Des Shipp is the first ever angler to win the coveted £25,000 Parkdean Masters title twice!
The Preston Innovations, Sonubaits and England international fended off fierce opposition to take the trophy back to his Bristol home. With water levels low, fishery manager Clint Elliott made the brave decision to peg the entire match on the far bank of Jennys Lake at the Cornish carp Mecca at White Acres. This turned out to be a great decision as plenty of fish were still caught and with anglers all in a row from Peg 0 to Peg 23 the spectators were treated to a great fish-catching display.
The Preston Innovations, Sonubaits and England international fended off fierce opposition to take the trophy back to his Bristol home. With water levels low, fishery manager Clint Elliott made the brave decision to peg the entire match on the far bank of Jennys Lake at the Cornish carp Mecca at White Acres. This turned out to be a great decision as plenty of fish were still caught and with anglers all in a row from Peg 0 to Peg 23 the spectators were treated to a great fish-catching display.
No one knew exactly where the fish would settle on the day. The hot pegs from 15 to 18 were highly fancied, as were pegs 4 to 9 which offered open water to fish to but with no gaps the end pegs always had the potential to cause an upset. Some thought the writing was already on the wall when Andy Geldart (Garbolino), fresh from winning the Preston Innovations Festival the week before, pulled out Peg 15 but this area was nowhere near as consistent as the lower numbers on the day.
It was Lee Edwards on Peg 4 and Des Shipp on Peg 5 that made the biggest impression at the start. After a few F1s on the feeder the two Preston Innovations-backed aces soon started to connect with quality carp from 2lb to 10lb on the pole line. Both were fishing chopped worm and casters up and down in the water - Lee at 16 metres and Des at 14.5 metres and it was nip and tuck for the first 90 minutes before Des started to slowly pull away. Meanwhile Paul Holland (Preston Innovations) on Peg 9 had started well on the tip. He was swapping between a Method and a Banjo feeder and was having some success with F1s towards the island plus the odd better carp.
It wasn't until the two-hour mark that people also started to pay a bit more close attention to Paul Yates (Drennan) on the adjacent Peg 8. He had been quietly catching an F1 from 12oz to 1lb almost every single cast on the pellet Method feeder cast into open water and was getting bites within a minute of his feeder hitting the water.
The next two hours were fiercely battled between these four anglers but it was either Paul 'Yani' Yates or Des Shipp that everyone's final money was on. After the four hours were up it was too close to call. Des had started strongly with proper carp but the last hour was slow and he was conservatively estimating a 60lb-plus catch. Yani, on the other hand, had caught smaller fish all day and was admitting to 60 to 80 fish for between 70lb to 80lb.
Starting at end Peg 23, the weigh in was a tense affair but it was only Paul Holland's 56lb 15oz effort that looked anywhere near close enough to the two favourites. Paul Yates was next up and his two weighs totalled a very impressive 79lb exactly. As the scales continued along, Clint keep the tension up by weighing in everyone else except Des! Being the last to weigh was nail-biting for the crowd, journalists and TV cameras but three weighs later and a total of 87lb 8oz said it all. Des Shipp was the first man ever to win the Parkdean Masters trophy twice!
It was an enviable feat and he earned a massive round of applause for his awesome consistency in big matches before dive-bombing into the lake with an almighty splash! With such an awesome reputation, who would now bet against Des winning it an unprecedented third time?
Result
- 1st Des Shipp (Preston Innovations) 87-8-0 (Peg 5)
- 2nd Paul Yates (Drennan) 79-0-0 (Peg 8)
- 3rd Paul Holland (Preston Innovations) 56-15-0 (Peg 9)
- 4th Lee Edwards (Preston Innovations) 48-13-0 (Peg 4)
- 5th Tommy Hiller (Daiwa) 37-13-0 (Peg 0)
Check out the exclusive pictures in the image gallery below!
