FROM 2004 TO 2008
2004: HARVEY’S GREAT YEAR, AS JOE ARCH WINS LEAGUE
Multiple wins and the greatest final.
Tension, lots of species and the closest finish ever made the fifth Penn Final a great occasion. The drama at Dover Breakwater in Kent unfolded between two northern anglers, Alec Harvey and Neville Charlesworth.
For the first time, the final was opened up to the top 40 from the previous year’s league. This time Alec, from Cramlington, needed his vast experience as an England international to hold off the challenge of Neville, an England shore squad member, from Withernsea.
Fishing at peg 49, he used ragworm baits tipped with either crab or white rag. Fishing the outside of the wall, he caught four dogfish and a smoothhound in the first two hours. A switch inside resulted in 10 pouting, three dogfish and a plaice.
Alec felt he had wasted three or four casts trying to catch a smoothhound on the outside in the middle of the match, while Nev started to catch inside, so he had to switch to the same to stop him taking the lead.
With half-an-hour to go, Alec had a 100cm advantage, but Neville, who had 23 fish, caught two more for 64cm, so the last 15 minutes would be crucial. Both failed to catch and Alec won by 19cm, less than one sizeable fish.
The annual league continued the Welsh dominance, this time the top spot going to former world shore champ Joe Arch, from Cardiff. He led the league almost all year as he amassed 98 Penn points from 16 matches in South Wales, the South Coast and Essex.
Second place went to the year’s Penn Final winner Alec Harvey, thanks to picking up 86 points from only eight events, with 2003 champ Shane Russell sharing third with Chris Stringer, from Whitley Bay, who both scored 77 points from 12 events.