Four-time world champion angler Bob Nudd MBE cruises into final of Mere Masters event in Diss

A four-time angling world champion has netted a spot in the final of the Diss and District Angling Club’s Mere Masters competition.

Bob Nudd MBE, who won the World Freshwater Angling Championship in 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1999, topped Sunday's semi-final match, featuring 14 runners with a weight 33lb 12oz – even finding time to chat to fans passing by.

His nearest challenger was Billy Hughes, who bagged a 26lb 13oz haul. The seven highest finishers will take their place in the final on May 23.

Organiser Ben Wilby, 37, said: “I started the competition in 2019, when it was just one match. Last year, we didn’t do it due to Covid but we decided to run it this year with a twist.

“We are having two semi-finals of 14 anglers with the top seven from each group going through to the final.

“Bob had previously fished the Mere a few weeks back and he fishes the River Yare in the summer, alongside some of the Diss members.

“After chatting to them, he decided to come and give it a go.

“He has done two live Facebook posts about fishing on the Mere, which has been great exposure for the club.”

The event, which cost £15 to enter, is sponsored by Brewhouse Baits and will pay out prize money to the top anglers in the final.

Seventy-six-year-old Mr Nudd (pictured) represented the England team at international level for more than 24 years, becoming one of the best-known anglers in the world.

The highlight of his professional career was victory in front of a home crowd at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, in 1994.

In 1991, he received the most votes in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award but was denied victory by the BBC, which ruled that a campaign to vote for him in the Angling Times was against competition rules.

He has an MBE for services to fishing.