The Gunki Munkis of Tom Andrews and Dave Burgess proved their big-fish-hunting class for the second year in a row by winning the LACC specimen challenge.

Eight teams of two set off from The Leopard in Bishops Tachbrook to fish for the two biggest zander and two biggest perch on any of the LACC waters.

It was a close-run thing at the top with just three centimeters separating the top three teams. Zander of 50cm and 53cm did the trick for Tom and Dave as they finished with 159cm.

Biggest zander of the day at 59cm went to Adam Brooks of second-placed River Soarpranos.

Biggest perch at 36cm was caught by John Cheyne of 2 Blokes Fishing.

Every team caught at least two perch and two zander.

Next competition is the Warwick leg of the pairs league on September 30. Book here.

Full results

1. Gunki Munkis 159cm
2. River Soarpranos 158cm
3. Team No Name 156cm
4. Canal Masters 141cm
5. Pure Lure 138cm
6. 2 Blokes Fishing 129cm
7. No Wasps Here 117cm
8. Busbys 115cm

Entries are now open for round 3 of this year’s pairs league, which takes place on Sunday, September 30, on our premier stretch of canal in Warwick.

And this year’s Warwick event has a new twist. The club has special permission to fish the canal between our stretches at Warwick and Hatton Locks on the day of the competition.

It means the competition stretch will go from bridge 54 at Hatton Locks down to bridge 44 at Myton Road, Leamington. As usual, there will be no fishing by competitors between September 21 and the match.

Entry is £5 per team of two. Book here now.

TAKE ON OUR SPECIMEN CHALLENGE

Tickets are now available for the Lure Anglers Canal Club Specimen Challenge on Sunday, September 16.

Teams of two anglers will compete to see who can catch the best combined length of the two biggest zander and two biggest perch in a roving competition across all of LACC waters.

We’ll meet at the Leopard Inn, Bishops Tachbrook, in the morning and return later in the day for a finger buffet at the pub and prize-giving.

Entry is £20 per team. Buy tickets here.

EVENTS UPDATE 2018/19:

The full list of remaining events for 2018/19 is:

• Sunday, Sept 16 – Specimen Challenge
• Sunday, Sept 30 – Pairs League, Warwick
• Saturday, October 20 – Individual Championship (matchplay qualifier)
• Saturday, November 10  – Pairs League, Radford
• Sunday, November 25 – Predator Pairs (open match)
• Sunday, December 16 – Christmas Bash
• Sunday, February 17 – Pairs League and AGM, Knowle

Events are for members only with the exception of the Predator Pairs. Watch out for detailed announcements about each event.

It was a glorious day to be out on the Grand Union Canal today with not a wedding in sight and plenty of fish on the feed.

Round 2 of the pairs league was held on the club’s Blue Lias stretch. Zander were showing well with the 15 teams sharing 60 zander between them, including 5 50cm-plus specimens. Perch were not so plentiful, but the day also saw 3 pike, 2 chub and 2 ruffe caught. Every team caught and scored points towards the league.

Clear winners were the Snoek-Baar Stars of John Cheyne and Gary Palmer who returned 14 zander, 6 perch and a pike for 529cm. Second were No Wasps Here, Steve Wilson and Derek Holmes, with 371cm made up of 7 zander, 2 chub and a perch, and third were Team No Name of Vidar Thomassen and Alan Brown with 6 zander, including 4 50cm-plus fish, and a perch for 339cm.