Ecton
Our biggest eliminator venue of the year, Ecton Lake near Northampton is 38 acres in size and holds a good head of decent sized fish. Averaging mid 20s with over twenty 30s the lake can be temperamental as it usual receives very little pressure, but with the quality of the field in attendance at Ecton there should be some good fish caught.
CAPTAIN |
VICE CAPTAIN |
|
Paul Gaspar |
Scott Smith |
Ricky Keating |
Vinny Barton |
Jason Dickinson |
Craig Davies |
Sam Caton |
Richard Ayles |
Paul Harris |
Shaun Stockdale |
Mike Winstone |
Tim Fromant |
Philip Harrison |
Nigel Frear |
Clint Kirby |
Steve Walters |
Brian Byford |
James Eames |
Brain Dorman |
Brad Price |
Shaun MacSpadden |
Scott Day |
Wayne Radford |
Troy Bradshaw |
www.ectonlakes.co.uk
Pre-Match Round Up
Ecton is a cracking 38 acre open acre syndicate water in Northamptonshire. Run by the likeable Alan Taylor of Whacker Catcher Baits it is a little bit of an unknown as it has only been run as a syndicate for a few years and the size tends to frighten people on the other waters on the his complex. However, having seen the pictures of the stunning carp it holds it’s certainly a winning venue as was proven by the fact it filled up virtually straight away.
It’s one of the bigger venues which means that the 12 pairs all have loads of space. The water is generally clear and the fish will take a floater but make no mistake it doesn’t give up it’s residents too easily. We are expecting good things from the whole of the field as we know there are some biggies in there waiting to be caught. Old original Leneys to mid 30s with a good head of target upper doubles and twenties will make up the majority of the weights.
Ecton Round Up
Results
1st - Shaun McSadden and Scott Day - Team Fox - 22lb 12oz
2nd - Jason Dickinson and Craig Davies - Team Rainbow - 19lb 07oz
3rd - Brian Byford and James Eames - 13lb 10oz
On Ecton the draw was made in damp foggy conditions (so much for the sun shining). As usual everyone wanted a come out high in the draw as only a handful of carp had been seen around the lake. It wasn’t long before the hooter sounded and the start of this years event as under way with low cloud spoiling the promised sunshine. It seemed that Ecton was the only place in the country to be covered in cloud but this didn’t dampen the spirits of the competitors, all working hard with visions of lifting that crystal trophy in September.
After a few hours wait the first carp came over the landing net of Team Rainbow Lake pairing Jason Dickinson and Craig Davies. A 19lb 07oz mirror putting them top of the Ecton tree but for how long. The day gradually got warmer and warmer but no more carp were caught so by the 6pm scores only Dickinson and Davies had troubled the marshals. As night fell the cloud came and with it the temperature fell but everyone had hopes of fish through the hours of darkness. However the Ecton carp proved to be tough cookies to crack and didn’t want to give themselves up with nothing at all being caught overnight.
The morning fog yet again prevented the sun from shining through on everyone unless you where in peg 9 where Dickinson and Davies still commanded the leader board. Eventually the sun did burn through and it was enough for the lads in peg 13 Shaun McSpadden and Scott Day to start a long day’s surface fishing. Zig rigs were the order of the day elsewhere around the lake as the carp became more active and the scorers had to wait until 6:40pm until they had another carp to weigh. Fox Mainline team members McSpadden and Day in unlucky peg 13 had managed to hook into a hard fighting 22lb 12oz  common putting them at the top of the leader board and hopefully into the first semi-final.
With one qualifying slot left the rest of the field were happy that only one carp could put them through. There were thoughts of a dreaded cast-off but would it get that far? By 11:40pm the call came in with the news of a carp weighing 13lb 10oz had just been landed in peg 12 by Brian Byford and James Eames, giving them the last spot on the round to the semi-final so the cast off would be avoided. The rest of the night came and went with yet again no carp to report and by morning the sun was hot and the carp began to show around the lake. With just a few hours to go the field frantically tried to extract a carp from the clear wateras an upper double would suffice for qualification but time ran out as the hooter sounded the end of round one for a tough and temperamental Ecton. |
