We recently caught up with last year’s Drennan Cup 2011/12 Winner, Simon Lavin (seen here with a 7lb 2oz Chub from earlier in the Winter) to ask him how his fishing has been since visiting Drennan HQ last April to lift the trophy.

“Immediately following the conclusion of the 2011 – 2012 river season, I moved onto an intimate little gravel pit containing a handful of wily old carp. It was my intention to spend all of my available time, up to the onset of winter, on this water and for once things went to plan. The water proved to be nice and quiet and while the carp were “not that big” the fishing was really enjoyable. It was nice to be pitting my wits against the fish, and not against other anglers as is often the case nowadays. The water is “totally off of the radar” and has a strict publicity ban, so that is about as much as I can say about that part of my season!

Early January saw my return to a club owned stretch of a Thames tributary in search of a known, really handsome, 8lb plus chub. The stretch in question has a reputation for being very difficult and conditions were generally pretty poor. The river seemed to be constantly in and out of flood, often carrying loads of chocolate brown, freezing cold water, and despite doing a fair bit of time I struggled for bites. I was however fortunate enough to catch a chub of 7lb 2oz fairly early on in the campaign.

As for the really handsome 8lb plus chub I set out to catch, well as far as I am aware, it has not been caught for two full seasons and I am starting to question whether it is still there!”