'THE BIG FISH' 2010
FRIDAY 30TH JULY
28 hardcore carp anglers gathered outside the Suffolk Water Park tackle shop at 4:30pm to draw pegs for one of the biggest National prize tournaments in the UK. With a top prize of around £4500 of top sponsor kit and 2nd & 3rd both offering around £1500 each there was a huge bustle of expectation as each anglers drew a number and one by one decided where they would bivvy up for the next 24 hours. Fishing through the night until 3pm the following morning each angler set out their stall to catch the single biggest fish and win the top prize.
At 10am Saturday morning the gates opened to the public. Soggy, rain drenched ground, constantly pelted with a fine mist of rain that didn’t relent until well past lunch across this beautiful 170 acre woodland fishery. Dom Morgan, event co-ordinator for thebigfish.tv said “I watched the rain falling and stood staring at the road, convinced that my best laid plans were about to go down the pan. But, slowly and surely the crowds began to arrive!”
Show visitors were thrilled to be greeted by John Wilson on arrival, offering his trademark laugh as excited fans sidled up to him for photos and signings. Shortly after he was joined by another legend of the sport, Bob Nudd, who toured the site, meeting keen anglers and offering his angling wisdom to a throng of willing ears.
As the day panned out visitors continued to arrive brolly in hand; touring the site, meeting and chatting with Dave Lane, Korda’s Damian Clarke & Adam Penning, Team Nash, Wendy Lythgoe and several other high profile celebrities of the angling community. Swift apologies were offered out to those who came to catch a glimpse of Eastenders’ Scott Maslen who promised he would try his best to get down, but this was not to be as he had already told event organisers his busy work schedule might conspire against his participation… But others were delighted by the surprise addition of Olympic decathlete Dean Macey who made an appearance and posed for a few photos and kindly donated some signed gear to the cause.
As the show developed guests were treated to an amazing aerial falconry display, a high octane Korean martial arts display from ‘Kuk Sool Won’ of Ipswich and a live show from Colchester’s ‘The Rock Project’- a brilliant ‘not for profit’ scheme to get kids involved with music and to help them get set up in bands and shows. This well attended show of Rock sent ‘rock waves’ around the whole site as visitors across the water park were entertained (like it or not, due to the intensity of the audio setup) with the songs of Queen and other Rock greats.
One lucky group of 12 specially selected children had the rare opportunity to participate in the ‘Nash’ kids fishing camp, spending time fishing alongside John Wilson, casting against him to win prizes and learning from the ‘true master’ of specimen fishing. James Morgan (12) of Colchester told us “This was the best day of my life, I got to meet a ‘ledge’, beat him, get my photo taken with him and then he gave me a signed DVD. He was a lovely man and I liked his laugh… the DVD’s going on Ebay and I’m buying Modern warfare 2… Only joking!!!”
The rain finally dropped off at about 3pm and the event management estimated an attendance ofaround 1300-1500 guests. Greg Curtiss of Nash (Co event sponsor) said after the event “Considering the appalling weather it’s unheard of for a first event with no history to pull in such a high calibre of celebrity involvement and the kind of numbers we saw today. We’ve had an amazing time and will definitely be offering Dom our full support for next year’s event and doubling our participation.”
The tournament was won by Suffolk based Angler Jason Smith, with a handsome 24lb 7oz Common- best of the bunch from a particularly stubborn session- who walked away with (wait for it…) ‘Thebigfish.tv’ trophy and hip flask, a week for 2 guided fishing on the River Ebro, Spain courtesy of Carpdreamfishing.com. a top Shilham boilie roller from shilhamrollers.co.uk, a Viper Icon bait boat and fish finder, a Nash bed chair and barrow, a Carpology hamper and other amazing sponsor kit.
2nd and 3rd placed anglers came away with engraved ‘thebigfish.tv’ hip flasks, a French fishing holiday at Crystal waters fishery, and Nash Resorts France, Carpology hampers, bait hampers from our sponsors and signed books from Lee Jackson, Rob Maylin and Bill Cottam. Needless to say all 3 winners were blown away by the calibre of prizes and the 2011 tournament list is filling up fast... even before ‘going public’.
Event organiser Dom (Father of Jodi (12) who tragically passed away on March 4th this year, and the whole reason this event has been set up) expressed his concern with the weather but went on to add "I’m not going to dwell on the weather- what’s done is done. Everyone who attended had a terrific time; we had a few surprise additions- none more so than BBC2 getting in touch a few days ago and presenting me with the opportunity to have the semi final of their new ‘Apprentice’ style show filmed at our event. I’m sort of sworn to secrecy about the whole thing but a couple of film crews rolled up with a big celebrity presenter and it was great to see it all going on. All I can say is that the prime time show is due to be aired in the New Year and we’re in it… and that’s good enough for me!
I started out to set up a small charity fishing event to raise a few hundred pounds for ‘The sick children’s trust’, an amazing charity who helped my family out untold following the tragic death of my daughter earlier in the year, and it all just grew and grew. It looks like once all the money comes in we will have raised in excess of £3000, especially with the addition of a show DVD, which includes interviews, tips and demonstrations from all our celebs on the day. 50% of all proceeds go straight to the charity and the DVD can be bought from the show website www.thebigfish.tv and will be in a few selected stores in time for Dad’s Christmas present list. Nothing like a plug ey! Next years event is already in the early planning stages and my phone’s been ringing off with offers of big support for next years show. It’s planned for August 6th & 7th and we’ll be looking at suitable venues over the forthcoming weeks. What I can promise is that it will probably have the biggest celebrity attendance of any fishing show to date… Watch this space!!!"I
Next year's tournament will probably be a 40 peg match (venue depending) and will be entry by a minimum peg charge of £250 by sponsorship. Anglers need not put in a penny of their own money but will have to put in a bit of leg work to raise as much as possible to secure their peg. As a little extra bonus the angler who raises the most above the £250 minimum peg charge will be rewarded with something awesome- like a NASH S7 or something- before the baits are even cast in! When this goes to print there will probably be around 20 pegs left. A £50 deposit must be paid by January 1st, and in the event of a mass over subscription the pegs will be allocated to the 40 anglers who raise the most peg sponsorship.
There will also be a unique stamina prize challenge, where 50 competitors pay £50 each to win a top bivvy full of everything you will probably need for a lifetime of fishing. The challenge is simple- stand with your hand on the bivvy and the last person standing wins the lot. Sounds easy, go for it then… let’s see how tired you get after 24 hours with no sleep, nothing to eat, no toilet break and only the odd sip of fluid to keep you going. And if you need to leave for the toilet…. You’re out. And be prepared for plenty of temptations to break your will!!!
If you would like to get involved in next years event in any way, either as an event volunteer, exhibitor, or to enter into the big prize tournament or stamina challenge please visit the website or get in touch with Dom Morgan at admin@thebigfish.tv.
Remember- ‘thebigfish.tv’ has been conceived to raise funds for some amazing charities and the organisers look forward to your ongoing support.
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