Corps Coarse Angling Championships 2023

Scribe: WO2 (AQMS) Dave Goodall

TheREME Angling (Coarse) Championships was held 16-19 May 2023 at Baden Hall & Heronbrook Fisheries in Staffordshire.

18 Anglers arrived on the first day at Baden Hall Fishery, with the draw for pegs taking place each morning, as well as a detailed match brief on the fishery rules and timings for the week. All participants were split into two sections across the lakes for day one, with all matches being 6 hours long, fishing from 1100-1700hrs.

Day one was a Silver Fish only event (no Carp allowed) won by myself with a weight of 109 lbs, with Mr Dougie McCormack (a former AQMS VM) second with 102 lbs 11oz.

The next two days were pairs matches held on Heronbrook Fishery with 17 people in attendance, with one lucky person having two partners due to the odd number. Day one of the pairs was won by myself with 148 lbs 9oz and Mr Dougie McCormack second on the day with 105 lbs 5oz. Myself and Cpl Justin Day were top of the table after day one and were probably uncatchable. This proved to be the case after day two of the pairs, with us being crowned Champions with a total weight of 408 lbs 15oz. Second in the pairs was Mr Jason Nicholls (a former ASM Vehs) and Mr Robert Marsh (a former SSgt VM) with a combined weight of 356 lbs 10oz. Individual winner on the day was Sgt Steve Chadwick with 154 lbs 14oz and myself 2nd with 144 lbs 5oz.

The next two days were the main event to see who would be crowned 2023 Corps Champion. With 18 people fishing at Heronbrook Fishery, day one was won by Lt Col Toby Burrell with 145 lbs 8oz, closely followed by Sgt Steve Tilson with 125 lbs 12oz. Day two would see several people still in with a chance of winning the event and first on the final day was Cpl Ben Hickinbottom with 109 lbs 9oz and Mr Graham Payne (a former VM) second with 102 lbs 6oz.

Coming third overall for the 2023 Championships was Cfn Charlie Nicolson with 5 points and a weight of 197 lbs 6oz, second was Cpl Hickinbottom with 3 points and a weight of 232 lbs 5oz, and the

2023 Corps Champion was Lt Col Burrell with 2 points and a weight of 256 lbs.

Throughout the event a knockout tournament was taking place, with everyone in the hat at the start of the week, a random draw was completed and the winner from the draw each day would see you progress to the next round, the final pair were myself against Mr Dougie McCormack, the eventual winner was Dougie.

During the week Lt Col Burrell had the privilege to present Corps Colours to Sgt Steve Chadwick and Sgt Trev Tanner for their contributions towards Corps Angling over the past six years. We also held a charity raffle during the week where all money raised would be for the Phoenix Heroes Charity. A fantastic £371 for this chosen cause was collected.

As always, the biggest thanks must go to The REME Sports Association and The REME Charity for its support in funding our sport. This significantly offset the cost of the event to each serving participant, encouraging greater numbers to attend. The Corps Championships proved to be a great success and introduced new members to the sport. If you are interested in joining the REME Coarse Angling, please contact WO2 (AQMS) Dave Goodall on David.Goodall722@Mod.gov.uk

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