A great day at Hadlow On Tuesday for the F4 Schools Open day match

A great day was had at Hadlow on Tuesday 15th September for the Fishing 4 Schools Open day match. Pupils from five Kent schools fished for the "Fishing 4 Schools Kent Shield."

Originally we planned to allow four schools to compete on the day, but because of the high demand we allowed five. The schools that entered were Bower Grove and Maplesden Noakes from Maidstone, Meadowfield from Sittingbourne, Thamesview from Gravesend and Rowhill from Dartford .

The rules were that it was a whip (telescopic pole) only match fished over two hours with a lunch break in the middle. Each school was allowed four team members with two anglers being able to fish at one time. The concentration and patience shown was a sight to see, although the fishing was not easy.

The pupils from each school stuck to the task and were rewarded with some nice Roach and Perch; because of the whip only rule the competitors were fishing for silver fish rather than the big Carp that reside over the venue.

At the final whistle there was an anxious wait from all of the teams to find out who had weighed-in the highest weight of fish.

As the final team, Maplesden Noakes, was weighed in it was apparent that they had pipped Rowhill school by an ounce to win the competition.

On the day the pupils gained valuable experience on how a fishing match works and were all a credit to the schools they represented.

There were no losers on the day - only winners.