Cofton’s Fishing Festival returns.
This September saw the return of Cofton’s bi-annual fishing competition, the Cofton Cup. After being postponed in May, the much anticipated Cofton Cup V took place over 5 intensive days of fishing that saw 51 anglers all looking to take their place in the final and walk away with the Cofton Cup.
And what a week it was! With warm sunny weather dominating the opening days there was some great fishing to be had. The threat of some competition records falling was a real possibility before a change in conditions made fishing in the finals a little more challenging.
In a slightly revised format of the competition to allow for social distancing and increased number of anglers, it was Andy Everill who walked away from the Mamhead match Lake as the Cofton Cup champion with a haul of 97.05 from peg 23 to secure the cup and top prize of £500.
This is Andy’s second title having previously won Cofton Cup II.
More good news for the Everill family as Runner up Ashley Everill caught a total of 47.02 from peg 5 earning him £250 and Phil Strickland rounded out the top 3 with a catch of 44.13 from peg 24 to take home the £150 prize.
This year’s Plate final was contested over the Mamhead match lake and Luscombe Lake to accommodate the extra anglers. Geoff Boardman came out as the overall Plate winner and the £125 prize catching 57.02 from peg on 15 Mamhead lake. There were lake wins for Marc Barden with 33.08 peg 19 Mamhead lake and Michael Nunn 38.14 peg 3 Luscombe lake both picking up £75
And it was during the plate final that Darron Smith caught the biggest fish of the week. After a battle that was waged for well over 10 minutes on the Luscombe lake, Darron finally netted this absolute beauty weighing in at 17.14 which earned him a well deserved £50.
A special thank you to Guru Tackle who supplied every competitor with a goodie bag and prizes for all our winners.
Cofton Cup V Results
The Top 5 from each Qualifier plus the 2 biggest losing weights contested a 17 peg final.
Cofton Cup Champion: Andy Everill peg 23 97.05
Runner Up: Ashley Everill peg 5 47.02
Third Place: Phil Strickland peg 24 44.13
Plate Champion: Geoff Boardman peg 15 57.02
Plate Lake Winner Mamhead: Marc Barden peg 19 33.08
Plate Lake Winner Luscombe: Michael Nunn peg 3 38.14
1st: Michael Wills peg 13 40.04
2nd: Stephen Bridle peg 8 37.09
3rd: Phil Strickland peg 15 32.05
4th: Bob Rand peg 12 31.08
5th: Trevor Wild peg 10 31.03
1st: Andy Everill peg 23 102.08
2nd: Paul Bland peg 15 96.08
3rd: Richard Woodsford peg 21 53.07
4th: Lee Prophet peg 3 49.07
5th: Charlie Rostron peg 1 30.00
1st: Darrell Edwards peg 13 60.02
2nd: Mike Flory peg 15 54.11
3rd: Lee Bates peg 21 50.00
4th: Ashley Everill peg 19 41.13
5th: Carol Williams peg 23 36.01
On the challenges and changes in organising the event,Cofton Holidays Fisheries Manager Luke commented, “As ever the competition has been conducted in an amazing friendly atmosphere. Social distancing has prevented our usual end of week presentation with all prizes being awarded lakeside this time.
“The competitors have been fantastic in following all the rules to enable the event to go ahead. The fishing has been fiercely contested with some great catches and we have worthy winners. Well done to all competitors for another fantastic week of fishing we are now looking forward to Cofton Cup VI in May.”
The Cofton fishing competition returns with Cofton Cup VI. Running from May 9th – 14th, the fishing festival is open to all keen anglers staying at Cofton. For more information and to book your place….