Ken aims to make a big splash for England veterans

May 21 2008 By Gareth Purnell

MIDLAND veteran Ken Giles is among the five-man team to represent England in the first Veterans World Championships taking place in Chavez, Portugal, in July.

Giles, still a regular on the region's match circuit and a man who has taken to commercials like a duck to water, will fish alongside Dickie Carr, Mark Addy, Bob Nudd and Denis White - each a legend in their own right!

FOUR 'must-see' speakers have been signed up for this year's Pike Anglers Club Convention, Piking 2008, to be held at Stoneleigh Park on Saturday, September 27.

Predator fishing in all four corners of the British Isles, along with Holland and Sweden, are covered by Derek MacDonald, Graham Slater, Michel Huigevoort and PA Högberg.

PAC promotions manager Mike Kelly said: "All four speakers have varied experience and fish differently. But one thing's for sure, they'll all knock you out with their talks and catches."

THE Midlands has another representative in the £25,000 Fish O Mania Final in the shape of Shakespeare's Jon Arthur.

He drew peg 59 on New Pool at Cudmore Fishery and his 72-12-0 bag of carp to 6lb, plus tench and skimmers, was just too good for perennial qualifier Steve Ringer.

"It was a strange sort of match, but I'm delighted to be through," said Arthur.

"It was a case of catching a fish here, then there and keeping them coming. I'd been told not to fish meat as the fish didn't like it.

"But I always feel that around spawning time meat can be brilliant as long as you don't feed too much. I actually chopped some up mid-match just to try it and that kick-started my swim again."

Arthur is having a brilliant year and with the final at Cudmore for the first time, he will now go into the winner-takes-all event as one of the clear favourites. Also in the final is Redditch's Pete Rice.

"I don't know about being the favourite, but having experienced the final once you want to do it again, and certainly that experience will put me in good stead," he added.

BODDINGTON Reservoir has started to show its real form with the first 200lb-plus bag of the season confirmed and another five anglers weighing in over 100lb in the same match fished between pegs 75 and 95.

Click on www.total-fishing.com to join the UK's No1 online angling community.