Anglers line up on Sheerness beach for the Kent Classic Picture: Mike Smith

by Luke Cawdell

The Kent Classic produced one of the closest finishes in recent years – with a single bass clinching the honours.

Suffolk angler Dave Read walked away with a cheque for £1,076 after landing the 1.25kg single specimen off the Sheerness coast.

Last year, winner Lewis Clark, landed 35 fish and 6.355kg to take the title but it needed a more patient approach this time.

Sunday’s calm weather followed the previous day’s gales and it led to challenging conditions for the 400-plus competitors.

Previous Classic winner and 2008 runner-up Alan Jeffrey said: "We wanted the weather to be dirty like it was on Saturday. When it’s like that they spread out more, there are more species around and there is more to catch.

"I caught 20 fish but only managed to get two in the bucket. It ended up being very close with any of the top 20 in with a chance of winning. They just needed one or two extra fish."

The anglers were competing for a £10,000 cash and prize payout in the competition organised by the Sheerness Steel Sea Angling Club.

Only 83 anglers managed to bring fish to the scales. The top local angler was Queenborough’s Lee Wells, who finished seventh with a single 0.825kg sole – the heaviest flat fish of the day.

Minster’s Dave Hough came 10th and fellow islander Jeffrey, who last year landed 23 fish, finished 13th.

Results: 1 Dave Read 1.250kg; 2 Mark Hurcombe 1.165kg; 3 Tony Newell 1.140kg; 4 Gary Hutson 0.975kg; 5 Mark Harris 0.900kg; 6 James Silk 0.865kg; 7 Lee Wells 0.825kg; 8 Steven Harvey 0.770kg; 9 Paul Kearney 0.670kg; 10 Dave Hough 0.640kg.