by Alan Yates

Deal angler Saul Page won the British Sea Angling Championships fished on home water on Sunday.

He landed 20 fish from peg 20 in Sandwich Bay to clinch the £1,000 first prize, beating two-time winner Martyn Reid of Folkestone, with Kevin Daly of Bristol third.

It capped a great weekend for Page who won an individual event in Belgium the previous day.

More than 200 anglers took part in the event, fished at Deal, Walmer and Sandown but it suffered from the summer-like conditions with clearing water sending the fish to the deeps as the anglers arrived.

Many blanked with a shoal of dabs that turned up in the morning providing most of the action at the Sandwich Bay end which also produced most of the prize winners.

There were also scattered dogfish which proved a bonus catch and they mostly came from the patches of rough ground at Sandown and Walmer.

Saul landed 20 fish weighing 4.340kg including a bonus dogfish, four whiting and 15 dabs, fishing white ragworm at long range.

Runner-up Reid fished at Sandown over a patch of rough ground to land five dogfish for 3.600kg, he hooked three on his first two casts and then had to wait until the last hour for the other two.

Daly finished with 2.440kg, just ahead of another Deal angler Kevin Scott who landed 15 fish on mackerel tipped lugworm from peg 30 for 2.300kg.

The £1,000 prize for the biggest fish went to Leigh Chapman of Canterbury with a 1.230kg bass, landed on his last cast. He had been fishing for bass with a slider all day fished in close but did not use it on his last cast and caught the bass at range.

Deal pair Davis Morris and Shelley Bassett won the junior and ladies championships, while team winners were North Wales and Deal including Alan Price, Mick Davies, Pete Corker and Alun Blythin.