WINNER OF AYRSTRIKE 2009 – BURNS FISHING COMPETITION NETS £3000 CASH PRIZE

1st Ian Fewtrell	All The Qualifiers

Pictures courtesy of Alister Firth - ( alisterfirthphotography.co.uk )

Ian Fewtrell from Springfield, Wigan has netted the top cash prize of £3,000 in the Final of AYRSTRIKE 2009; the country’s largest national coarse fishing competition. 

Held at Spring Water Fisheries Nr Ayr and with less than ideal weather conditions, Ian won the competition with a total catch made up of Carp, Rudd, Roach and Perch weighing in a 3210kg.  Ian, who lost a Tench in the third hour, feared this might cost him the victory, but continued to reel in the skimmers and a final weigh-in of 320kg secured his claim to the title of AYRSTRIKE Champion 2009. 

With low fish weights, the hourly weigh-ins ensured that the competition maintained its excitement with many of the positions ‘neck and neck’ right up to the finish. 

Last year’s AYRSTRIKE winner, David McAuley from Motherwell claimed second place, winning a cash prize of £100 with a total catch of 2300kg, closely followed in third position with a total weigh-in of 1930kg by Derek Brady from Glasgow who collected a cash prize of £60. 

Held in conjunction with this year’s Burns An’A’That! Festival and supported by Fish Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Coarse Angling, more than 200 anglers took part in the 16 week qualifier rounds held at fisheries all over Scotland; with just 16 competitors going through to the Final on Sunday (May 24^th).  Gus Brindle, President of The Scottish Federation of Coarse Angling said “The competition has received a huge amount of interest and support and special thanks go to Daiwa Sports UK who kindly provided caps and goodie bags worth £100 for all of the finalists”.   

The Peg Draw was held on Saturday (May 23^rd) at the Festival Club in Ayr’s Wellington Square and Festival producer and sports commentator, Liz Hobbs MBE said “Now in it’s second year, AYRSTRIKE 2009 has been a huge success, we’re delighted with the feedback from anglers who have entered this year’s competition and we’re looking forward to organizing a bigger and better AYRSTRIKE 2010”. 

The Burns an’a’That! Festival is supported by funding partners, Scottish Enterprise, South Ayrshire Council, EventScotland and VisitScotland.  Burns Festival Director, Michael McDaid said “2009 marks the year of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations and the AYRSTRIKE Fishing competition offers a unique opportunity to promote the competitive sport of coarse angling in Scotland to a wider audience and ultimately, encourage more into the sport from outside the country”.

Master Results Board:

Burns an’ a’ that! Festival was established in 2002.  The festival is managed by the Burns Festival Company, with the board of directors representing the principle funding partners, South Ayrshire Council, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, Visit Scotland and Event Scotland and including the Robert Burns World Federation who sit on the board in an advisory capacity.

Website address:  www.burnsfestival.com