| Odds to win | Comments | |
|---|---|---|
|
Matty Barker |
3/1 | Struggled at FM04, form before that was solid, still favourite |
|
Jason Hoare |
5/1 | Romped home in last years match, still very smart on the bank |
|
Bear Barker |
6/1 | Still yet to win it, brilliant angler now, deserves to go close |
|
Rick Barker |
10/1 | Form has deserted him at present although Porth suits him well |
|
Ceeb Barker |
12/1 | Old Master still rusty after comebacks but he can bag a few |
|
Justin Metherell |
12/1 | He's ready to give it a shot now and fancies his chances |
|
Matt Johns |
16/1 | Been waiting to enter for a while and stands a chance |
|
Jemma Girdler |
40/1 | Jem's first season as an angler but she deserves to take her place in this field |
|
Tom Hoare |
40/1 | Steadily improving at last but probably better in salt water |
PREVIEW
Porth Reservoir is the hosting of Fishing Match 2005 and it should produce a good and competitive match.
Jason Hoare goes out to hold on to his title that he won in amazing fashion last year but he knows Porth is a different venue altogether compared to Retallack.
Jason has done okay in practice there as has
Matty Barker on his only visit to the Reservoir last year.
Matty wants his title back after a heavy defeat in last years match which could be blamed somewhat on a bad peg draw.
Matty and
Jason are the biggest dangers but if
Julian Barker finds the form of last year he will be in with a shout again.
Chris Barker Senior is good but needs to just step up a notch on his recent efforts and he could easily get involved in the finish.
Bear Barker is perhaps the best angler to have entered the fishing match events and never actually won one. He had many easy chances a few seasons ago but he fell apart. These days, he has stepped up his game and he stands as good a chance as any of taking the title.
Brother Rick on the other hand has slipped down the fishing pecking order after a string of dismal efforts. A winner 5 years ago, he hasn't
quite stepped up to the next level. [ He is 4-0 down to
Matty on match results ] and that shows he is not good enough to compete for the title on paper.
Of the remaining anglers,
Tom Hoare could be back after his sole outing in 2003. He is a better fisherman than before.
Matt Johns
deserves a crack at the title if he can make it this time.
Jemma Girdler
has been taking some decent catches in the build up to the match.
Justin Metherell
is only in his second fishing season but he's getting better all the time and deserves his chance also.
HOURS
1-2
It was clear from the outset that there were lots of small fish in this lake. Bear was
straight into the tiddlers on his peg, as was CB, Matty and Rick. Jemma and Tom were getting bites in the first couple of hours as well which was good. Matty was looking for some good fish but had to be content with smaller fish for now. Justin on the other hand was fishing the float rod instead of his swim feeder that he had talked about in practice. After 2 hours this match was never going to be decided yet.
HOURS 3/4
After 4 hours Bear knew he had to get a biggy to win as the peg was just full of John Westers. Jemma had caught a few but probably wouldn't be winning. CB Senior was catching well and got snapped off by what he believes was a big perch. A lost fish like that could have been crucial weight for the net
Tom Hoare was not catching too quickly but kept bringing the odd roach to the net. Meantime at the other end of the pegs, Jason was now fishing pole tactics to find those better fish and he caught two good sized bream.
Matty couldn't find any monsters to put him clear at the top of the leader board but he continued to bring in the weight until he suffered a line breakage when he hooked a DUCK ! Rick had a similar problem just moments earlier when he went to cast and a DRAGONFLY ! grabbed his bait and flew off hook an' all ! He had to cut the line, but it didn't slow him down much as he bagged fish at a very fast rate and even managed to net two good perch on maggot.
Justin decided after two hours to switch to the feeder rod and although his bite rate was slow, he got excellent results when he got 2 bream over a pound in weight. Could he make up for lost time on the float rod ?
FINAL HOUR
It was obvious that Jemma, Tom and Bear would be struggling to win the event with other anglers catching slightly better and more fish. CB Senior had enough weight to challenge for the title as he bagged plenty more fish in the last hour. Matty, who lacked practice coming into the match had a good net of fish as did Rick who caught well all day.
Jason didn't have amazing success in the final hour and didn't get as many good fish as he'd probably hoped. Justin lacked bites as he went for the monsters and nearly set up the best match finish ever but the huge bream he hooked with the minutes running out fell off at the net and he had one of those 'the one that got away' stories to tell. It was still going to be a close weigh in.
REVIEW
The result was a turn up for the books as Rick regained his title to become the new champion. Everyone really enjoyed the day out making it a huge success.
Rick Barker - 1st- Two times a champion in the early days before Matty had come onto the scene. A bad match this year would have gone down with his other recent poor performances and made him an unknown. Rick though, fished his skin off this time, constantly working hard to get the fish. Sticking to his game plan all day, the result paid off and he was the champ again. He was pushed all the way by none other than Matty who didn't quite have enough to trouble the winner. Rick is back ! 9/10
Matty Barker - 2nd- His dominance of the early noughties has finally been crushed. There was a time when everyone wondered whether anyone else would ever win another match apart from him. However he has to be applauded for this years performance because he had had no fishing sessions for 8 months and was very rusty. Showed class to finish up in 2nd place but has not tasted the winning champagne now since 2003...and he's getting thirsty ! 8/10
CB Senior Barker -3rd- The old master fished another blinder as he went for glory in his 3rd match since his return to angling in 2003. He is proving more dangerous and is finishing higher up every year and he could well be due a title win in the not to distant future. He was not too far off the winner here and had a good weight of fish. Impressive . 8/10
Jason Hoare - 4th- The reigning master of 2004 was confident he could win again here at Porth but on this occasion he was quite well beaten despite having some decent fish in his net. He went for some better fish when most anglers were catching smaller stuff and although he got a few nice bream, it didn't do enough damage to the leaders. He didn't even go home with the biggest fish award so a blank year for Jason and he will be a bit
disappointed I'm sure. 7/10
Bear Barker - 5th - This was probably the shock of the results [ along with Rick winning ] as Bear had been very cocky and upbeat about his chances of winning FM 05. On match day though, he just couldn't compete with the big boys and he was made to look ordinary with his worst match position ever down in 5th. He now has to start answering to the critics because his main rival Rick Predator showed the critics his middle finger this year. Bear will be desperate for next years match to come around quickly to forget this result. 5/10
Justin Metherell - 6th- New to fishing in the last year or so and he believed he could be champion on match day. He was in for a nasty shock although he was the only angler to find fish over 1lb in weight and he had a few but he was a country mile from actually becoming the champ. He walked away with the biggest fish trophy and that was a good result for him. Next year he will be ready to have a real good go for the title again and Justin could do it . 7/10
Tom Hoare - Joint 7th - Faired much better than when he was last in the match 2 years ago at Oakside. This time he caught lots more but he felt he should have got 7th because of a hole in his keep net. No-one knows if this is true but anyway, he tried to bag plenty and he actually did better than his mate Jack did last year ! Ok but he will hope to improve next time. 4/10
Page last updated
on 15 / 7 / 2008
Another great fishing match took place in 2005, this time at a new venue, Porth Reservoir. There were once again loads of fish caught just like in 2004 and the weather was almost perfect with a bit of wind, cloud and some sunny intervals in the afternoon.
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