Andy Bennett finished in 1st place after a rewarding day of fishing at the Partridge Lakes open match on Tuesday, 22 October in Warrington.

Andy Bennett, 34, came out on top in a tight match at the fishery. After he spent the day fishing on peg 154, he caught a total of 27 fish, which collectively weighed 83lb and 12oz.

He was closely followed by Paul Jones in second place on peg 130. Paul finished narrowly behind Andy, with a total weight of 82lb and 12oz.

In third place, on peg 115, was Steve Millward. Steve ended the day with a total weight of 73lb and 5oz.

The Englishman fished throughout the contest confidently. He explained how the frequent use of maggots contributed to his success in the open match. He said, “Maggots have probably been my best bait today, probably because it’s fishing hard.

Andy fishing in the Partridge Lakes open match.

A bit of movement from the maggots, rather than a still bait like pellets, is probably making an odd extra bite.”

After the match, Andy explained how the weather made the days fishing challenging, especially towards the end of the match. He said, “The last hour went a little bit funny. I think that’s due to the conditions; it went a little bit warmer.

Andy in action at Partridge Lakes.

I think the fish had come up off the bottom, I didn’t have a rig set-up for that, so I made a little bit of an error, but I ended up getting away with it.”

Andy managed to endure the difficulties presented by the weather and prevail to eventually win the match. He said, “I ended up with 83lb and 12oz, which was enough to win the match.”

Andy with a capture from the match.

The 34-year-old has already had a very fruitful start to 2019. Earlier this year, he won the Fish’O’Mania Grand Final, an accolade which comes with a staggering £50,000 cash prize.

In his Fish’O’Mania debut, he secured the win in the concluding minutes of the match. He managed to net a decisive catch in the final moments to hold off Simon Skelton.

With a total of 15 lakes and 394 pegs on site, Partridge Lakes hosts an array of open matches available to all ages and abilities. Their next available match for entry is on Thursday, 24 October.

Watch the full post-match interview with Andy Bennett below, and follow @merseysportlive for your latest sporting updates.