It was a double-header weekend for the Golden Reel competition, with two back-to-back qualifiers taking place at top commercial venues. Saturday saw the action head to The Glebe in Leicestershire for this year’s 12th qualifier, followed by a Sunday showdown at Hayfield Lakes. With final tickets and semi-final places up for grabs, competition was fierce across both events. Welsh match ace Mikey Williams became the latest angler to book his place in the 2025 Golden Reel Grand Final after topping the field at The Glebe on Saturday, 31st May.

Drawn on peg 66 on Pool 4, Mikey overcame a slow start and windy conditions to produce a brilliant comeback performance. Initially struggling for bites on pellets, he made a tactical switch to potting casters at 12 metres and fishing worms over the top. That change sparked a run of quality fish, all caught hard on the deck.

In the final stages, Mikey added a few more late fish by throwing casters short, tipping an impressive 205lb 4oz on the scales to take the win and the coveted Golden Reel Grand Final ticket.

The day wasn’t without its drama, Mikey revealed on Facebook that he initially drew fancied peg 86, where he’d previously recorded a big weight,. Unfortuantely a redraw placed him further along the bank. With the angler on the next peg choosing not to fish, the door was left open for Mikey to maximise the peg’s potential.

A total of 51 anglers fished the qualifier, with strong weights across the board on Pool 4. Second place went to Aaron Braithwaite, who landed 156lb 4oz from peg 68, also on Lake 4. Tom Calladine, who ended up on the originally drawn peg 86, secured third with 151lb 8oz. Both anglers earned semi-final qualification spots for their efforts.

Congratulations to Mikey Williams, who becomes the 12th angler to secure a spot in the 2025 Golden Reel Grand Final. Below is the complete list of the 11 anglers who have qualified for this year’s Golden Reel Grand Final so far:

Golden Reel 2025 Finalists

• Andy Power
• Kristian Jones
• Dale Shepherd
• Ryan Laycock
• Adam Richards
• Simon Skelton
• Neil Colcombe
• Sam Brown
• Danny Squire
• Kieran Marsden
• Colin Scott
• Mikey williams

The next Golden Reel qualifier takes place on Saturday, 7th June at Partridge Lakes in Warrington. Tickets for all Golden Reel qualifiers are available at GoldenReelAngling.co.uk and cost £50.