Competitions
01 March 2026
Starlets Scorch to Winter League Glory
After a long time away from the Angling Trust Winter League limelight, Sensas UK Starlets are back on top following a pulsating victory in the weekend’s final, the Midlands outfit recording a superb 33-point team card to win by eight points and lift the famous trophy.
Second spot for the second year in a row went to local outfit and current Division One National champions Daiwa Tackle & Bates/Van Den Eynde on 41 points, with another East Midlands side Sensas Hotrods taking the bronze medals with 49 points from their 10 anglers.
The day though, was all about Starlets, their score representing an incredible average of third in section per man, which given the peggy nature of the venues and the big change in conditions overnight that made the fishing hard, is all the more remarkable.
Monsoon rain overnight combined with a cold wind and a big temperature drop made sport on the three commercial fisheries in use – Decoy Lakes, Rookery Waters and Float Fish Farm and Fishery – very hard with only a couple of three figure weights recorded across the 125 anglers fishing. On the Old River Nene at March and Benwick and the Bower Drain that made up the other half of the match, the news was much better with plenty of bites for the majority of the field.
From their five anglers on the drains, Starlets scored a brilliant 11 points, spearheaded by section wins for England men Cam Hughes and Steve Hemingray with 12-810 and 10-880 from sections D and E. Fellow international Sean Ashby added a second in A section with 9-500, Lee Wright scoring the same from G section with 8-900. Only Charlie Gooch struggled a little, but his fifth in section with 2-600 from the tricky Bower represented a great result when compared to how other teams fared on there.
The commercials were perhaps where the match would be won and lost, but 22 points from five anglers on there was still a great result. Geraint Powell and Matt Powell led them home with section seconds from Rookery and Decoy, Josh Derry taking a great third from a tough Float Fish Farm. Recent signing Steve Forster secured seven points at Decoy, with Chris Jones scoring eight in his section at Rookery.
“I think we put a lot more effort into the final third year, with plenty of practice, Whattsapp groups and so on,” said Starlets boss Darran Bickerton. “We’ve had podium places before, but haven’t actually won the Winter League since 2011. The boys have been desperate to change that so there’ll be a lot of happy faces going into work next week.”
“The draw plays a big part in a big match across so many venues, but on the drains we weren’t too worried as we’d got a strong side who seemed to have drawn okay – only Charlie on the Bower gave me concerns, but he’s fished brilliantly for fifth,” Darran explained. “On the lakes, it’s so difficult to tell and we knew the change in weather would make things different to what had happened in practice. Josh’s score at Float Fish was great and got one big banana skin out of the way, but even our lowest score – Chris with an eighth – wasn’t actually that bad compared to the other teams who finished behind us. I’m proud of them all and pleased for them – they’ve worked very hard for this win.”
After the draw, the Tackle & Bates lads thought they were well out of it, but you never know in fishing and what they felt were bad pegs actually fished quite well. On the drains, they scored 15 points, James Drakulic, Ray Malle and Gav Butler taking seconds, Mark Pollard fourth and Tony Watling fifth.
It was also looking good on the commercials, Ross Harold winning his lake at Rookery, Josh Pace and Simon Godfrey scoring fourths and Adam Playford sixth. To show just what an effect the weather had on the fishing though, Tom Edwards could only score 11 points from a peg at Decoy had been THE form peg in the run up to the final.
For a full breakdown of each section and team scores, visit the Hot Fishin link below:
*******************************************************
Team result:
1 Sensas Starlets, 33pts
2 Daiwa/Van Den Eynde Tackle & Bates, 41
3 Sensas Hot Rods, 49
4 Preston Innovations Delcac, 55
5 Maver Midlands, 56
6 Daiwa Dorking, 58
7 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 59 (113-935)
8 Preston Innovations Black Horse, 59 (111-785)
9 Preston Innovations Thatcher’s, 60
10 Drennan Bordon Angling, 62
11 Drennan North West, 63
12 Drennan Oxford, 65
13 Matrix Bait-Tech Leigh Tackle & Bait, 68
14 Daiwa Gordon League, 70 (122-775)
15 Saints, 70 (116-675)
16 Colmic Dynamite Baits Trentmen, 71
17 Nytro Quaker North East, 72 (140-360)
18 Cadence Bait-Tech Superteam, 72 (104-272)
19 Maver/Bait-Tech Peterborough, 72 (88-385)
20 Team Netbusters, 73
21 NuFish/SonuBaits Ossett, 74
22 Twyford, 86
23 Maver Milton Keynes, 94
24 Cresta Wakefield, 95
25 Darlington Angling Centre, 108
You might also like
03 June 2026
IFFA Spring Loch Style Fly Fishing International at Llyn…
The international is fished from free drifting boats with anglers from England, Ireland, Scotland an…
Read more
28 May 2026
Angling Trust Calls for Recreational Sea Fishing to Be…
The Angling Trust has submitted detailed evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fis…
Read more
27 May 2026
Learn, Coach, Support, Welfare: Explore Opportunities with the Angling…
As the National Governing Body for angling in England, the Angling Trust is committed to supporting…
Read more
26 May 2026
Sea angling greats Sam Collier and Saul Page named…
Two of sea angling’s most respected match fishing figures have accepted invitations to become Anglin…
Read more
14 May 2026
New British Barbel record ratified
The British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) would like to announce the ratification of a n…
Read more
08 May 2026
Mersey Basin Species Hunt Returns for 2026
The Mersey Basin Species Hunt is BACK and better than ever! Following the success of the inaugural e…
Read more
07 May 2026
Angling Trust sets out vision for coastal growth in…
The Angling Trust has launched a new Welsh Sea Angling Manifesto, setting out a clear plan for how p…
Read more
06 May 2026
Angling Trust and Environment Agency evolve volunteer support for…
Volunteers remain central as fisheries enforcement support moves to broader community model The Angl…
Read more
29 April 2026
Tench Masterclass 2026: scenes from a stunning 48 hours…
This year’s Tench Masterclass at Medway Valley Fishery was another stunning event. From misty…
Read more
28 April 2026
Tackling mink on club waters: a real-life success story…
Eric Prescott, Chair of the Angling Trust, is also Chair of a couple of local angling clubs near his…
Read more
24 April 2026
Resetting the Relationship – But Where Are Recreational Anglers?
A major new report from MPs calls for big changes to how the government works with fishing communiti…
Read more
23 April 2026
New ‘Forever Chemicals’ Report Urges UK Government to Turn…
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has officially released its final PFAS Inquiry Report, and t…
Read more