Boat section winner Mark Lempriere with his 12-3-15 bass. (0635852)

MORE than 50 awards, with a combined value in excess of £5,000, were given out at the presentation evening of the GBASS Open Festival held at the Wayside Cheer Hotel.

On behalf of the society Brian Montgomery was able to reflect on a very satisfactory competition. The 227 anglers who entered were 41 up on 2007 and the highest since 1999.

This year saw a number of innovations, not least the introduction of a kayak/dinghy section, which attracted 30 entrants and was won by visitor Wayne McCully with a 7-7-14 bass.

The success of the festival was largely due to the hard work done by the committee who were thanked for their efforts. Words of appreciation were expressed to the numerous sponsors who had supported the event.

The main sponsor was Boatworks+ and on its behalf Ben Mahy thanked the society for all their efforts and looked forward to co-operating with them to ensure an even bigger and better festival next year.