Bacton Sunday 23rd October 2011 – Bumphrey Shield & Teams of 5
Club and Team members gathered at the crack of dawn at Castaways Holiday Park for the latest club match and the first of this season’s North Norfolk teams of 5 Sea League match. An early start to catch as much of the ebb as possible and for once witnessing the sunrise creeping up out an almost flat calm with very slight swell. A healthy club turnout for a team event boosted by other teams and individuals helped to just make it an acceptable number for a Bacton match. Parking was tight at Castaways due to half term week and many thanks again to Anna and Richard for the use of their facilities.
Fishing less of the ebb than normal left plenty of beach for pegging which was 2 sections to the right of the 1st pipe with 3 to the left up to the 2nd pipe, plenty of space! With a stiffish South South Easterly and a slight swell the sea had some colour but there was plenty of the red stuff in it although not much on the beach. At the whistle most opted for a gentle lob with one or two blasting it to the horizon to trying to negotiate the far bank to attempt to capture those specimens moving out with the tide. However, it soon became apparent that the red stuff was there in sheets particularly close in and around the pipes which was seriously hampering “class act”, “bass man” and “steady”.
A sudden call from “the boss” Morley saw organiser “yoda” scurrying back to Castaways to sort out the customary parking problem which seems to prevail in all our 1st league matches at Bacton. With this done it was an opportunity to suss out if there was any fish taken on 1st and 2nd casts and sure enough “chip man” and “gorleston bender” had a quality flounder each and “silver fox” a 34cm undersize bass. Not to be out done “class act” found a quality flounder just to the left of the 1st pipe whilst at the far end on peg 2 “PC son of JC” had a mixed bag treble shot although only the 2 small flatties counted with a whiting undersize.
The weed continued to be a problem hampering a quick retrieve and cast but there were plenty of flounders out there and the majority were nice specimens. “young henry” and “yoda” soon had one on their cards after opting for pure lug or lug tipped wriggler baits, for once they seemed to be off any sort of fish baits. “steady” on peg 1 got a shock when he carded a 21cm turbot, you just never know what will appear on these beaches. “young henry” was using all his flatty skills and was rewarded with a 35cm flounder , followed by another of the same size and then towards the end a cracking 37cm version . “yoda” was struggling with his braid/leader knots in the weed only to have one part but a quick grab capture the leader with a quality flounder on it. However, his luck was out as 2 casts later the same thing happened but after a soaking was unable to find the leader. He was gutted half an hour later as he saw “young henry” haul in his trace complete with small flounder and a 32cm specimen.
Further up the stretch “big man” had started to find a fish or two but it was “last cast” and “sandy coke” who were really doing the business on pegs 13 and 17 which were together a few pegs to the left of the 1st pipe. “last cast” was blasting to the horizon and was getting a flounder or double shot every cast and all of them on worm particularly the frozen down Irish versions and none of this Waitrose stuff tipping. All reasonable size flounders with a few small dabs plus a couple specimen flounders of 36 and 37cm helped to really stack up his points. Next to him “sandy coke” was using his usual gentle lob to place his bait just inside the bank which resulted in some really quality fish. A 25cm flounder to start with, soon joined by three 34cm versions and one of 36cm so it was becoming a tight contest between him and “last cast” and now a 2 horse race for the match.
Further along the stretch to the 1st pipe and beyond the fish had all but dried up with “big fish”, “last cast”, “bass man”, “scoop” and “no hat” really struggling to find quality fish in numbers. All except “silver fox” who much to the frustration of others was bringing in some specimen fish, not many but cranking up the points on his card. However, it was poor old “moto maint” who could not find a fish which was most frustrating to him after his many recent successes and observing all around him hauling in quality fish. Slack water saw the fish disappear for everyone but as the flood started all began to pick up fish and at last “moto maint” squirreled out a 25cm flounder to save his blank and the embarrassment of throwing in the towel.
In the end it was Mike “last cast” Watts who took the honours with 7lb 12 1/3oz from 13 fish followed by Peter “sandy coke” Loke with 6lb 1 1/3oz from just 7 fish. Final podium spot went to Henry “red stuff” (“young henry”) Randell with 4lb 4oz from just 4 fish. On the teams front HSAC Rite Gear took top spot with 7pts followed by HSAC Morston Creek with 8pts and Avenue Angling with 9pts. The final club team HSAC Blakeney Bar came a creditable 4th with 14pts but were 2 members short. Looks like it’s going to be a tight league this year, let’s hope some of the Lincolnshire boys can make it for the next matches to make it even more interesting and boost the numbers.
An interesting match this one showing that an extra hour of the ebb at the start could have seen more quality fish but then we would have missed those on the flood. The match also demonstrated how peggy Bacton can be with the left of the 1st pipe on average producing more quality fish than the right. The winners came from an area that has done the business before and shows that the fish at Bacton are not necessarily around the pipes. The specimen flounders are back but those stonking whiting that were being reeled in 2 weeks previous have gone to ground again, maybe too much sunshine, who knows?
With a break next week for the National Sea League Final at Eastbourne (good luck to our teams in this one Holt Blues, Holt Reds and North Norfolk Lads) the next club match is at Kelling on Sunday 6th November fishing 10:00 – 3:00. This is also the club’s Annual Open and Roy Waller Memorial match so can club members bring along a raffle prize and support the match.
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Miuke Watts 7lb 12 1/3oz
2nd Peter Loke 6lb 1 1/3oz
3rd Henry Randell 4lb 4oz
4th John Neave 3lb 5 1/3oz
5th Trevor Elliott 3lb 5oz
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