Seventeen year old, Sam Prosser from Mitcheldean has won the Angling Trust under 18 Championship in tremendous style beating a field of 132 of the best young anglers in the country.

The event took place at the prolific Tunnel Barn Farm fishery in Warwickshire, where the top 22 teams of six competed for honours. His team – Matrix Tameside/Bait Tech are a collection of up and coming anglers from various parts of the country, and Sam demonstrated his cool head to overcome all the opposition.

It was a good weekend all round for local anglers, with England international, Sam Hughes from Berry Hill, picking up a team bronze medal in the Intermediates, and young George Organ from Highnam, also representing another Tameside team, putting in an assured performance from a difficult section.

Sam went into the four hour match with the plan of fishing his favoured paste style, but after just ten minutes he realised it was not working, so without panicking he made a change to fishing his pole at a length of 16metres (52.5feet!) This quickly paid off, and he didn't look back, taking a string of carp just six inches under the surface. In fact his 34kilo (75pound) winning weight was outstanding considering the anglers either side of him managed just 8 and 13 kilos respectively. His win was even more remarkable when you consider that the next 5 places were all on a different lake!

For the full story please see this week's Ross Gazette.