Kelling Saturday 9th March 2013 – 10th Leg Winter Accumulator & Teams of 5 (FINAL MATCH OF 2012-2013)
With the forecast bringing winter back in from the East we all knew that it would be touch and go for our final Leg of the Winter Accumulator and final Round of the North Norfolk Sea League teams of 5. Throughout the preceding week the weather was continually chasing us moving first from an acceptable South Easterlies to something more raw from the North East by the weekend. With the wind in this quarter and swell heights up to 6 feet by Saturday our match day, Bacton was going to be a non-starter particularly over the ebb. Even after all the effort of Anna and Richard of Castaways to accommodate us and our teams meeting & presentation amongst the 7 year olds party we had no other option but to switch the match to deeper water at Kelling. All were disappointed at having to do this after the reports of good fish at Bacton none more so than Ivan (A) who had broken out his ‘70’s gear for the occasion. Maybe next time Ivan and many thanks to Anna and Richard for their patience and support. Unfortunately, mother nature had its say but we will be back again in October to have another bash for those dinner plate flounders.
With everyone informed of the switch there was still the chance that even with the deeper water we could be in for a non-starter as an increasing wind slowly slipped round from East to North East. Young Henry had reported that the sea was spot on on the day before but we soon realised it was not spot on for match day. To add to all this mother nature had decided to send some wet stuff up from the south which was forecast to linger around Norfolk all day and they were sure right. Not with standing all this all started arriving in buoyant but wet mood nice and early for a 9:00 start. We had the wet stuff but the sea had a nice colour, not too rough with a good swell coming in. Ideal conditions for the species we dare not mention in front of Paul (T) after his previous week’s exploits at Trimingham, still banging on about what he should not have done to land the monster. We would get white water at the bottom so trying to gauge where the deep spots where pegging was from the westward end of the small cliff through towards the wreck with a good 30 paces between.
A good turnout considering the conditions with just a couple of team members missing and all were soon engaged in a soggy draw and allocating team slots. Close pegs seemed to be the order of the day as team members could be heard negotiating with Mr Captain for that near peg. Bacton had prompted us to advertise a 6 hour match but Sam (A) soon put some realism into the day and got us back to 5 hours. For once, buddies were the order of the day as the wet stuff was relentless and all were soon strategically placed on top of the shingle bank although I wouldn’t call young Henry’s a buddy, more like a wind break, bless him! At least we were spared rain and Bacton sand this time. All were soon ready for the off but at the rather damp whistle Dick (E) (peg 3) and Henry (R) (peg 4) were caught out as they were already into serious banter mode. Well that’s all the preliminaries over with so now for the fishing and that really is another story.
For once the usual Kelling lob was abandoned and getting your bait over the breaking rollers was the challenge. For some this presented no real problems but for others it became a struggle. With wind and tide together holding bottom was the main objective but after a few attempts with a mixture of weight combinations the majority managed at last to start fishing, well for a while. The wet stuff continued to make things unpleasant but we are used to that at any time. We are also used to patience and on this particular day this angling attribute was certainly going to be exercised. However, things were really looking up for that codless man Paul (T) (peg 21) who was into a rockling on his very first cast, defying all the pessimists amongst us so there was at least one fish out there! but was he on a roll? It soon came apparent that this was probably just a fish blip, sort of fish in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With nothing more showing holding bottom was once again a challenge as the tide bottomed and the swell increased periodically producing white water along the whole stretch. With leads moving around there soon became some major entanglements and it was on one of these occasions that could have had serious consequences. Peter (M) (peg 14) was untwisting his rig from Lawrence (W)’s (peg 13) and Steve (S)’s (peg 12) when a rogue wave surged up the beach placing him in white water well over his waist. He managed to remain standing but if he had fallen it would has sucked him into the gutter as there was a significant under tow just a few yards out. On days like this we do have to be vigilant and be fully aware of these surges that can come up the beach. Peter was very lucky and only had to spend the rest of match trying to dry out in his motor in just his … well we won’t go there .
It was soon apparent that this was going to be a struggle of the highest order with just that solitary rockling on the cards. Tony (T) near the “Hunn” spot end peg 1 was trying to take advantage of his position but to no avail. Likewise, Ivan (A) (peg 8), John (C) (peg 9) and Mike (W) (peg 16) were having no joy even with having 6 hours of bait for a fishless 5 hours. Sam (A)’s (peg 7) vain attempts standing at the water’s edge to hold bottom finally got to him and he along with his fishing partner John (N) (peg 17) decided to call it a day. A slightly younger “chig” James (P) (peg 22) had already had enough of the wet stuff and early on was seen churn through muddy Muckleburgh in his 4×4. No such defeatism from new boy, well not quite a boy in this team’s game, Wally (G) (peg 23) and Peter (L) (peg 24) who kept asking for a refund at the end so maybe he was complaining that his worms couldn’t swim.
Young Henry (R) (peg 4) had moved his tripod close to the water’s edge and was up to his usual tricks and trying all the tactics in his repertoire. Bits of dried cuttlefish, half a frozen Brussel sprout and 4 week old fresh blacks from his last astonishing teams match at Kelling but sadly no response, bless him! Similarly, Paul (H) (peg 19) was piling on the bait, he had plenty but just could not connect with anything. However, not for Top SAMF Forces Challenge Rod Kevin (G) (peg 18) standing in for the Crack Offs when he spotted a slight tap tap on his rod, “yes I really did see the bite” he said afterwards and soon had a 25 cm rockling on his card. Well that was TWO fish so far!
Paul (T) (peg 21) had soon forgotten about his first cast rockling and was back thinking about his lost codling when out of the blue he had yet another rockling on his card. So that meant THREE fish so far. The tide was now flooding hard with the wind picking up and that incessant wet stuff pounding your buddy as it started to get more wintery. At least the white water was easing but the fish were having none of it, well all except one small dab. He’s on to his last cast and yes that man “better booms” Bill (B) (peg 11) finds it, a small 21cm specimen but a fish. How does he do it? So that’s FOUR fish at the whistle.
It was probably the thoughts of Trimingham that enabled Paul Thorburn to take the honours with 5 2/3oz from those 2 rockling. Closely followed by Kevin Green with that tap tap giving him 4oz from 1 rockling. Final podium slot went to Bill Beeton and the last of the weighers with 2 2/3oz from 1 dab. The club heaviest flat points went to Bill with his 21cm dab and heaviest round points to Paul with his 24cm rockling. Super Pools result was the same as the match.
On the Teams front North Norfolk Lads won the day with 12 penalty points followed by Holt Crack Offs with 16 penalty. With no weighers, Gutter Bashers and Holt SAC A tied for third place with 20 penalty points. Unfortunately, it was the lack of fish that was going to be the Bashers undoing in the final overall stakes. North Norfolk Lads therefore took the League title with 47 points followed by Holt Crack Offs on 61 points and Gutter Bashers just one point behind on 62 points.
With just 4 fish this was our worst ever teams match in marked contrast to our last teams match 4 weeks earlier at the same venue where 647 fish were recorded which was our best for years. The weather certainly played its part and was there with us right to the bitter end. Fortunately, we had negotiated an excellent replacement for Castaways for our Teams meeting and presentation in Kelling Heath Holiday Park. Many thanks to Zoe (CB) for arranging this for us and providing us with somewhere to dry out. All were soon caffeined up and drying out infront of the log fire as steam could be seen rising from Mike, Kevin and Bill, it was one very wet day.
The meeting agreed that the club would continue running the league in 2013-2014 where there was a chance other teams joining. The meeting also agreed that the Competition Format would remain the same as last year and provisional match dates were distributed. It is tradition that all monies is paid out after the last match and this was duly done with teams working out the dosh to be retained for this year’s National League Final. This will be fished at Eastbourne on the weekend of 23rd/24th November and all our league teams are eligible to participate.
The next club match will take place after Easter and will be agreed at the club’s AGM. The next club event will be the AGM and Presentation Dinner. These will take place at KELLING HEATH HOLIDAY PARK on Saturday 16th March 2013 with the AGM from 2:30 p.m. onwards and the Presentation Dinner from 7:00 p.m. onwards. Will those attending please bring a raffle prize.
Well folks! that’s it for another year and now it’s the club’s 60th year so let’s hope it is memorable for all the right reasons.
Match Result Top 3
1st Paul Thorburn 5 2/3oz (2 Fish) - North Norfolk Lads
2nd Kevin Green 4oz (1 Fish) - Holt Crack Offs
3rd Bill Beeton 2 2/3oz (1 Fish) - North Norfolk Lads
Club Result Top 5
1st Paul Thorburn 5 2/3oz (2 Fish)
2nd Bill Beeton 2 2/3oz (1 Fish)
(No other club weighers)
Teams Result Top 5
1st North Norfolk Lads 12 points
2nd Holt Crack Offs 16 points
3rd= The Gutter Bashers 20 points
3rd= Holt SAC A 20 points
3rd= Holt SAC B 20 points
Final Teams Table
1st North Norfolk Lads 47 points
2nd Holt Crack Offs 61 points
3rd The Gutter Bashers 62 points
4th Holt SAC A 83 points
5th Holt SAC B 120 points
Please use this link for full set of club match results … Holt SAC Match Results (09Mar13)
Please use this link for current league table… Holt SAC League Table (09Mar13)
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