Fishing / Editor / 16 July 2009 / Leave a comment

As Britain's best match anglers prepare to battle it out in Saturday's Fish-o-Mania final, Timothy Cox provides the lowdown on one of the most prestigious trophies in fishing.

Saturday's five hour televised fishing match takes place at Cudmore Fisheries in Staffordshire and will see the winning angler raising the trophy and netting themselves the £25,000 first prize. This year sees an array of stars from the fishing world - including reigning Fish-O-Mania champion Mick Bull - battling it in a very difficult match.

What's it all about...?

Fish-O-Mania XVI consists of 16 regional qualifiers held from the 4th April to the 1st July at some of Britain's premier fisheries. From the original 2000+ entrants, the winners of each of qualifier meet on Saturday 18th July for the climax of this year's event.

The winner will be the angler who manages to catch the highest aggregate weight of fish over the five hour match, with regular weigh-ins to keep the leader board updated. The final winner will scoop a £25,000 first prize with a further £2,000 prize available to the captor of the largest individual fish.

The venue...

We return to the outstanding Cudmore fisheries near Newcastle-under-Lyme for the second year on the trot for this year's match. The Arena Lake is the chosen venue with 16 pegs being drawn, all offering the chance to fish towards the central island, which is a favoured holding area for the carp which will inevitably make the difference in this competition.

The venue holds a good stock and the surrounding high ground affords great views of the action which is televised live on Sky Sports from midday on Saturday 19th July.

The big name players...

As is to be expected from one of Britain's top angling events we have another strong line-up this year. All eyes will be on Mick Bull who dominated last year's event on debut, winning with a mixed bag of fish weighing 29.64kgs. The Warwickshire hauler, fishing under the Dynamite Baits Shimano Guru banner, has been in outstanding form this season already storming to victory in the Viaduct Fishery (Somerset) qualifier with a winning weight of 126lbs 8ozs.

Local favourite Dave Swain, last year's seventh place, returns to the Fish-O-Mania final for the fifth time after winning the Maver Larford (Worcestershire) with a total weight of 150lbs 50zs. Swain, who is sponsored by Mossella Garbolina, has cemented his place as one of the most prolific match anglers in the country over recent years and is backed to do well here.

Former Fish-O-Mania Champion Nathan Watson is appearing for his third final after winning with 131lbs 140zs at Monk Lakes (Kent) and well favoured to secure a place.

Matt Hall, the 2003 champion, is looking to re-take the title after struggling to 15th place in last year's competition.

Who is going to win?

As with all angling competitions, the draw for pegs (to determine which section of the lake they will fish during the match) is absolutely crucial. Despite the Arena being a perfectly circular lake the fish have preferred holding areas which will undoubtedly have an impact upon the final result. The draw for this year's match takes place at 8pm on Friday, so expect large swings in the odds following the draw. The pegs have been re-arranged for this year and the favourite area last year- pegs 15,16 and 1- is now situated between pegs four and 10 so these should be considered the optimum draws. Peg six is expected to fish especially well this year.

It is worth noting that no-one has won the competition twice in its 15 year history so last year's winner, Mick Bull, is probably one to avoid at [8.0].

The current favourites are Nathan Watson and Matt Hall. At [6.2] the odds are a touch short, but if drawn between pegs four to 10 they will both do well and attract a good deal of support. Matt Hall in particular will be looking to seek amends for his poor performance and should be highly regarded as a potential winner.

Dave Swain will be well backed and he is especially worth a punt if his odds lengthen after a bad draw on Friday. His wealth of experience at this venue means he should be adept at extracting good nets from unfavoured swims, so watch his draw closely.

The best outside bet is Dave Roberts who is going offer great value on his Fish-O-Mania Final debut, as he also boasts extensive knowledge of the venue, winning his qualifier at Cudmore in June. With a half decent draw, he would be worth a look, especially if his price remains as high as the current [20.0].