SANACC

2014 Champion of Champions
(Sponsored by Glen Garioch Malt Whisky and Snowbee)
Lake of Menteith
17th October 2014

Fifty nine competitors, including at least four previous winners, took part in the 2014 Champion of Champions at the Lake of Menteith on Friday 17th October. This was always going to be a hard one to win with 23 internationalists and a couple of Scottish National Champions in the field that set off just before 10am. Conditions looked to be near perfect with calm conditions mixed with warm air temperatures and a fair amount of cloud cover but some found it hard going.

Quality fish were showing in numbers throughout the day in most areas and the boats were scattered around the Lake as competitors tried a variety of methods to tempt them. It was not so much a question of trying to find a trout to cover but deciding which one to target. There might have been an incredible number of fish showing but catching them was not so easy.

At the weigh-in the 59 competitors recorded a catch of 271 trout of which five of the retained fish were over 4lbs. The match was fished on a partial catch and release basis with the the first two trout being retained and an allowance of 2lb being awarded for each returned trout. Large fish were capped at 4lb.

photo: Shane Kelly

Five competitors caught 10 or 11 trout with Brian Mackenzie finishing 5th with 10 trout for 20lb 15.6oz. Alan Hill was 4th with 10 trout for 21lb 14.8oz; Ian Simpson was 3rd with 11 trout for 22lb 1.6oz and Dave Wright was 2nd with 10 trout for 22lb 6oz. 11 trout were needed to win and the 2014 Champion of Champions is Shane Kelly of Hawick AC who had 11 trout for 22lb 10.6oz.

Dave Wright............................................................................................Ian Simpson

Shane covered the area bounded by Sams Point, Hotel Bay and Shear Point where his fish fell to a cat booby, kate snatcher and diawl bach fished on a midge tip line. Second placed Dave Wright of St Boswells and Newtown District AA fished the same areas as Shane but went further up into the Rookery and took his fish on a candy booby, kate snatcher and diawl bach on a midge tip line. Third placed competitor, Ian Simpson of Aberdour AA, took his fish at Lochend on a cat booby on a Snowbee midge tip line.

The heaviest fish during the Staurday night heats weighed 6lb 9oz and was caught by Alan Harvie of Munnoch AC.