Jason Hoare has been on real hot form in practice this season and once more he is expected to show up well.
Bear Barker is looking to go one better than last year when he came 2nd at Oakside with a good catch. He hasn't got in the practice sessions that he wanted to but he's now outweighed Rick Barker on their last 3 fishing trips together. That makes for interesting reading as Rick leads Bear 4-1 in FM matches.
Rick has been very average for the last couple of matches since running Matty close at Glenleigh in 2001. He should go well at Retallack.
Chris Barker Senior, the old master is back again after a good show last year but lack of practice could be a concern for his chances. Could get in the top 3.
Julian barker is back in Cornwall, 7 years after he was last talked about in these parts. Likely to be out of form but don't rule him out of it completely.
Another to return to the fray will be Steven Dash who has a few questions to answer for after some poor matches since winning in 1999. A lot of anglers have improved their game since those days so it will be interesting to see if he has improved.
Finally Jack Keeling is the 3rd new angler to fish in the match this year. He has unknown form and past catches so don't rule him out of anything just yet.
Gary Haley, who has fished the last 3 matches sadly couldn't make it this time around.
HOURS 1-2
Most of the anglers were finding fish in the first couple of hours. Julian was attacking hard in his peg catching real John Westers. Rick was picking up bits just like Dash and Matty. Bear caught steadily although the heat was bad for him and Matty in their pegs. CB had a poor start to the match and couldn't find the fish along with Jack in the end peg. Jason on the
other hand had a nice bream in the net in the early stages of the match.
At this stage the match was still wide open and their for the taking.
HOURS 3/4
This is the time of the match that really counts and usually a winner starts to emerge. Matty couldn't get anything but struts which meant someone had a good chance of ending his run. Bear had a couple of good bream in the net by now as did CB and these fish would give them a good chance.
Julian continued to fish as quick as he could bagging struts. He was trying to get a safe weight and was not interested it seemed in winning the biggest fish prize. Rick was hoping for a good fish but his tactics only produced fish to 4oz. Dash was catching the odd 2oz fish but was a bit off the pace by now.
It was all quiet for Jack at the other end as his net had masses of space for big fish but he couldn't tempt them in. Meantime Jason looked home and dry by this stage as he netted a good size carp after a 15 minute battle and another 2 bream of maybe 2lb plus had hit his net. This was match winning form with only an hour to go. Could he steal the crown off Matty ?
FINAL HOUR
Julian bagged minnow after minnow right up to the line and had a good little weight it seemed. Rick had not done enough to win despite bagging plenty of small fish in the final hour. CB lost valuable time with a tangle near the end which could cost him a position. Bear had a nice weight too with his fish and Matty had not done enough either and actually lost a big carp with 30 minutes to go that snapped him off in bushes.
Jack struggled through the last hour with little more success and Dash kept the odd rudd coming to the net but it didn't look like a good enough weight to challenge Jason who took yet more fish over 1lb in the final hour. He only had 7 or 8 fish but they all looked over a pound, and the rest. The title was in his hands...
Not forgetting of course that the form book was torn apart by the end and we had a new champion. The only previous winners [ Matty, Rick, Dash ] didn't even make it into the top 4 !, that's how unpredictable this match was. Next year is going to be a fascinating re-match.
Jason Hoare, 1st- It's taken a while but he finally did it at Retallack '04. He's been tipped to have a stormer since being runner up in 2000 but he's always flopped every year. Well he finally came good this time after showing some amazing early season form and it must be said that what he did at FM 2004 was just that, amazing. Some say he had the best peg anyway but he still had the skill to get the fish hooked and out and he smashed all sorts of records in doing so. A clear winner by over 7lb in weight and the best FM win by an angler so far. 10/10
Julian Barker, 2nd- His first session for years and he was up against it versus these anglers who had lots of practice to their names at this venue. However Julian showed his old skills and fished out of his skin to catch 305 fish in 5 hours. That's 61 fish an hour, or 1 a minute and that's stamina zapping. It's a solid show and he beat some good anglers here this year which answers a few of his critics does it not ? 8/10
Bear Barker, 3rd- Has now gone 6 matches without a win but he fished another brilliant match like last year and he's really improving at present. His run up to the event was questionable with poor form but he fished a blinder here, putting past champions well behind him. Lost out on the runners up spot by just 1oz to Julian which must be hard to take after trying so hard in that heat . 8/10
Chris Barker, 4th- He drew a better peg than last year and again finished 4th, although this time a lot closer to the placings. He had some nice bream in his net and only needed one more average fish to finish 2nd. His experience of fishing
definitely helped him at Retallack '04. A good effort. 8/10
Matty Barker, 5th - It's strange to see the 3 times winner down in 5th after dominating the FM scene for so long but he was well beaten this year. His peg draw may have been the reason, probably the least favourite in most anglers' eyes and it was always going to be tough from there. Being a champion, it was up to him to find a solution and he couldn't do it although it must be said, to catch over 4lb was a solid effort anyway. He'll be back for sure but for now, the run of titles is over. 7/10
Rick Barker, 6th- A very poor result for the former champ fishing at his favourite venue in one of his favourite pegs. He did fish as hard as he could though but couldn't get anything of any size. Perhaps his tactics were wrong or the big fish were not present in that peg. It is another setback and he was well behind the winner Jason, who he beat at FM 2000, 2002 and 2003. Needs to improve. 4/10
Steven Dash, 7th- FM 2004 witnessed the return of Dashy after missing the event in 2002 and 2003. He did catch more than when he jointly won in 1999 but he was beaten by a country mile. Never really threatened to do any damage, just content to keep the odd small fish coming to the net. At least he's back fishing for now and he may improve if he keeps in practice for next year but he needs to improve a lot. 3/10
Jack Keeling, 8th - He walked away with team silverware thanks to Jason in the peg next to him. He was walloped by the new champ who was only 30 yards away fishing, which leaves people wondering why he didn't catch more fish. All the anglers had different tactics and maybe his didn't work today. Needs new ideas perhaps if he is to enter next year. 2/10
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on 15 / 7 / 2008
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