The seventh FishOMania qualifier was held on Saturday at The Oaks in North Yorkshire. The match saw 100 anglers compete to become this year’s FishOMania champion and take home a cheque for £50,000.
Andy Benett, the two-time FishOMania winner, finished the match on 166lb 12oz from peg one on Ash Lake which was enough to take the top spot. He fished using meat down the edge for most of the day and had a “great” first three hours. Despite a good first half of the match, Bennett revealed that he thought he’d missed his chance when the bites slowed down in the last two hours. Thankfully for him, he’d built enough of a lead already that it didn’t cost him a place in the final.
Congratulations to Andy Bennett who now has the chance to equal Jamie Hughes’ record of three FishOMania titles. Good luck in the final.
The remaining framers were:
- Ryan Laycock with 152lb 1oz from peg 13 on Ash.
- Kieran Marsden with 149lb 10oz from peg 55 on Maple.
- Brad Lucas with 146lb exactly from peg 24 Ashe.
- Jamie Hughes with 134lb 14oz from peg 21 on Sycamore.
Bennett becomes the eighth confirmed competitor in this year’s FishOMania final. He will be joined by last year’s winner, Matt Dawes, and previous qualifiers Jason Redgrave, Chris Reilly, Adam Playford, Harry Campbell, Gary Ainscough and Alex Dawson.
Current FishOMania 24 qualifiers:
- Matt Dawes
- Jason Redgrave
- Chris Reilly
- Adam Playford
- Harry Campbell
- Gary Ainscough
- Alex Dawson
- Andy Bennett
The next qualifier will be held at Moorlands Farm Fishery in Kidderminster on Wednesday, 8th May.
This year’s FishOMania final is held on Saturday, 27th July at Westwood Lakes in Boston. If you want to attend this year’s FishOMani final as a spectator, you can buy tickets now. Tickets are priced at £7.00 per person, while a group booking of 4 people is priced at £20.00. A 10% service fee and £2.95 booking fee per order will also be charged. Car parking tickets can also be added for an additional fee at the time of booking (£7.00 per car and £10.00 per van).
Head over to the FishOMani website to get your tickets now.