ROSS-on-Wye angler Hadrian Whittle proved the master caster once again as he netted his fourth River Wye 3-Day Festival crown in Hereford.

The bleak catching machine took 139lb 8oz to the scales to top the aggregate weight rankings by just under 6lb from Rory Jones.

Targetting the small white bait-like fish which were present in huge shoals, he amassed match-winning totals through skill, concentration and endurance, incredibly catching 1,440 fish on one day.

And he also landed the Ray South Memorial Team trophy with Martin Challenger and Nigel Garrett.

The festival is decided on a points basis, and professional angler Whittle enjoyed two section wins and a second place to lead the board with a total of four points from Jones with five.

Sixty anglers lined the Belmont and Tennis Courts sections hoping to lift the coverted title, on a river swollen with recent rain.

Despite the high levels there were some surprisingly good weights caught on Day 1 with bleak featuring highly in the top weights, and Whittle taking a top weight 42lb 4oz to the scales from a peg close to the rowing club.

By the start of Day 2 the river had dropped to around 2.2m which meant that some pegs fished considerably better than on Day 1.

The winner on the second day was festival organiser Dave Roberts who put together a mixed bag of dace, roach and perch to weigh in 64lb 3oz from a peg towards the end of the Tennis Courts.

The final day started with the river running at just under 1.8m and a day of bumper catches was expected.

The river did not disappoint with Day 3 winner Scott Geens taking 75lb 0oz mixed bag of silvers to the scales from the same peg that won Day 2.

Hadrian, 51, said after his fourth win in the festival: “I’d much rather catch bigger fish generally but with conditions less than ideal I knew the safest bet was get my head down and target the small fish.

It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time perfecting, and catching sometimes six fish per minute, is actually quite draining.”

The Ray South Memorial Trophy honours a regular and popular competitor in the festival over the years who passed away in 2020.

Each team of three is the result of a random draw with the winning team decided by the aggregate weight of the anglers over the three days. It is always worth sticking at it as those few ounces may make all the difference to the team.

Hadrian and his team-mates landed a combined 311lb 4oz to finish almost 3lb ahead of the second placed team.

Event organiser Dave Roberts said: “We’ve had the best anglers in the country here this week, but it’s nice that the title has gone to a local angler.

“Hadrian is a tremendous angler, and is regarded as the best in the business at catching big weights of small fish. A worthy champion. This competition is the hottest ticket in river angling.

“Some people have had to wait years to get an opportunity to fish. We have already started planning for 2023 and are going to make it bigger and better.”

For results, see hdaa.org.uk.