Cley Sunday 30th December 2012 – Matthews Cup
With a full programme of matches over the holiday season there was always a chance that the attendance at this club match would be affected but not so as a good turnout of the regulars were soon arriving at Cley beach car park for an early 9:00 a.m. start. Even “new buddy” Turk was there bright and early although his original intention was the open match at Sizewell but couldn’t handle DC’s pre-sunrise 6:30 a.m. start. Even new man “off duty” Gibbs managed to slip away for some match practice for the end of month SAMF challenge matches but “last cast” Watts was slow out of the blocks being delayed by some heavy goods vehicle. A strong chilly south westerly met this enthusiastic bunch but thankfully it was dry, very dry with a hint of sunshine.
Pegging for a change was East of the wreck which produced some good bags during the recent National Sea League final and what is left of the shingle bank would give us a little shelter from that wind. Even with the strong wing there was just a slight swell and there was plenty of colour in the water. Fishing over the bottom, 3 hours down and 2 hours up meant that we would have tide throughout and perfect conditions for fish throughout. Pegs were drawn and all were soon off but the much heralded trolley brigade was seriously depleted with just one lone straggler making an appearance. Fishing the ebb meant everyone could set up below the bank and none of the hiking through shingle to cast and retrieve. Even at this early stage “class act” Thorburn on end peg 1 was soon into problems as he hefted and lost gear on his first practice cast. Not a good start for him and with a full house he was offered end peg at the other end of the stretch if this continued.
At the whistle all were soon into their Cley lob mode of 60 to 100 yards. It was soon obvious that we were going to have plenty of fish as “chig” Mushroom (peg 2) could be seen scurrying up and down the beach, returning dab after dab . “last cast” Watts (peg 3) was straight into a nice 31 cm whiting and then a quality dab to get his session underway. Even without his mentor “new buddy” Turk (peg 4) was getting the hang of catching as he started to card small dabs. Likewise “off duty” Gibbs (peg 5) was into small dabs but he soon rattled his scorecard with a nice 30 cm flounder followed by a 28 cm dab. In contrast to previous sessions, “silver fox” Neave (peg 6) had once again got his act together and started to pile on the points with first small dabs and then some more serious versions along with some good whiting.
Further down the stretch, “steady” Carter (peg 8) was finding good dabs and the odd whiting to keep his campaign going but he was unhappy that they weren’t coming in fast enough for his liking. Mr “ping pong poo” Loke (peg 9) was also non-too happy about his slow start but he was finding a lot of reasonable sized dabs although he repeatedly complained about his lack of whiting. However, end peg 10 “yoda” Thomas was into double and treble shots of small dabs from the off as well as one or two sizeable whiting. Struggling for a change was “ivan a biggen” Allison (peg 7) who could not find sizeable fish in numbers. However, struggling even more was that end peg man “class act” Thorburn who was losing rig after rig and it was soon apparent why. We had only put him directly infront of the wreck so any distance would have put him on or over this obstruction so he really had no chance. He had the option to move but decided to stick by his guns as every cast he managed to retrieve had a fish so maybe there was a match winning monster lurking in the bowels of the wreck.
With tide there throughout the match this pattern of dabs and odd whiting lasted for the whole match with the whiting coming on stronger towards the end. “yoda” on end peg was for once doing the business with all his casts resulting in fish and only one cast not recording fish with an undersize whiting. Likewise “ping pong poo” on adjacent peg had his whiting wish come true as he started to find double shots of good whiting in the dying minutes of the match. In the end, it was Tony “yoda” Thomas’s consistent catching that gave him the honours on the day with 7lb 8 2/3oz from 35 fish. Those stonking whiting in the dying minutes gave Peter “ping pong poo” Loke the 2nd podium spot with 5lb 10 2/3oz from 22 fish. Final podium slot went to the rejuvenated John “silverfox” Neave with 5lb 2 1/3oz from 21 fish. Heaviest flat fish club points went to Peter Loke for his 31 cm (12oz) dab and heaviest round fish to Tom Gibbs for his 35 cm (10 1/3oz) whiting. Super Pool winners were Tony, Peter and Mike Watts with 4lb 15 1/3oz from 20 fish.
Another excellent match for the majority with 170 fish caught (125 dabs, 40 whiting, 4 flounders, 1 rockling) weighing 41lb 11oz. For once we got the timing right with tide all the way through resulting in fish throughout for most. Pity we got peg 1 wrong which should have been at least 2 pegs further east, many apologies Mr T. This certainly is a stretch we will use again but a few were none too happy about the walk in soft shingle so maybe not too often.
The next match is for the Nelson Shield and New Year Open at KELLING on TUESDAY 1ST JANUARY 2013 fishing 10:00-3:00 but by the time this report hits the air waves it will be long gone.
Club Result Top 5
1st Tony Thomas 7lb 8 2/3oz (35 Fish)
2nd Peter Loke 5lb 10 2/3oz (22 Fish)
3rd John Neave 5lb 2 1/3oz (21 Fish)
4th Mike Watts 4lb 15 1/3oz (20 Fish)
5th Tom Gibbs 4lb 7 1/3oz (15 Fish)
Please use this link for full set of club match results … Holt SAC Match Results (30Dec12)
Please use this link for current league table… Holt SAC League Table (30Dec12)
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