42 anglers converged on Holgan Farm to contest this years Autumn Festival. Four former festival winners were in attendance, together with former World Champion, Ian Heaps, last years Fish o’Mania champion, Clive Wright, former England international, Vinnie Smith and British Berlin Angling Association Angler of the Year 1979, Nobby Clarke.

With such a star studded line up it was anyone’s guess who would take the spoils at the end of the week. With his previous form at Holgan Farm, Chris Barley was the popular choice as pre tournament favourite but with 41 other anglers with their eyes on the trophy it was never going to be a one horse race, or was it……….? 

Sticking to the same tried and tested format of drawing for your lake on the Sunday Open, everyone had a free practice session on their lakes before the first festival match on Monday. 

Sunday’s Open Match gives festival competitors an idea of how different pegs are fishing and which baits and methods are working. It was a case of “keep it in the family for the Heaps’ household as Ian took top honours on the Carp Lake off peg 21 with a catch of 88lb 9oz while son Scott won his first match on the Tench Lake with a weight of 30lb exactly off peg 30. Tom Thick, a young naturally gifted angler from Somerset who was unlucky not to win the Spring Festival due to a disastrous final days match put all that behind him to take top honours on the Match Lake with a good weight of 86lb 14oz off peg 25. Coincidentally, this was the very same peg that cost him the Spring Festival. 

So, practice over and straight into day one of the festival. Spring Festival winner, Neil Morgan decided he would like an Autumn Festival tankard to match the one he already has on his mantlepiece and set off on his merry way towards his goal with a 102lb 10oz catch off peg 23 on the Carp Lake to take 1^st place, Ian Heaps, catching carp at 6 metres on car park peg 29 took 2^nd place with 79lb 14oz while Mark Close on peg 25 took 3^rd spot with 69lb 5oz and make it 1,2,3 for Holgan Farm Club members.

On the Tench Lake, one of the festival favourites and last years Autumn Festival winner, Dave Cheetham from Wakefield set off on his winning way with a catch of 30lb 6oz off peg 9. Brummie, Dave Hicken came a close second with a weight of 27lb 9oz off peg 15 while local boy, Limpet took 3^rd spot with 20lb 15oz off peg 28. 

On the Match Lake, festival favourite, Chris Barley was doing his Little Jack Horner impression on corner peg 29 but pulling out carp instead of plums to take 1^st place with a weight of 64lb 13oz following a relatively disappointing result in the previous days open from peg 23. Tom Thick was determined to stay in contention with second place and 59lb 4oz from peg 19 while Dave Pountney took the 3^rd place spot with 46lb 4oz.

All eyes were on Chris Barley for the 2^nd festival match on the Wednesday as he drew peg 6. A reasonable draw at the best of times but a reasonable draw in the hands of Chris usually turns into a winning result and this was the case today as he brought 106lb 4oz to the scales to give him 2 points after 2 matches. 

Down on the Tench Lake, Keith Moore (aka Dark Horse) lived up to his nick name, drawing peg 9 and with the knowledge that this peg had produced the winner on the two previous days put that knowledge to good use to take 1^st place with a weight of 29lb 4oz fishing maggot to the lilies on his right. 

Richard Baldwin took the top honours on the Match Lake with 52lb off peg 17. An awesome result considering he missed an hour of the match when he drove into Narberth for a Chinese takeaway. 

The final day arrived and  Chris Barley was the only angler to have won both his matches and clear of the field on 2 points. A bad draw today for Chris could upset the apple cart as Ian Heaps was waiting to pounce in 2^nd place on 4 points, Dave Cheetham was on 5 points and both Neil Morgan and Tom Thick were still hopeful on 6 points. Chris is dangerous on any lake but especially on the Tench Lake where weights are generally lower and a bit of finesse is needed. Drawing peg 23 and fishing at 16 mtrs to the lilies he fed chopped worm and gave everyone a masterclass performance to take top honours with a catch of 37lb 8oz to give him an unassailable lead. 

On the Match Lake fishing was well below par on the day and Ian Heaps on peg 4 needed a win. Not knowing how Chris Barley was faring, frustration was the name of the game as he struggled along with us mere mortals and was forced to winkle out a few dozen roach. Just as he was preparing to draw his sword and commit Hari Kari, at exactly 5pm the carp seemed to wake up and he managed to net three before the all out. Alas, they came too late and he was relegated to 5^th place on the lake behind local maestro, Neil Morgan on peg 25 who caught steadily to amass a total of 60lb 4oz, alternating between the lily pads and the margins. 

Up on the Carp Lake Steve Davis entertained everyone by filling his pockets with pellets and diving head first into the lake before the all in. Not a clever idea when you’re a non swimmer. Dave Cheetham on peg 24 however had no need for such stunts and fished a blinder to weigh in 95lb 13oz to take 1^st place. Unfortunately good results on the final day were to no avail as Chris Barley was pronounced the winner. 

Another excellent festival is over, nice to see all the old faces back again together with some new faces. For those of you who were disappointed with your results, better luck next time and hope to see you in April for the Spring Festival. Next years Spring Festival is already looking to be over subscribed so book your place with Ian to avoid being disappointed. 

Once again, thanks to everyone for attending and making it one of the friendliest festivals on the books.

Tight lines to you all until next year