Angling: Irish eyes smiling on Leeds ace Hampson

Section wins or a place on the leaderboard of any of the big Irish festivals are an achievement in themselves as some of Europe’s biggest names make the visit across the water to compete against growing numbers of local experts in these classic events.

With the resurgence of river and wild water lake and lough fishing, the competition and standards are undoubtedly higher than ever before, and these festivals are now right at the top of all the anglers “want to win” lists.

Of the 150 anglers competing, Hampson quickly established himself as one of the favourites: with section wins and a fourth and fifth daily individual result, topped by a 23 kilo pole caught roach catch from Crom that catapulted him to within a whisker of his first ever festival win.

As the final results came through he had fallen just three kilogrammes short of Ireland’s own star William Wheeler who totalled 56-100 to take the top £5,000 cash prize and coveted Fermanagh Cup, the £3,000 for runners-up spot was a welcome taster for what was to follow in his next week.

With typical Irish all-four seasons weather in a single day, the 70-peg Horseshoe Festival fished slightly harder than the previous week and short to mid-range range feeder tactics became the method to master.

Using the now standard Browning window feeder with worm mush plus a dry groundbait mix and targeting the hard to catch hybrids, Hampson was able to average over 10kg per day giving him a weekly total of 53-700kg to push England star Mark Pollard into second place.

With his first festival win under his belt and over £7,500 in prize money making a lump in his back pocket the popular Leeds angler raised applause by announcing that he would be donating £4,000 to the “Pollitt & Tomo” fund for retired anglers.

Cleckheaton’s Dave Armitage won the prestigious Calder Championship for the second time last week just 35 years after claiming the title for the first time. After heavy rain and the water suffering a drastic temperature drop and bad discharge from local drains, the match was a dire affair for such a brilliant venue.

Drawn on the famous chub peg at Lillands Farm, Armitage known for making few mistakes lost two big chub in snags, but put two others in the net for 9-05 to take the trophy and a fat brown envelope containing the £650 prize money.

Anglers and towpath public showed their class last week as the Ian Smith Memorial match held on the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Rodley provided a great result on two very different fronts. Mick Paton won the event with 4-07 of small roach fishing pole and punched bread to take the title for the second time, and buckets placed at each end of the match length received donations from the passing public helping the days takings reach £94.04.

The money was presented to Ian’s daughter Joanne to pass on to the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research.

Results

Fermanagh Cup Lough Erne Festival: 1, W Wheeler 56-100kg; 2, A Hampson 52-650kg; 3, R Scott 52-300kg; 4, E Weed 48-720kg; 5, F Staniuszko 48-690kg.

Horseshoes Festival Enniskillen: 1, Andy Hampson 53-700kg; 2, Mark Pollard 50-250kg; 3, Bob Nudd 46-150kg; 4, Baz Smith 44-700kg.

York AA Ouse at Poppleton: 1, D Hardy 29oz 12lbs; 2, C Hardy 27-06; 3, W Shillitoe 21-07.

York AA Ouse at Poppleton: 1, A Jaques 8-04; 2, T Harrison 7-00; 3, M Thompson 6-00.

JT Rodgers round 19 at Tollerton: 1, A Conboy 95-03; 2, D Shaw 73-09; 3, D Gunby 71-12.

JT Rodgers round 20 Brafferton F1 Lake: 1, S Phelan 27-03; 2, R Richardson 23-04; 3, D Shaw 21-12.

Ian Smith Memorial Leeds Liverpool Canal Crane Works: 1, M Paton 4-07; 2, R Thorne 3-08; 3, B Mason 2-13; 4, J Mason 2-10; 5, E Grainger 2-08.

Bradford No1 Calder Championships: 1, D Armitage 9-05; 2, J Vickerman 8-03; 3, S Tate 7-01.

Bradford No1 Final Calder League: 1, D Wray 16-04; 2, M Highe 13-15; 3, A Miller 12-12; 4, J Evans 9-10; 5, I Bowman 8-15.

West Yorkshire Wagglers AC Hayfield: 1, R Bennett 55-11; 2, N Hodgson 35-13; 3, J Stark 33-03; 4, J Slater 29-07.

Kippax Park, Osprey: 1, Tony Hewson 116-09; 2, Paul Carter 106-05; 3, Jimmy Redmond 69-13; 4, Adrian Broomhead 50-11.

Kippax Park, Osprey: 1, Steve Raper 88-15; 2, Bob Rymer 82-09; 3, Johnny Wake 71-15; 4, Mal Bailey 61-06.

Moor Monkton Pools, Cyprio: 1, Lee Myers 112-04; 2, Matt Gallagher 104-08; 3, Nathaniel Whiteside 87-12; 4, James Roper 80-09.

Moor Monkton Pools, Wednesday Rover: 1, James Roper 151-11; 2, Ashley Bull 133-15; 3, Nathaniel Whiteside 117-11; 4, Dave Wright 93-11.

Moor Monkton Pools, Front Pool: 1, James Roper 121-01; 2, Andy Middleton 83-01; 3, Mick Green 56-07; 4, Lee Smith 55-01.

Moor Monkton Pools, Wednesday Rover: 1, James Roper 151-05; 2, Lee Myers 133-01; 3, Neil Whittaker 69-11; 4, Geoff Cooper 67-14.

Armley A C Popleton Horseshoe: 1, D Fish 65-10; 2, C Greenwood 45-4; 3, S Ellner 37-11; 4, P Howard 37-2.

Yorkshire Post AC (Viking Hawk): 1, K Foster 114-0; 2, A Langdale 104-5; 3, A Heaps 93-5; 4, K Gale 81-9.

Viking Saturday Open (Hawk): 1, G Watson 146-7; 2, K Squires 110-4; 3, Tony Fox 85-0; 4, Laurie Tones 61-9.

Marshlands AC (Viking Hawk): 1, P Longfield 71-8; 2, S Walton 69-10; 3, M Gelder 61-9; 4, N Burt 53-13.

White Horse (Viking Deer): 1, P Sharpe 32-2; 2, G Jones 31-4; 3, P Robinson 25-0.

Ship AC (Viking Deer): 1, M Moore 64-6; 2, R Scott 53-2; 3, P Longfield 35-2.

Match Diary

Saturday

Viking: Saturday open, Hawk pond, 30 pegs, £16, 01405 785206.

Kippax Park: Saturday Open, Lapwing or Osprey 07967000746.

Poppleton: Saturday Open pools £15, draw cafe 10am, contact Roger 01904737279.

Birkwood Farm Fisheries: Emily’s or Oscars draw 8.30, contact 01924 892251.

Woodlands: 72 Pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Oaks at Sessay: 50 Pegs, tickets £17, contact 01845 501321.

Langwith Lakes: 60 Pegs, tickets £16, contact 01904 431874.

Moorfields Farm: 54 Pegs, tickets £16, contact 07710817150.

Fleets Dam: 50 Pegs, tickets £15, contact 01226 292579.

Birkwood Farm: 60 Pegs, tickets £16, contact 01132 80609.

Viking, Hawk Pond: 30 Pegs, tickets £16, contact 01405 860764.

Tollerton Ponds: Open Match all ages, (Kingfisher 20 pegs, Coot 18 pegs, Heron 32 pegs) contact 01347 838115.

Sunday

Leeds & Liverpool: Kirkstall contact Roger Movley 01132 772215.

Listerhills, Leeds & Liverpool Canal:contact Eddie Harrison 07518721051.

Woodlands: 72 Pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Oaks at Sessay: 50 Pegs, tickets £17, contact 01845 501321.

Langwith Lakes: 60 Pegs, tickets £16, contact 01904 431874.

Oak Tree Leisure: 50 Pegs, tickets £15, contact 01347 810686.

Poppleton: Sunday Open 50 Pegs draw 11am Cafe, contact 07425 146677.

Monday

Woodlands over 50’s: 30 Pegs, tickets £15, contact 01845 520110.

Langwith Lakes over 60’s: 30 Pegs, tickets £10, contact 01904 431874.

Tollerton Ponds over 50’s: tickets £16 contact 01347 838115.

Tuesday

Kippax Park: Over 50’s Draw 10am, tickets £10, contact 07967000746.

Wednesday

Leeds & District: Moor Monkton Pools, Draw 10am, contact 07967000746.

Birkwood Farm Fisheries: Emily’s or Oscars draw 8.30, contact 01924 892251.

Woodlands: 72 Pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Fleets Dam: 50 Pegs, tickets £15, contact 01226 292579.

Tollerton Ponds: Open match, all ages, contact 01347 838115.

Thursday

Poppleton Lakes: Thursday evening, draw car park 5pm, pools £11 contact Roger 01904 737279.