Bacton Sunday 14th October 2012 – H. Mack Cup & Teams of 5
Our third attempt to fish Bacton looked in serious doubt as forecast after forecast gave increasing North Westerlies and surf reports giving swell height increasing to well over 5 feet as the day progressed. To add to this a heap of snow although probably hail on the bend approaching Mundesley made everyone even more apprehensive about our prospects to fish at all let alone Bacton. As the usual early risers started to arrive at our Castaways access point the slowly ebbing tide had some surf on it but the wind was relatively light and the sea had a perfect colour. This soon persuaded the diehards that this time we were going to fish Bacton. The usual stretch between pipes 1 & 2 was soon pegged by “young” Henry and TT who found that the surf was nowhere as daunting as observed from the cliff at Castaways. Again we must thank Anna and Richard for allowing us to use their facilities.
With plenty of flat sand it was yet another opportunity for the trolley brigade to get into action. This time they were joined as predicted by Paul (T) who had succumbed to the temptation with a motorised version although he still has to crack the big wheels but the standard version seemed to work well. With a few late arrivals it was a rush for some to make it to their pegs before the whistle particularly those on the lower order pegs around the 2nd pipe. At this stage the wind was not too bad although squalls could be seen out to sea but at the whistle all was relatively quiet. At Bacton there is always a sand bar 200-300 yards out at high water although the distance and depth varies dependent on the continuing movement of the sand and sea bed. This left a fairly pronounced gully between shore and bar where in the past bucket fulls of stonking flounders have been found. For most it was this gully that was their target in the first few casts but a few insisted to try and breach the sandbar and probably ended up laying on top of it in the surf.
With such a long stretch it was difficult to see if there was any action occurring. At the start buddies had been placed just infront of the revetments but with a rapidly ebbing tide they soon became marooned up the beach with the majority of members sticking by their tripods at the water’s edge. One of the first to find fish was John ( C) (peg 6) and Tony (T) (peg 5) who over 3 casts managed 4 whiting between them. Yes! Whiting and the pair soon thought they’re back and we’re in for a long hard session of fish but how wrong this was to be. No sooner had they come they stopped and these were the only whiting caught in the whole match. As squall after squall came through with wind wiping up sea and sand followed by relative calm, it was difficult to judge activity. To the left of the 2nd pipe there was a perfect gully bounded by the shore and the surf where “young” Henry (R) (peg 1) and new club member Tom Gibbs (peg 2) were pegged, welcome aboard Tom. A slight miss cast at the start by Tom placed his trace quite close to the pipe only to be rewarded with a bass (39cm) and flounder (28cm) double shot. Not to be out done Henry (R ) set in motion his cunning plan of slipper limpets tipped with wrigglers placed on the far edge of the gully. This worked as he was soon hauling in a flounder double shot, a cracking 36cm specimen accompanied by one of 31cm.
Further down the stretch John (N) (peg 9) with almost a bay to himself was having a slow start but eventually found a 25cm flounder which was quickly followed by another cracking 36cm flounder. John is a master of this beach and knows precisely where to put his bait in the gully under these conditions. Further down the stretch on peg 11 was another new club member in the shape of Paul Harvey, also welcome aboard Paul. To demonstrate that he wasn’t going to be a slouch as he landed a stonking 42cm flounder which is going to take some beating in the various heaviest flat fish competitions. To show that this was more than just good luck he soon had a 36cm version added to his card. In close proximity to this success and up to the 1st pipe Richard (E ) (peg 12), James (P) (peg 14), Paul (T) (peg 15) and Peter (L) (peg 16) were having a dire time without recording any although in theory they were on the “hottest” pegs of the whole stretch. To the right of the 1st pipe, another hot spot things were a little slow for Ian (G) (peg 19) until he latched onto a nice 42cm bass which was followed soon afterwards by a slightly smaller 37cm version.
After his long summer lay off Bill (B) peg 20 was finding things a little “rusty” but eventually managed to find a couple of small flounders . Likewise Peter (M) (peg 21) was also struggling somewhat but eventually found a 27cm flounder which probably demonstrated that there no real fish in front of Bill and Peter. In contrast, Ivan (A) (peg 22) after finding just a couple of small flounders homed in on 3 flounders of 30cm and more plus a nice 39cm bass. However, he admitted afterwards that it was advice to go closer in the gully from Sam (A) (peg 24) that got him those fish. This was always Sam’s tactics and he put this to good use by landing a nice 41cm bass followed by a 32cm flounder. Unfortunately, it was poor old (not really old!) Mike (W) (peg 25) who was having a really torrid day. Uncharacteristically for Mike he could not find a single fish for the whole of the match although he had plenty of weed and unlike everyone else it had seriously accumulated in front of his peg.
Back at the other end things were looking quiet for John (C ) and Tony (T) but a switch by Tony to old reliable lug tipped wrigglers and a flounder walk resulted in a 37cm bass on his card. This success was short lived as “young” Henry displayed a 36cm bass so out came the slider for TT much to the disgust of Henry who insisted they should be banned. “Slider” in this wind and sea chuckled JC, you must be joking. Well after a few small taps the rod started to nod more vigorously and Tony had another 37cm bass on the beach along with a 29cm flounder and yes the flounder was on the slider. Not missing the opportunity to gloat TT made a bee line for “young” Henry’s peg only to witness him pull in a 35cm and 30cm flounder double shot. No contest! as Henry found yet another 31cm and then a 36cm flounder, he certainly knows his stuff when it comes to flounders. Rookie Tom (O) on next peg was having a quiet period but soon found a small flounder followed by 2 decent specimens.
Further down the stretch John ( C) was also having a quiet time but he too soon struck lucky with a 36cm bass and 30cm flounder double shot which brightened up his day in the swirling wind and rain. John (N) was probably the dark horse of the match as he made a charge in the dying hours with 4 nice flounder all around 30cm or more. Not to be out done, Paul (H) on next peg found yet another monster flounder of 39cm to go with his 42cm version. After a barren 1st half of the match Richard ( E) and Paul (T) eventually found a fish but as for poor old Peter (L) and James (P) there was no such luck and joined equally poor old Mike (W) with an empty card. The lower peg numbers around the second pipe were more consistent with fish but further down the stretch one peg would produce nothing where adjacent the peg bass or quality flounders. Well that’s Bacton for you!
In the end at the whistle it was Henry Randell’s (peg 1) flounder skill that won the day with 6lb 15oz from 8 fish followed by rookie Paul Harvey with 4lb 7oz from just 4 fish. Missing out by just 1oz, the final podium position went to that “old” club stalwart John Neave with 4lb 6oz from 6 fish. Club heaviest flat points went to Paul Harvey with his 42cm (1lb 13 1/3oz) flounder and club heaviest round points went to Sam Attew with his 41cm (ilb 6 2/3oz) bass. The super pool result was 1st Ivan Allison 3lb 13 1/3oz, 2nd Tony Thomas 3lb 9oz and 3rd Tom Gibbs 3lb 1oz.
On the teams front, there was a tie for first place between “The Gutter Bashers” and “Holt SAC” both with 8 penalty points, “North Norfolk Lads” were third with 10 penalty points and “Holt Crack offs” bringing up the rear with 11 penalty points. The Individual winners were the same as the club result. The team’s heaviest flat to date is Paul Harvey’s 42cm flounder and heaviest round is Ian Gedney’s 42cm (1lb 8 2/3oz) bass.
A total of just 45 fish were caught which is not a tremendous number but with a total weight of 32lb 15oz shows that the majority were quality fish. The weather could have been better and if the wind and surf had not picked up then there certainly would have been more fish and maybe more whiting. The weather was also having the last say as at the whistle the wind wound up and the heavens opened up prompting “young” Henry to quip that ‘we certainly wouldn’t be fishing that sea now’, we had this time just beaten those weather gods.
The next club match is at SALTHOUSE on SATURDAY 20TH OCTOBER fishing 11:00-4:00. This is followed by the club’s ANNUAL OPEN at KELLING on SUNDAY 28TH OCTOBER fishing 9:00-2:00. We are expecting a good turnout for this match so could all club members please participate and bring along a Raffle Prize.
Club & Teams Match Result Top 5
1st Henry Randell 6lb 15oz (8 Fish)
2nd Paul Harvey 4lb 6oz (4 Fish)
3rd John Neave 4lb 5oz (6 Fish)
4th Ivan Allison 3lb 13 1/3oz (6 Fish)
5th Tony Thomas 3lb 9oz (5 Fish)
Teams Result
1st= Holt SAC 8 points
1st= The Gutter Bashers 8 points
3rd North Norfolk Lads 10 points
4th Holt Crack Offs 11 points
Please use this link for full set of club match results … Holt SAC Match Results (14Oct12)
Please use this link for current league table… Holt SAC League Table (14Oct12)
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