Fish O'Mania controversy

Bates suffers for catching too many fish

THE Fish O'Mania event has been beset with many problems since its conception and last week it unfortunately involved one of Peterboro's local anglers yet again.
Last year it was Lee Thornton from Ramsey, now young Alex Bates from March made the mistake of putting too many fish into a keepnet at a qualifier at Barford Fishery, Norwich.
If his weight had counted he would have won the match and gone through to the ?25,000 final.

Unfortunately he broke the fishery rules and was consequently disqualified. As you can imagine the 18 year-old youngster was bitterly disappointed.

He said: "The last few days have been hell. I have been match fishing since I was seven years old and at present fish at open and team level with Sensas Mark One.

"I genuinely thought I had under a ton, but under-estimated the weight of the F1 carp which was 80 per cent of my catch.

"I was shocked to find that I had exceeded the fishery's weight limits. I accept rules are rules and wish it hadn't happened in a Fish 'O' event.

"Words can't explain how I feel but I am now even more determined to achieve my goals."

The buzz around the angling world is that it was a very harsh decision, but he accepted it like a true sportsman and I really do hope his time will come again in this event which never seems to be far away
from controversy these days.

Storm in a teacup, he broke the rules (this rule was made to protect the fish) which he admitted and he was disqualified, end of story.

"The buzz around the angling world is that it was a very harsh decision"


In what way exactly was that a harsh decision?

It was a very hard decision to make for Kirsty and the team at Barford, but rules are rules. She posted a very long post on one of the other forum explaining exactly what happened and how they had to make the decision on the day.

I think the decision would have FAR more controversial had it gone the other way.

Apparently Lee only opted for having two nets at his peg whereas quite a few others had three as a safety net in case they bagged up. He was apparently very dignified and accepted the result as posted above which is very commendable in my opinion fr such a young lad.

Just think of the experience he has gained at this event alone. Yep, initially he will be gutted but I think it will stand him in good stead in the long run. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.