GLEN Hugil hooked the big fish to snatch victory late on from Barnoldby-le-Beck's Jez Waters, whose haul from the hot peg at Saltfleetby dried up at the death.
Jez got the plum draw for the coarse angling match, fishing from behind the café and towards the sunken tree.
His float hit the water and, on the first drop, it disappeared along with the top part of his pole.
His top three laid motionless on the right side of the tree, making it difficult to fish that side.
Jez had put new elastics in his sections, leaving his heavier ones at home.
He struggled with the lighter ones, but was still getting bites and catching fish.
He also lost several fish, however, and that cost him. In his final hour, he failed to catch.
Glen, on peg nine, pushed his pole underneath the tree and found where the bigger carp were lying.
In the last half-hour of the match, he netted two big fish that earned him the lead.
He finished in top spot, with 25.5lb. In second place was Jez, on 22.7lb. Corby Hugil finished third. He fished the peg near to the garden and caught F1 carp on the pole.
Bradley Ponds has been fishing well, with most anglers enjoying more bites and better catches than of late.
There has been some new fish put into the pond and they are feeding, which is a good sign.
Grimsby angler Gavin McGuire netted 19.3lb to secure victory in one match. His bag was mixed of small carp and silvers.
Ben Yulls, who fishes a lot at Cleethorpes Country Park, achieved a mixed net of 17.3lb to finish second. Steve Nevington came third, on 14.11lb.
At the ponds this weekend there is a three-match Easter series starting. The draw is at 9am.
It should be decent series, especially if the weather warms up and the fish go into feeding mode, as there are plenty of fish in the pond to keep the anglers happy and busy.
Match attendances have fallen at Messingham Sands amid recent cold weather – but the results have been good.
In theory, carp, in particular, should be conspicuous by their absence when water temperatures are hovering around 2-4 degrees.
But this has not proved to be the case. Grimsby angler Gary Hansford found 22 carp, fishing on the pole using corn on peg 33, on Tripp Lake last Sunday. He netted 77lb in total.
Not too far behind was Tommy Grice, from Doncaster, on 54lb, using pole and pellet.
Gainsborough's Simon Drayton also had three good results this week.
Targeting carp on each occasion, he won the Tuesday match on Hollywood with 20 small carp for 36lb, despite having to break the ice. He finished second the following day on the Oak Tree Pond. He caught 50lb, mainly carp. The winner of this match caught more than 50lb worth of skimmers in his 59lb total. Soft pellet over ground bait was the successful tactic.
Simon then followed that up with a win on the Island Lake last Friday. He caught 73lb of carp from peg 11.
Scunthorpe's Dave Mountford scored a good win in the Saturday Silverfish Open, finishing more than 10lb clear of the rest of the field. He caught 38lb of skimmers by pole, fishing pellet.
Grimsby's Keith Easton finished second, on 27lb.
The unluckiest angler had to be Grimsby's Dennis Pattinson. He caught so many carp while trying to catch skimmers that he decided to pack up early!
The North and South day ticket ponds are still producing a few carp for those prepared to sit it out, but the silverfish anglers are enjoying excellent sport with plenty of bites from quality roach and skimmers.
Some of the region's clubs are getting ready for the new season and are on the hunt for new members.
Anyone either returning to the sport or just wanting to improve by joining a club, it is a great way to learn.
Regulars are keen to encourage new members and will offer advice.
There are plenty of clubs that fish a variety of venues.
One of those is Freemans AC, which has some excellent venues on the fixture list – mostly commercial ponds, but also some excellent venues later on in the year.
The club kicks off with a match at Candy Corner Fisheries, in Finningley, Doncaster, on April 28.
Events will be held every fortnight. Other venues will include Grange Farm, Lindholme, Westwood Lakes and Messingham.
For details, contact Kev Everatt, on 07912600105, or Paul Hammond, on 07745688989.
