stiffish S/W breeze, overcast with highs of around 22C

Early fish were caught in particular on the burr bank with Les Marshall taking an early lead from peg 14. As the match progressed, the shallow bank, pegs 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 all started to catch well on both pole and bomb & pellet.


The peg that was most fancied was 28 but Dave Roberts found it difficult to get the fish feeding even though his peg was black with carp.

Dale shepherd, Jake King, Andy Power & Dan Hull were all clearly pulling away from the field but on the opposite bank, Richard Bond, Les Marshall, Pemb Wrighting and Jack Danby were finding quality carp on the short pole with hard pellet and paste tactics.

At the half way point, it was close between Andy Power, Les Marshall and Pemb Wrighting.

As the match progressed, the class of Andy Power became evident.


A string of quality carp to bomb and pellet clearly put him in the lead but was being chased hard by Pemb Wrighing, Les Marshall and Jack Danby on the burr bank.

To Andy Power’s right was Dan Hull and Mickey Williams catching well and Ross Harold was also pulling back lost ground.

With an hour to go, it really was a gloves off competition with at least 10 of the finalists in  with a chance of lifting the trophy.

That all-important last hour produced some brilliant edge fishing.
Andy Power was taking advantage of the carp feeding in numbers down his edge and at one point, probably had too many in his peg making them difficult to catch.

Dan Hull was catching well short and Mikey Willams was sacking down his edge and looking very dangerous.

Ross Harold was fish for fish with Mikey with nothing between them.

On the burr bank, Richard Bond was catching well down his edge as was Les Marshall, Pemb Wrighting and Jack Danby.

On the whistle, it was a hard one to call. We all thought Andy Power had done enough and true to form, the Power returned a superb performance weighing in with a very impressive 77-000Kg

But had the other anglers done enough to overturn the master of modern day commercials?
Well Jake King on peg 5 had fished a very tidy match sticking with the simple bomb and pellet approach.
Jake weighed in a very impressive 52,500Kgs to secure second place overall.

Third to the frame for big money was Jack Danby from peg 16.
Jack’s run of big edge fish boosted his weight to a superb 51-925Kgs.

Fourth overall was Andy Bennett from peg 20. Not such a fancied area and we let Andy B slip under the radar to a degree.
Although we new he’d caught steadily, we didn’t realise the quality of the fish he was landing and at the scales, he weighed in a very impressive 51-375Kgs.

So a brilliant weight of 77-000Kgs was recorded by Andy Power, 25Kgs in front of his nearest rival. That being said, look how close the chasing pack were.

Position Qualifier Weight Kgs Peg No Permanent peg
5th Pemb Wrighting 50.900 15 16
6th Mikey Williams 49.500 10 18
7th Ross Harold 49.425 11 20
8th Dan Hull 49.400 7 22
9th Les Marshall 49.150 14 24
10th Richard Bond 45.900 13 26
11th Dale Shepherd 41.650 4 28
12th Adam Major 38.925 18 42
13th Jamie Hughes 32.725 21 44
14th Mick Bull 32.005 8 46
15th Chris Weeder 31.850 19 48
16th Dave Roberts 25.150 12 50
17th Danny Bache 24.725 17 52
18th Matt Godfery 24.220 2 54
19th Dan White 18.160 24 56
20th Andy Stepney 17.250 3 58
21st Jason Brown 16.525 22 60
22nd Mark Griffiths 11.675 1 62
23rd Paul Morris 10.300 9 64
24th Ian Wood DNW 23 6

So in all, 10 weights over 100lbs were registered from a field of 24 of the finest anglers in the country.

Well done Andy Power, richer by £50,000 and so well deserved.

Very well done to Jake King, 2nd overall & collecting £5,000, Jack Danby, 3rd overall & collecting £3,000.

Section winners were –

Dale Shepherd £1000
Mikey Williams £1000
Pemb Wrighting £1000
Andy Bennett £1000.

Next up is the Golden Rod Feeder Championships with £26,800 prize fund up for grabs with several qualifiers already sold out!!

Golden Reel Grand Final Saturday September 15th 2018, Larford Lakes

So, here we are, an intensive program of 24 qualifiers which kicked off at the Viaduct fishery back on the 24th March 2018, and concluded at Larford Lakes on Saturday 25th August.

Despite intense pressure competing against other high profile angling events, the winners purse, second & third place remains at the figure I always promised.

The Golden Reel Champion will walk away with a massive £50,000, 2nd £5000 and 3rd £3000 add the four section prizes of £1000 every 6 men and the total payable will be a massive £62,000.

Ticket sales for this year’s event were disappointing due to a number of date clashes, an over serviced angling diary and a world cup football programme that didn’t help.
Despite numbers for our event being down on last year, our focus is aimed at increasing support for our 2019 event.
Yes, Golden Reel will enter its third year and continue to raise the profile of our sport placing it firmly alongside other high profile sporting events. So we need your support and again I will promise a spectacular competition.

Take a look at the big names in our 2018 final. On paper, it is probably the most powerful and talented final ever.

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The Draw

The draw will take place on Friday 14th September at 9:30pm, streamed live to Facebook on our page and Catch More Media’s page.

The Final

Join us at the popular Larford Lakes complex Nr Stourport on Severn on Saturday, September 15th 2018.
Doors open to the public at 10am.
Parking and entry is completely free.

What’s going on at the final-

There will be some high profile anglers providing tuition and showing their skills, demonstrating-

  • Pellet waggler
  • Pole long
  • Edge fishing
  • Method
  • Cage Feeder

Demonstrations on the river with double handed salmon rods, single-handed trout rods, spinning and lure fishing.
We have a team of highly skilled salmon anglers who join us from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Food & Drink

We will have-

  • big hog pig roast
  • Burgers
  • Hot dogs
  • Fully Licenced Bar
  • Hot & Cold drinks and snacks

Served all day

The Final

Who will lift the coveted Golden Reel Trophy and walk away £50,000 richer

The final commences at 12pm to 5pm with the presentation taking place at approximately 6pm.

Come along and have a bet on your favourite angler and hopefully walk away with a pocket full of cash from onsite bookmaker Gary Wiltshire (Belly from the Telly)

Live coverage with commentary from Phil Briscoe and Catch More Media’s Tom Scholey.

Don’t miss the most powerful line up of anglers ever to compete head to head for the prestigious Golden Reel Trophy and a massive £50,000 winners cheque.

Phil Briscoe
Golden Reel
Event Organiser

 

 

 

 Archive – 2017 Winner & Final

 

The long hard road of 24 nationwide qualifiers concluded presenting the ultimate Grand Final hosted at Colmic / Bag’em Larford Lakes.

 

Six months of qualifiers, fished at the country’s top venues throughout the UK provided the opportunity for the 24 grand finalists to pocket the massive £50,000 first prize and crown of Golden Reel 2017 Champion.
The draw was concluded on the Friday 18th August gala evening so to set the stage for 24 of the country’s finest anglers to go head to head for a total prize fund of £62,000.
The draw was kind to some and difficult for others and heavy rain on the eve of the final reduced the water temperature and pocketed the fish together.
The fancied pegs didn’t produce the weights expected and area’s that were not potential winning pegs performed well.

final 2017

The event was well supported by the visiting public and kept pouring in all day

 

A new champion was crowned from Peg 4 (permanent peg 12) being Stuart Fotheringham (Marukyu) from Leeds.
Stu, who qualified at Larford Lakes back in July 17, had applied some productive practice sessions and knew the peg he’d drawn was likely to be a bomb & pellet or method feeder attack.
DSC_0791-400

As soon as the whistle started the five hour final Stuart was straight into fish, landing carp throughout the entire match to finish the day with 147-02-00, 40lbs clear of his nearest rival.
Feeding 8mm pellet every cast and fishing bomb & 8mm hook pellets, the tip was constantly being pulled round and there was never a need to come off the feeding fish or change his approach in any way.

 

Fishing machine Andy Bennett (Guru) drew Golden Reel peg 9 (permanent peg 22).
Andy’s approach was method feeder fishing tight to the island which produced some early bites and a few good carp but keeping the bites coming became a problem.

Later switching to his edge, Andy found a run of good carp landing 8 or 9 fish that probably boosted his weight by 80lbs+
On the final whistle, Andy placed 107-15-00 on the scales to secure second place overall and a cheque for his efforts totalling £5000.

 

Third on the day was Staffordshire’s Craig Goldstraw (Middy) who drew peg 6 (permanent peg 16).
Craig’s approach of method feeder with small waffter baits produced the bites required landing quality carp for a total weight of 90-12-00 and a fat third placed cheque payment of £3000.

Section winners collecting £1000 per section of 6 were- 

Jame Taylor – pegs 1-6 – £1000

Andy Bailey – pegs 7-12 – £1000

Paul (Tommy) Hiller – pegs 13-18 – £1000

Shaun McCarthy – pegs 19-24 – £ 1000

Here is the top 6-

QualifierPegWeight
Stuart Fotheringham (Guru / Tricast / ABC)4 (12)147-02-00
Andy Bennett (Guru)9 (22)107-15-00
Craig Goldstraw  (Middy Bag’em)6 (16)95-04-00
Andy Bailey (Daiwa Dons, Maruku)12 (28)90-12-00
Andy Lumb 8 (20)82-09-00
James Taylor 5 (14)69-01-00

 

Full list of anglers-

NamePegPermant PegWeight
Jon Whincup1632-06-00
Mitch Rawlinson 2821-09-00
Stuart Lister 31047-10-00
Stuart Fotheringham 412147-02-00
James Taylor 51469-01-00
Craig Goldstraw 61695-04-00
Paul Cook 71867-12-00
Andy Lumb 82082-09-00
Andy Bennett 922107-15-00
Toby Pepper 102440-08-00
Fran Orielly 112666-05-00
Andy Bailey 122890-12-00
Ray King 134212-04-00
Paul Hiller 144439-08-00
Nick Speed 154621-13-00
Luke Bamford 164836-04-00
Jamie Wild 175022-13-00
Prezemek Solski 185232-01-00
Simon Richardson 195441-06-00
Shaun McCarthy 205658-14-00
Alex Murry 215815-00-00
Paul Taylor 22602-11-00
Nick Smith 236225-08-00
Andy Power 246432-02-00