Parkes nets a record plus a cash bonus

The contest was staged on the Stock Pool at Broad Acres Fishery in Bromsgrove and club secretary Parkes had a day to remember as he claimed the top prize courtesy of a club record weight.

Parkes netted a whopping 181-5-0 weight of carp to 5lb, caught shallow on poled pellets in the margins of peg 12, which was also the Golden Peg and earned him a £100 bonus to add to his achievement.

Derek’s son Mark Betteridge followed him home with comparable fish, gathered on paste on his top kit to finish with 125-7-0 from peg six. Third-placed Pete Hammond just missed out on the ton with 99-10-0 at peg 10 but picked up the other trophy for the best fish of the day, a carp which weighed 6lb 8oz.

Fordhouses’ Dave Richards found the road to success in the latest 70-peg Angling Trust Division 1 National Practice Open Match.

The Park Heath Bridge to Fox Bridge stretch of the Shropshire Union Canal at Soudley, which will be D Section in the National on August 19, was the venue and the top thre all came from near Hazeldines Bridge.

Lorry driver Richards (Four Ashes AC) topped the standings with an all bream net of 28-6-0 at peg D22.

Dudley-based car mechanic Steve Broome (Dynamite Maver Midlands) claimed second spot after banked 18-8-15 of bream to 2lb, eels and perch at peg D24.

The 30-peg Meadow and Bank Pools Open at Moorlands Farm in Hartlebury saw some huge weights returned with Walsall’s Neville Groves (Fosters) coming out on top.

Groves bossed the match from Meadow peg 52 with a massive 193-2-0 haul of carp to 10lb caught on pole-fished pellet.

Stourbridge-rod Iwan Mills (Robin’s Timber) had to settle for second with an impressive 184-2-0 from Meadow peg 13.