Voting gets underway in the search for Britain’s best big-fish angler
AFTER yet another memorable year for specimen anglers, it’s crunch time, as voting begins for the next Drennan Cup champion.
The standards for the iconic contest increase year on year – bigger fish and more weekly awards than ever are needed to claim the prestigious title.
It’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of specimens and become complacent about the golden era of big-fish angling we’re living in. But earlier in the season, Greg Buxton, inaugural winner of the Drennan Cup, gave us a reality check. He reported a superb 8lb 2oz chub, and reminded us that when he won the title in 1984/85, it was with a single 14lb 1oz barbel – still a big fish by today’s standards, but nowadays it wouldn’t stand a chance of a weekly award, yet alone scoop the whole title!
That was less than 40 years ago, so who knows what we’ll be catching in 2064? If fish weights continue accelerating at the current rate, 10lb chub, 6lb perch and 20lb barbel will be commonplace! More importantly, let’s hope that specimen fishing is still thriving, and that the Drennan Cup remains as coveted as it is today.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at this season’s contenders. There are plenty of new faces among them – a positive sign, if ever there was one, for the future of big-fish angling in Britain.
DANIEL WOOLCOTT
THE EVER-CONSISTENT Daniel Woolcott received five weekly awards... all for different species!
The Kent angler kicked off with an 11lb 1oz tench (right) on maggot feeder tactics in the spring, followed by a 15lb 15oz bream that smashed his PB.
Next, he headed north to the wilds of Scotland, where he landed a gorgeous 3lb 3oz grayling in bitter conditions when temperatures dropped to minus 8ºC! He had that fish on a trotted worm, when it was so cold the bait froze solid, “and looked like a Twiglet” in Dan’s words.
He’s had great success with roach in recent seasons, and during this campaign he landed a gorgeous stillwater fish of 3lb1oz.
Finally, he headed to the Thames to target chub. A 7lb 9oz fish taken on a boilie hookbait finished his season in fine style.
DRENNAN CUP 5 AWARDS
DUNCAN HAYWARD
IT’S NO secret that the Thames is home to some of the nation’s largest fish, as Duncan Hayward proved by winning an impressive five awards, all for fish from this river system. He kicked off with a 16lb 9oz barbel in autumn, followed by an almighty fish of 19lb 4oz taken on a snowman rig a few months later.
That second fish was the culmination of hundreds of challenging hours on the bank.
Predators were his next target, as he landed a 4lb 9oz perch as well as a 30lb 3oz pike from the river. Both were landmark fish for Duncan.
A really big perch had eluded him f
