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 |
