No carping as schoolboy angler catches out veterans

The schoolboy, 11, scooped the £50 first prize with a monster 98lb haul of carp leaving his father and 28 other veteran anglers open-mouthed at his achievement.

He was with his father Andy, 43 and members of a local working men’s club angling section on the banks of Lindholme Lake near Doncaster when he decided to take part in the six-hour fishing match.

While the experts around him, including Mr Gregory, who has been fishing for years, struggled for bites using conventional bait of meat and pellets, Jack decided to try thick-sliced bread on the end of his line.

He was soon busy pulling out 20 carp weighing up to 10lb each as his astonished opponents tried to keep up.

Mr Gregory said Jack, who starts at Forge Valley Comprehensive School, Sheffield, next month, stayed cool throughout his successful day .

“Jack was up against some top- class opposition but he wasn’t fazed,” said the upholsterer from Stannington, Sheffield.

“He just kept pulling carp out at a steady pace and was well in front of me at the end of the match.

“I thought I had a good chance of winning but I could only manage 75lb and he beat me into second place.

“I must admit there were a few surprised faces around at the end of the afternoon. But everyone took it well and they were congratulating Jack at the end of the match .

“He had the biggest smile of all because apart from beating 
everyone he picked up £50, which is not bad going for an afternoon’s fishing.”

Jack said: “I quite enjoy fishing and it was a really good day out just sitting on the bank next to my dad.

“The sliced bread did the trick and I couldn’t believe it when the fish kept coming.

“I thought I might have a chance of winning and I was amazed at the weight I’d landed by the time we finished.”

Jack, his father, mother Helen, 39, and sister Olivia, two and a half, are spending a few days on holiday on the East Coast next week, but they are leaving the fishing tackle at home.

Mr Gregory said “We certainly won’t be doing any fishing. I don’t want to get beaten twice in just a few days.”