A FISHING contest for women was the big innovation at the Worcester Regatta of 1903, according to "Crowquill" in his Journal jottings for this week a century ago.

"The regatta was favoured with glorious weather, and among the attractions was an angling competition confined to the fair sex.

"Measures had been adopted which ought to have ensured a great 'take' of fish. After 11 o'clock the previous night, a big bag of grain was drawn by strong arms along the bank, the contents being showered into the stream.

"Sanguinely it was said 'That ought to fetch 'em!' Perhaps it did, but it didn't keep them. Seventeen hours later, 17 ladies took their allotted places by Sabrina's brink and, with stern intent, began their work. They plied their art with all the patience of their sex, the sun shining hotly upon them, and too brightly on the flow, but the fish were not taking any.

"There was intense hope for a while, then despairing effort, and it seemed almost certain that not a single capture would reward the perseverance of any one of the 17.

"But just on the call of time, after all the Worcester wiles and wishes had been disappointed, there was a great shout from the bank. A lady from London had lured a fish and landed it. The catch was a little wriggling eel which was borne in triumph from the spot in the sight of an admiring crowd, and the captor was proclaimed the winner.

"Scales and weights had been provided for the possibility of a keen competition."