Fishing tackle companies, Game Fishing Supplies and Hardy & Greys teamed together to support and raise money for Grace House North East Children’s Hospice Appeal in the form of a celebrity charity fishing competition with the chance to fish with one of many celebrities. 

The event took place on Thursday 18th June at Sweethope Lough in Northumberland

The day was attended by 32 anglers, including 6 well known celebrities, namely

• Jamie Noon
• Raphael Ibanez
• Richard Hill 
• Sean Wilson    
• Jason Oakes
• Dean Andrews

L to R - Sean Wilson, Dean Andrews, Richard Hill, Jamie Noon, Jason Oakes, Raphael Ibanez

Although the weather was unkind, the anglers still managed to catch and release 75 trout, with many more hard fighting fish being lost before being landed.  This was a catch and release competition and all fish caught were carefully measured before being returned to the water.  The winner was the angler with the longest overall length of fish on the day

The final positions on the day, with the top 3 receiving Hardy and Greys tackle vouchers, were

Pos	Name	Fish	Length	Prize
1	William Riddicks	8	3580mm	£1000 voucher
2	Gary Haggart	5	2200mm	£700 voucher
3	Marc Moss	5	2190mm	£300 voucher
4	Richard Landsbury	4	2170mm
5	John Anderson	3	1410mm
6	Rob Clarke	3	1380mm
7	Rob Frame	3	1330mm
8	Bill Ritson	3	1230mm
9	Alec Bowler	3	1225mm
10	Richard Wood	2	987mm
11	Gordon Thompson	2	985mm
12	Patricia MacDonald	2	940mm
13	Stuart McCormick	2	930mm
14	Ben Thompson	2	900mm
15	Gary Clewes	2	770mm
16	Paul Smith	1	469mm
17	Jim Twaddle	1	450mm
17	Kevin Moss	1	450mm
19	Fred James	1	440mm
20	Colin Ellison	1	430mm
21	Stewart Cameron	0
21	Mark Lisgos	0
21	Ken Smith	0

The celebrities results were

Pos	Name	Fish	Length	Prize
1	Sean Wilson	6	2921mm	N/A
2	Dean Andrews	2	690mm	N/A
3	Raphael Ibanez	2	820mm	N/A
4	Jamie Noon	2	750mm	N/A
5	Richard Hill	1	350mm	N/A
6	Jason Oakes	0		N/A

In addition, prizes were awarded to the 3 anglers who collected the most in donations.  The winners of the Game Fishing Supplies vochers were

Pos	Name	Prize
1	Gary Haggart	£1000 voucher
2	Gary Clewes	£700 voucher
3	Paul Smith	£300 voucher

The day was a huge success for the charity.  Dean Andrews, Det Sgt Ray Carling in Ashes to Ashes, said 'It was a fantastic day and I was surrounded by lovely people in beautiful surroundings. It was all in aid of a very worthy cause and you can book my place for next year because I’ll be back!'

England rugby player, Jamie Noon, enjoyed his day saying 'It was a great day and everyone had a brilliant time even those who came away without any fish. But most importantly we managed to raise a good amount of money for the kids who need it most. I'm looking forward to next year’s event already'

Richard Hill, former England and Saracens rugby player, added 'I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to entertain my enjoyment of fishing and raising money for the only childrens hospice in the North East of England. The day was thoroughly efficient and well run. All we had to do was go out and catch the fish!' 

A huge thanks must go to everyone involved in the event, the anglers, the celebrities, Viscount Devonport, Rob Tait and chefs at Sweethope (the food was out of this world!) and to Vicky Bell (Game Fishing Supplies), Lucy Bowden (Hardy and Greys) and Karen Larkin (grace House) for their help in organising the event

A special thank you must got to Richard Hewitt and the team at Fish & Fly who have been a huge supporter of this event.  Fish and Fly kindly allowed us to use the Fly Fishing Forum to auction off a number of fishing and sporting items and through these auctions, over £3000 of the total was raised with the support of the admin team and the generosity of the members.  The support given by Fly Fishing Forum and Fish and Fly was phenomenal and with out this support we would not have been able to raise such a large amount

Althought the final figure has not yet been calculated the total amount raised from this event and the auctions held prior to it, has now exceeded

£6000!!

The event will be held again in 2010 with Sean Wilson, Dean Andrews and Jamie Noon already having put their names down to fish

Next years Fishing With The Stars date will be announced shortly so watch this space!  If you wish to reserve a place in advance please contact vicky@ian-woods.co.uk. 50% of places are already reserved for 2010 so get in quick!!