Van Den Eynde River Wye Winter League Round 7 01/02/26 - Hereford & District Angling Association

Monday February 2nd 2026.

Yesterday saw the final round of the 2025/2026 Van den Eynde River Wye Winter League take place on the match length at Belmont and Tennis Courts sections.Following bank topping levels earlier inthe week, the river was dropping nicely but rain in Wales on Friday and Saturday pushed the level back up to peak at 2.15m in the early hours of Sunday morniing. By the start of the match the level had dropped to around 2m at Old Wye Bridge. With the air temperature around 6C, a grey drizzly day forecast and some colour in the water it was likley that the fish would be more spreadout throughout the match length with barbel, roach, dace perch and chub the likely quarry. With the river at this height the feeder was likely to be the method of choice with meat on the hook particularly on the known barbel pegs.

With Woodys already securing the league title after the last round there was still a battle to be won for a top 4 place with several teams in contention. In addition would Woodys be able to finish on a perfect points score after winning the previous 5 rounds? It was all down to the set of pegs drawn. Considering the conditions the match fished very well again with some tight section weights and fish spread throughout the match length, Nearly all anglers in “A ” section caught fish and there were Wionly 3 other dry nets. Individual winner on the day was Tom Boulton (Wizards) who was on peg 95 under the bridge. He weighed in 47lb 8oz of chub. Runner up was league newcomer Gary Clarke (H&DAA) who caught 44lb 4oz of perch from peg 54. Third place went to Andy Neal (Woody Bait Tech) with 41lb 8oz from peg 92 closely followed by Scott Geens (Woodys) with 41lb 7oz from peg 59.

On the team front Woodys failed to win the match, being pushed into joint 2nd place with Cotswolds by Cadence Bait-Tech who scored 53 points, 3 points more than Woodys and Cotswolds ensuring they had a top four finish in the league. Despite not managing a perfect 12 points in the final round, Woodys consolidated their lead at the top of the league finishing on 71 points. Wizards finished 2nd on 54 points with Cotswolds finishing 3rd thanks to 2 second place finishes in the final two rounds.

This year saw the Winning Team presented with the fabulous Denzil Thorpe Trophy, which was kindly donated by Pete Sturmey, a fitting and lasting tribute to someone who was a big part of the League until his untimely death. The Milo Trophy was also awarded to the angler who had scored most points in the league. This year it was presented to Dave Roberts (Woodys) who scored a total of 64 points across the 6 matches. Thanks must also go to sponsers Van den Eynde who will hopefully enjoy a long association with the league in the years to come. Thanks also to Dave Roberts and his team of helpers who make these matches run so smoothly and to Hereford Rugby Football Club for hosting the matches and providing the catering. All in all. another great series of matches with some fantastic catches. We look forward to the next series starting in October. Full results below :