Eddie the champion! Credit: Nice Fish Photography by John Hopes
First day catch granted the important section win. Credit: Nice Fish Photography by John Hopes
Maver’s Eddie Bridon recently put on a dazzling display on the Anthony Nolan 3-Day Charity festival at Southfield Reservoir.
The festival was based on section points, with a win recording one point, second equated to two points and so forth.
On the first day, peg 62 on the East Bank was Eddie’s home for the day. Starting off the festival strong, he’s caught three bream, five skimmers, plus a bonus small mirror carp to weigh 19lb 10oz and take the section.
Day two saw Eddie in a more difficult section, so a calm head and trusting in his tactics was key: “This area was hard going yesterday, so my plan was just catch what I could and hopefully this would be enough.” His plan worked to perfection, assembling a 14lb 6oz catch, consisting of two bream, seven skimmers, and a lone perch.
Day two net kept the dream alive. Credit: Nice Fish Photography by John Hopes
Collecting a total of two points over the last two days, the England Feeder man was still in the running, but with a handful of others sharing the same score, it was never going to be a walk in the park.
The final day of the festival, and Eddie drew peg 45 at the top of the ramp. “After the previous day, this section was rock hard, but with a strong westerly wind blowing straight into my bank, you would have thought it would fish well.
“However, the moody mistress proved me wrong!”
An exciting first 90 minutes saw two bream and three skimmers grace the net, but this flurry soon faded, with no more pulls for the remainder of the match.
A concluding weight of 8lb 2oz proved to be enough for Eddie to win the section, leaving him on a perfect 3-point score and confirmed him as the overall champion!
A hard-fought third day bag secured the overall win! Credit: Nice Fish Photography by John Hopes
His tactics throughout the three days were to keep it nice and simple. Putting his 11ft and 12ft MV-R Feeder rods through their paces, he attacked each peg by setting up two lines – one at 35m with a 20g cage feeder, and another at 55m with a larger 40g cage feeder.
The distance line established itself as the best approach, with most of his fish coming from here. The 35m line was an intended ‘rest-line’, only producing a couple of fish all festival.
Loading up with a combination of Marine Halibut and Swimstim Green groundbaits, the fish fell to either two red maggots or two small pieces of worm – the ultimate trap!
Hooklengths were tied to 0.14mm diameter MV-R Hooklength Mono, with size 14 and size 16 Katana 1095 hooks to match.