A TREMENDOUS 56lb 9oz haul of quality roach rewarded Hardy and Grays Tackle consultant Dave Coster with a clear win at the first Ridley Angling Products Gloucester Park Open.

In a stunning exhibition he netted roach averaging more than six ounces each at a rate of one every two and a half minutes throughout the entire match.

Coster, who walked off last, fished a peg close to the incoming sluice. Caster baits presented on a size 20 hook and 1.5lb line saw him catching steadily from the start at seven metres.

At the beginning Coster found the fish high in the water, but as the sun became stronger he had to fish deeper to keep the bites coming.

For several hours he presented his baits hard on the bottom to tempt the better specimens but in the later part of the match the fish moved back up in the water.

By the end of the match Coster had landed almost a 150 big roach, and was still getting a bite every put-in.

Quivertip specialist John Musson took second place after weighing in seven carp for 51lb 2oz.

Musson fished halfway along the cockle bank where he hooked his first carp within 15 minutes of the start.

Alternating between maggot and luncheon meat baits cast tight to the island, he took fish at intervals throughout the match.

Third-place man Stan Howard also fished the cockle bank, where he weighed in a 28lb 3oz 8dr mixed haul. Lake regular Howard fished a quivertip and maggot baits to net more than 20lb of quality bream, a carp, and three roach.

After the elimination of the major winners, Del Smee claimed the pools monies in section A with three carp for 17lb 7oz from the cockle bank.

Despite a blank couple of hours in the middle of the match, Paul Goodwin took the section B prize with a cracking 21lb 14oz 8dr roach haul from the incoming canal.

Had there been a prize for style and presentation it would have gone to Olympic hopeful Mark Henry, who, much to the amusement of fellow competitors, executed a faultless back flip into the freezing lake soon after his first cast!