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RiverFest

RiverFest 2024 Qualifiers

NEW VENUES AND MIDWEEK QUALIFIERS FOR RIVERFEST 2024

The UK’s number one river fishing competition gets underway again for the 12th year running starting in June.

Matches start on Friday June 16th on the Warwickshire Avon at Evesham and include two brand new venues for 2024 – Bristol Avon and Dorset Stour. The 27 match qualifying series will see 84 anglers make it through to the big-money final.

The two-day final will take place on the River Trent at Stoke Bardolph and Burton Joyce on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of September with a prize pot of over £40,000, based on maximum ticket sales.

Tickets will be available from Tuesday 19th March (in two rounds as before) and they remain at £35, the same price as they’ve been for the past three years.

RiverFest creator Dave Harrell said, “Since I started this competition in 2013, I have always tried to develop and improve it every season,” said Dave.

“This year we have two brand new venues on the list with the Bristol Avon and the Dorset Stour as well as all the regular favourites. It’s going to be a great competition again, I’m sure!”

 

RIVERFEST 2024 – QUALIFIER DATES AND VENUES

Sunday 16th June – WARWICKSHIRE AVON, EVESHAM (60)

Wednesday 19th June – RIVER TRENT, NEWARK (80)

Saturday 22nd June – RIVER CALDER, Mirfield (60)

Sunday 23rd June – RIVER NENE, OUNDLE (60)

Wednesday 26th June – RIVER SEVERN, BEWDLEY (60)

Saturday 29th June – RIVER TRENT, CAYTHORPE (60)

Sunday 30th June – RIVER MEDWAY, BARMING (40)

Wednesday 3rd July – RIVER TRENT, CUTTLE BROOK, INGLEBY (60)

Sunday 7th July – WARWICKSHIRE AVON, STRATFORD (60)

Saturday 13th July – RIVER SEVERN, BRIDGNORTH (60)

Sunday 14th July – RIVER SOAR, SUTTON (60)

Wednesday 17th July – RIVER TRENT, COLLINGHAM (60)

Saturday 20th July – RIVER TRENT, BURTON JOYCE (80)

Sunday 21st July – DORSET STOUR, STURMINSTER NEWTON (60)

Wednesday 24th July – RIVER TRENT, NEWARK (80)

Saturday 27th July – RIVER DON, SPROTBOROUGH (60)

Sunday 28th July – WARWICKSHIRE AVON, STRATFORD (60)

Saturday 3rd August – RIVER THAMES, CLANFIELD (60)

Sunday 11th August – RIVER TRENT, COLLINGHAM (60)

Saturday 17th August – RIVER TRENT, BURTON JOYCE (80)

Sunday 18th August – RIVER TRENT, TRENT LOCK (60)

Wednesday 21st August – TIDAL TRENT (80)

Friday 23rd August – TIDAL TRENT (60)

Wednesday 28th August – RIVER TRENT, BURTON ON TRENT (60)

Wednesday 4th September – RIVER THAMES, CLANFIELD (60)

Saturday 7th September – BRISTOL AVON, SWINFORD CRANE (40)

Sunday 8th September – RIVER THAMES, ABINGDON AREA (60)

 

PRACTICE OPEN MATCH

The practice open match will take place on Saturday 14th September 2024 on the River Trent, Burton Joyce (up to 84 pegs)

 

Round 1: Opens 10.00am Tuesday 19th March 2024 & closes at 23.59 on Sunday 31st March 2024. Maximum of 1 ticket per angler in this round

Round 2 Opens 10.00am on Tuesday 2nd April 2024, no restriction on the number of tickets that can be purchased.

RiverFest 2023

BARBEL SEAL WIN FOR WAINWRIGHT IN RIVERFEST FINAL 2023

KYLE Wainwright is the 2023 Angling Trust RiverFest champion following an action-packed two days of fishing on the River Trent around Burton Joyce.

The Normanton, West Yorks angler – who qualified on the River Don at the end of July – led one of the strongest final line ups ever with 84 anglers including World Champions, former winners, and river-fishing legends in attendance.

And the Ashfield Anglers’ stretches at Ferry Field, Roadside, Nelson’s, and the Rack were in fine early-Autumn form. Over the weekend there were of catches of over 20lb of roach, dace nets into high double figures, some huge eels and perch, and barbel weights of 35lb and 52lb hitting the scales.

Day one was led by Birmingham’s Jason Jeenes who enjoyed his draw on the barbel hotspot in the Nelson Field, taking five decent fish for 35lb 11oz.

Close behind was England international Cameron Hughes who found some quality redfins on the Rack section for an incredible 25lb 3oz while Charlie Gooch, pegged just downstream of the outfall on the Roadside bank, weighed 24lb 14oz of silvers for third.

The forecasted heavy rains were thankfully absent for day two and the anglers again found the river in a welcoming mood.

Kyle Wainwright must have skipped to his draw on day two after picking out the ‘barbel’ peg on Nelson’s and he worked his swim with feeder and casters for a 51lb 13oz finish – the top weight of the weekend. Added to just over 10lb of silvers from the Ferry Field on day one it was enough to seal him the title, the famous trophy, and a £10,000 payday.

Runner up Charlie Gooch relied on a pole and silverfish attack on both days, his Roadside 24lb being backed up with 21lb 15oz, including some chunky roach from the Rack on day two. Charlie’s 46lb 13oz total earned him £7,000.

Jason Jeenes’ early work on the barbel peg stood him in good stead at the final reckoning too, adding over 10lb of silver from the Ferry Field in the second match ensured he went home with £5,000 for third place overall.
England international Cameron Hughes, fresh from helping the Nation to silver medals at the World Champs in Spain, once again showed his class over the weekend with two big nets of roach and dace totalling 43lb 10oz for fourth.

* The Angling Trust would like to thank Ashfield Anglers, Gary Joynt, Bait-tech, the Ferry Boat Inn, and all the volunteer stewards and Ashfield club members who helped make this one of the best finals in RiverFest’s 11-year history.

A huge thanks to Dave Harrell and Kelvin Tallett, our superb qualifier organisers, and of course all the anglers who supported RiverFest over the past 12 months!

RiverFest 2023 Grand Final Top 15 Overall
1 Kyle Wainwright, 62lb 5oz (£10,000)
2 Charlie Gooch, 46lb 13oz (£7,000)
3 Jason Jeenes, 46lb 10oz (£5,000)
4 Cameron Hughes, 43lb 10oz (£3,000)
5 Mike Bedding, 36lb 1oz (£2,000)
6 Bradley Gibbons, 34lb 13oz (£1,800)
7 Hadrian Whittle, 33lb 10oz (£1,600)
8 Tom Noton, 33lb (£1,500)
9 Alistair Ogilvie, 32lb 11oz (£1,300)
10 Dave Binns, 30lb 7oz (£1,100)
11 Shaun Stockley, 30lb 6oz (£1,000)
12 Alan Scotthone, 29lb 15oz (£850)
13 Nigel Bull, 28lb 14oz (£750)
14 Jon Arthur, 28lb 7oz (£650)
15 Lee Edwards, 28lb (£600)

CHECK OUT OUR HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO FROM THE 2023 EVENT

RiverFest 2022

LEE EDWARDS WINS £14,000 RIVERFEST FINAL ON TRENT

Top-3- Left to Right: Paul Passmore 3rd, Lee Edwards 1st, Toby Bunting 2nd

River expert Lee Edwards is the 2022 Angling Trust RiverFest champion in a two-day event won with barbel but supported by superb silverfish catches.

Lee, from Caerphilly, South Wales, added the title and £14,000 paycheck to an incredible list of running water honours which include river records and championship victories.

The Wales international, who got through from to the final from the Warwickshire Avon qualifier in July, drew the famous barbel peg on the Nelson’s Field stretch on the first day and made the most of it with a superb display of feederfishing to take 14 barbel and three chub for an 88lb 13oz total.

Lee Edwards – Day 1 weigh in

Lee used a blockend feeder with hemp and caster and fed double pouches of hemp over the top, picking off fish steadily through the day with caster the best hookbait.

A draw at the top end of the Ferry Field on day two saw him focus on silvers on both pole and feeder to boost his overall weight and his target of 11lb 1oz – which would take him to a 100lb total – was surpassed thanks to a net of dace and perch plus a bonus 2lb barbel and a rogue grayling taking him to 14lb 15oz and a 103lb 12oz finish.

“This was the one I’ve wanted to win for ages,” admitted Lee, who had the honour of winning the 10th RiverFest final staged. “I knew the first day catch would put me in a good place, but you never know so it was a nervy second day for me. I really struggled in the middle of the match but caught dace well on the groundbait feeder in the last hour and the barbel was a handy bonus.”

Overnight temperatures were distinctly autumnal and coupled with low levels and flow it proved a tricky weekend for the 78 competitors although the leading weights were high and there were some fine back up catches of silverfish to over 20lb each day.

It was a big weight of bream which claimed the runner-up spot on day one and pushed the captor, Toby Bunting, to second overall after the two matches.

Local lad Toby, from Newark, drew the roadside ‘wires’ – permanent peg 19 – and finished with 69lb 9oz, backing it up with just 3lb 9oz on day two for a £7,000 payday.

Day 1 Toby Bunting feeder fishing for bream

His day one haul was made up of 13 bream all taken on groundbait feeder cast three-quarters of the way across the river with either worm or corn on the hook.

The bulk of Toby’s catch, 11 fish, came during a feeding spell in the first two hours with two further fish boosting his catch late on.

Day 1 Toby Bunting bream catch

Those not on the noted pegs targeted silvers and the top weights saw a mix of river experts and England internationals lead the way with Cameron Hughes delivering 28lb 14oz, Jordan Holloway 26lb, Mark Turner on 24lb 12oz, Sean Ashby with 21lb 11oz, Ken Pacey with 20lb 11oz, and Alan Scotthorne with 19lb 10oz.

Day two saw Paul Passmore take 45lb 1oz of chub on the feeder from his peg in the Ferry Field, a catch that turned out to be the best across the board on the day.

It helped him to third spot for the second year in a row, his day one catch of 12lb 4oz adding up to 57lb 5oz and earning him £5,000.

Fourth was filled by Chris Hallows, who headed to the famed barbel swim at Nelson’s Field, although it proved a tougher nut to crack on the second day, with eight fish falling to his feeder tactics for a 43lb 14oz finish. That was enough to propel Chris to 4th place overall with 54lb 13oz in total.

Day 2 Chris Hallows at Nelsons Field

England international Cam Hughes showed his quality once again with an amazing 25lb 2oz of pole-caught roach from the Rack section on day two to add to his 28lb 14oz from day one, securing him fifth spot overall, just ahead of his England teammate Sean Ashby on 47lb 3oz.

Day 1 Cam Hughes catch from road bank

RIVERFEST 2022 TOP 10

1 Lee Edwards, 103lb 12oz

2 Toby Bunting, 73lb 2oz

3 Paul Passmore, 57lb 5oz

4 Chris Hallows, 54lb 13oz

5 Cam Hughes, 54lb

6 Sean Ashby, 47lb 3oz

7 Jordan Holloway, 41lb 4oz

8 Matt Hodgetts, 38lb 15oz

9 Tony Marshall, 33lb 6oz

10 Rich Offler, 30lb 14oz

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