Thorney Weir
 This 14 acre Colne Valley day ticket water gravel pit really is a gem. Beautifully tree lined, loads of features, and some cracking fish to aim for, it produced the biggest fish of the tournament last year. Main target sizes are doubles through to upper 20s and there are 4 fish over 40lbs in the lake so there is always a chance of the tournament biggy.
www.thorneyweir-mets.co.uk |
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Pre-Match
 Thorney Weir is an absolutely stunning typical Colne Valley Gravel pit situated in West Drayton which can be fished on a day ticket basis. With bars, bays, islands, and plenty of underwater features it is a carp anglers dream and there are plenty of fish in there averaging upper doubles but running to over 40lbs. In fact there are 4 fish over that magical mark and last year Thorney produced the biggest fish of the tournament.
It can be tricky at times but a weight over 100lbs is usually enough to get into the placings. Tight spodding won it one year and maggots the next, but both times it was hot and flat calm. This year looks to be better conditions for bigger weights so anything could happen wand with the lake attracting an impressive field it’s going to be a very close one.
Thorney is known in the BCAC competition calendar as one of the most even venues in the list and the fact that the weather would make things more difficult would mean that the match could be won from absolutely everywhere. The extreme weather may have affected some of the early choices as the usual favoured swims were not snapped up straight away and the first day saw only one fish landed as both fish and anglers settled into the swing of things. BCAC regulars Tim and Andy Swain took a 16.06 from last years winning swim (the drum) to take an early lead and it was batten down the hatches for the night as the rains and high winds came in. Carp Bible / Golden B anglers Team Dave (Vaughan and Watson) nipped into third at one stage and the O Connors also challenged the leader board but by morning it was clear that there was an Essex invasion as the top three places were held by Essex boys. Top of the pile were Kev Atkinson and Dave Cornes who took three fish in an hour to land 55lbs for first place. Korda A Team members Danny Fairbrass / Damian Clarke sat in second with a first light 19.06 from the teeth of the gale, and last years 4th overall finishers and young hot shots Billy Flowers and Jamie Londors held third on 17.06 whilst battling with some enormous bream and tench. One or two other teams had put fish on the bank but on the whole the going was slow. By dusk on day 2 it was still Atkinson / Cornes who led the way on 55.06 but a 20.09 from the River point gave Sam Caton and Simon Hopkins second with 35.15 and the Swains added another to their tally for third with 33 exactly. At this stage there were 5 other pairings with one fish on the list and with the size of fish in Thorney any of those teams could upset the leader board.
Morning came on the last day and the leader board remained unchanged as only 1 fish had been banked through the horrific conditions of the hours of darkness. Tackle Box team’s Kev Bollard and Gary Dudman put a 19.05 on the bank and just as the radio results were being aired on Talk Sport the River Point kicked into life as two fish together shot them into first on 62.05. With only 4 hours left to go the Londors / Flowers pairing looked like they might sneak into 3rd but the fish they landed was 1lb 4oz short of the mark and could only land them 4th. Mark Kepshall and Mark Foster took a cracking 26.02 mirror but the honours went to Caton / Hopkins on the point who landed another to finish first with 75.15. Atkinson / Cornes retained second throughout with their 55.06 and it was the Swain Brothers who took the heavily contested third place from the other 8 challengers with two fish for 33 exactly.
Place |
Pairing |
Weight lb:oz |
Team |
1 |
Sam Caton/Simon Hopkins |
75.15 |
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2 |
Kevin Atkinson/David Cornes |
55.06 |
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3 |
Andy Swain/Tim Swain |
33.00 |
Tony's Tackle / Solar |
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4 |
Billy Flowers/Jamie Londors |
31.13 |
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5 |
Mark Kempshall/Mark Foster |
26.02 |
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6 |
Allan Anderson/Gary McHale |
20.04 |
Army |
7 |
Danny Fairbrass/Damian Clarke |
19.06 |
Korda A |
8 |
Kevin Ballard/Steve Reed |
19.05 |
Tackle Box |
9 |
Dave Vaughan/Dave Watson |
14.09 |
Carp Bible / Golden B |
10 |
Barry O'Connor/Ben O'Connor |
11.04 |
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11 |
Keith Turner/Clive Hicks |
dns |
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12 |
David Smith/Lee Adams |
dns |
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