THE first Wessex Open held at West Bexington, which was organised by members of the local NFSA Division, proved a resounding success with 68 competitors entering the pegged and zoned event.

Sponsored by Zizzplex and Sea Angling News, the action was also pretty brisk with Colin Richards winning the A section with a 34lb 8oz bag of dogfish and pouting.

Malcolm Stote from Lymington won B section with a 36lb 6oz haul of whiting, poor cod, pout and dogfish. Both anglers received a top-of-the-range Zizzplex blanket along with £100 zone winnings and overall cash prizes.

Reg Clough from East Woodyates bagged a 1lb 8.50oz sole, which was the heaviest round fish, while Steve Cousins won with a 3lb 3oz codling. The top seven anglers in each of the two sections collected a cash prize.

The match was a trial run for the new Wessex Division NFSA Open series which start during February.

All the matches, which will be pegged and zoned, will also be Penn Points fixtures with some matches also doubling up as SAMF qualifiers.

Major sponsorship from Zizzplex has already beenagreed. There will also be sponsorship from Julian Shambrook and Game On Fishing Tackle.

Full results - A Zone: 1 Colin Richards 34lb 8oz, 2 Josh Simmonds 27lb 6oz, 3 Adam Kirby 18lb 11oz, 4 Roy Tapper 15lb 2oz, 5 Ant Buick 14lb 2oz, 6 Keith Prowse 12lb 4oz, 7 Bret Colborn 13lb 3oz. B Zone: 1 Malcolm Stote 36lb 6oz, 2 Rob Marshall 29lb 10oz, 3 Eddie Painter 27lb 10oz, 4 Darren Phillips 27lb 9oz, 5 Joe Arch 23lb 12oz, 6 Jack Seviour 19lb 15oz, 7 Dave Lane 19lb 8oz.

lThe final match in the current Sammy's Southern League, held at Magazine Lane, produced some good bags of fish.

Ian Dancey & Mick Goodger came out as joint winners with catches of 5lb 13oz.

John Brown was third with 5lb 8oz, closely followed by Dave Edwards and Ian Golds with 5lb 7oz & 5lb 1oz respectively.

England international Mike Delaney from Fareham won the series with 131 points, narrowly beating John Brown and Dave Edwards both with 129 points, and then Paul Goodhew with 127 points.

A new six match series gets under way on January 9 at Stokes Bay.

Contact John Williams for full details on 023 8039 8639.