This is an account by photo/journalist Chris Ponsford on a fantastic day he had in the company of Lee Edwards, who is a Preston Innovations and Sonubaits Consultant and new Wye Champion with an incredible record weight of 316lb in five hours, on a low, clear, and cold river.
Not only that, Lee was third in this years World Champs in Hungary, missing out on silver by just half an ounce, with Team Wales grabbing fourth spot.
As a Korum Consultant myself, and ex match angler a few years back, it is always a privilege for someone like me to do a day with a world class angler, on this occasion for the Anglers Mail, on an action replay feature, showing how Lee blitzed the big field in the prestigious Wye Championships a week before.
Lee, 32yrs old, and married with two young children, lives near Caerphilly in Wales, well away from the much larger English match fishing scene, so travelling to matches 100 miles away is a regular thing, his “local” Wye is more than 50 miles.
Working as a self employed Carpenter does allow some time off, but no work equals no pay, however his success rate in matches is phenomenal, holding match records on several venues, including commercial fisheries, where he is a man to be feared.
It is my belief, that in Lee, I witnessed a probable future World Champ, as he is a natural talent, catching fish with incredible speed and smoothness.
That is the secret of great sportsman, they just make it look so easy, so much so that when lesser mortals like me try it, imitating, but sadly falling well short of the standard.
We met in Woodies Angling Centre, Hereford, boss, Paul Woodward, is a mine of information, and the previous Wye record holder, with 175lbs from a peg close to where Lee was at Breinton, and a good mate.
A few photos, and a couple of brews of tea, and we were on our way down to the river.
Like most top class anglers, Lee is well equipped, as you would expect with Prestons Innovations sponsorship, unloading a massive portable platform as well, which his Onbox system would sit on out in the river, as it was quite a shallow peg on the inside, this was all loaded onto a portable wheelbarrow to make the journey easier.
Rods were carried in a hard case, for safety, and bait and nets in another bag.
The winning peg was a fair walk, and pneumatic wheels would have made pushing easier, as the ground was quite uneven and stony, something us specimen anglers like me have on our Carp barrows.
He decided to fish a peg one up from his Wye winning peg, reasoning it had probably been hammered in between, and the fish might have moved up, as the peg below that was very shallow.
Clambering down the steep bank, his first job was setting up the huge platform, which had long legs, to allow for the depth of the water. Donning neoprene chest waders, under his Drifish bib and brace because it was cold, and he had been suffering with a chest infection ,he also put on his fleece jacket and neck warmer, the wind blowing hard downstream, from a cold north westerly direction ,hardly ideal, but he was confidant the Chub would feed.
He had brought 5 pints of casters, one pint of red maggots, and five of hemp, telling me Caster was always his preference on a clear river.
Setting up two waggler rods both, Sentient 13ft power models, matched with Diawa 2508 TDR reels, loaded with Korum 4lb mono, and 3AAA thick topped wagglers, he was soon ready for action.
Not bothering to plumb the depth, as he already had a good idea, he made himself comfortable on top of his platform, everything to hand, including spare floats, shot, hooks.
Starting of, by feeding half a dozen pouches of hemp and caster by catapult, he soon got into his stride, but despite making regular adjustments on depth and shot, no bites were forthcoming.
Half an hour in, he told me they were there, as he was starting to get indications on his float that fish were on the loose feed, sure enough the float slid under, and chub no 1 was on its way to the net.
No ordinary shoalie possibly 5lbs. What a cracking start.
After that, he caught steadily throughout, with the odd quiet spell, using three red maggots on a size 14 PR28 barbless hook mainly, or as a change, double caster.
The speed with which he played the fish out of the shoal, and his smooth unhurried style was incredible, the rod and reel spot on for the job, and it was a privilege to watch a master angler at work.
The stamp of fish was much larger than he caught on the championship, three to four pounds average, with the odd five pounder.
As the light dropped, it was time to take a few catch shot pictures, which presented difficulties as he had caught another big weight, so with great big chub jumping out of the landing nets as he held the, I fired off a few quick shots in the fading light.
We got on great, and the feature came out really well, me being very pleased with the photography, and Lee producing the goods on a tough, cold day, with heavy downstream wind.
A top flight angler in every sense, and a credit to the sport and sponsors, and a really friendly approachable fellow.
Top man.