Kelling Sunday 28th October 2012 – Annual Open & Roy Waller Memorial Cup
The weather gods were really having a good go to scupper the club’s Annual Open with very strong north easterlies on Friday and Saturday with horrendous seas all day Saturday. Everyone was scouring all the weather sites to find the most favourable forecast for Sunday but all said the wind was going to moderate and switch to Westerly and South Westerly. If it did this then we really could be in for a fish fest after the first real rough up for ages. The best site I’ve found for giving a good picture of sea state and wind was the surfing website for Cromer (http://magicseaweed.com/Cromer-Surf-Report/20/) where more importantly for us swell height is given. Here they were predicting an 8 foot swell decreasing overnight and during Sunday to knee height along with a South Westerly wind and they were spot on.
With a really early start the early birds were at the Muckleburgh gate bang on time except of course TT, sorry mates. With “class act” Thorburn taking the scenic route through the water all signs were soon in place for those with directional problems and everything was prepared for the draw. With “young” motorless Henry back on mussel duty (sad Piachio) it was down to TT to do the pegging business. With more than 30 booked the committee had agreed to peg west from the wreck, straight under the small cliff and towards the block house. With the Sea League Finals here at this venue in 5 weeks we wanted to see how the whole stretched performed and how we should fit all the pegs in. Efficient as ever “mobility” Morse soon had the draw running the early risers were chasing their pegs even before they could settle in the shingle, well done Peter!
The sea by now had started to ebb seriously but was in complete contrast to 12 hours earlier flattening off by the minute. There were still a good swell from time to time and you had to be wary of it as it rolled up the beach much to “big bass” Ellis’s misfortune later in the match. The sea was just perfect and if there wasn’t fish there in these conditions then there would never be. With the majority of the trollies left parked in the garage all were soon buddied up on the shingle just above the high water mark. At the whistle unlike in the previous match all ambled leisurely to the water’s edge for their usual Kelling chuck. With a significant swell still around care had to be taken as the odd surge would come pounding up the beach.
With a good turnout it is difficult to relate everyone’s experience’s but here are just a few. With tradition holding up, “yoda” Thomas (peg 27) was first to card with minutes of his first cast with a double shot of medium sized dabs followed be a treble include a 28cm specimen. However, star of the first cast was “no hat” Attew (peg 31) who found a nice 36cm bass which was going to prove useful later on. Also into fish at this early stage at the high end was “silver fox” Neave (peg 32), Alan Doy (peg 33) and “the consultant” Allison (peg 36) who felt rather lonely stuck out on end peg but he did have the wreck for company. Also into fish was Keith Morley (peg 30) who after finding a couple of small flatties locked into a nice 27cm flounder and then a cracking 34cm version worth 48 points (1lb).
The pace of activity on the lower order numbers was lower than the higher numbers but plenty of dabs and the odd flounder could be seen being returned. The man to watch “Tuckie” (Rob Tuck) was on a renowned flattie hot spot peg 12 and was doing the business as he started to bring in traces of small dabs to fill up his card. As the tide started to drop even faster the match on the lower numbers started to become individual competitions between adjacent pegs. “smooth” Conway was not too happy with his peg 3 but was finding a few small dabs. Likewise “better booms” Beeton (peg 2) was finding the flatties but slightly bigger versions and his attention switched to Clyde Leggett (peg 1) who was finding the numbers of fish. A 31cm flounder helped “better booms” keep up with Clyde but number of fish finally defeating him with Clyde winning this battle by just over 2oz even though he now prefers the swing to the cast, hope to see you back soon Clyde. Ed Driver (peg 4) on reconnaissance for the Sea League Final was also doing battle against “big bass” Ellis (peg 5) with a number of small dabs but 3 good flounders enabled him take this one by just under an oz. Although “big bass” was hampered by a sudden surge on the flooding tide which nearly launched him into the north sea but they soon hung him up to dry off.
Dave Read (peg 7) was overcoming the radar syndrome and eventually found the small dabs and a good flounder at range to beat those around him. “last cast” Watts (peg 9) was have his tussle with John Lacey (peg 10) but although initially keeping up with him his fish dried up and John cantered ahead in typical Lacey style even finding one of just 3 whiting recorded. Rookie “the quiet one” Pearce was at last getting his act together after 2 poor matches and found some quality dabs to give him a creditable card. However, he was next to “tuckie” who was on fire as he had being in his previous few matches and was recording dab after dab. None of really any significant size but then his travelling partner Craig spotted him slipping in a nice 40cm bass worth a massive 63 points which certainly put him in contention for the match. “diver” Gedney who was on next peg 13 was not fairing as well on numbers of fish but the majority were quality bigger flatties and the second sizeable whiting.
Mark Gooch (peg 15) was also raking up the points with a lot of small fish interspersed with the odd decent dab and flounder. On next peg 16 under the cliff Jeff Stannard was not fairing too well and although he had one or two good flatties he could not match Mark for numbers of fish. Another reconnaissance man for the Final was Kevin Seeley (peg 18) who after recording a 32cm flounder as his first fish worth 40 points had a sound match with some good flounders and dabs enabling him to be satisfied with his trip north. “sandy coke” Loke (peg 20) was in his own flounder match as he recorded a couple of 30+cm specimens along with a couple of smaller versions along with some small dabs. However, it was a different situation on the adjoining two pegs where “mobility” Morse (peg 21) and Paul Tovell (peg 21) were locked in a tight duel with reasonable dabs with “mobility” prevailing in the end. No such intense activity for “steady” Carter (peg 23) who after finding a nice 29cm dab was struggling to find numbers of fish.
Campbell Burnett (peg 24) was having a quiet day with a few fish but as he said it was just good to be out in the fresh air. No such comments from “class act” Thorburn (peg 6) and “captain” Ellis (peg 19) who were having a relatively torrid day with just 6 fish apiece although “class act” did find a cracking 33cm flounder in the dying moments close in but just too late. Back at the high end another battle was ensuing with “yoda” Thomas (peg 27) streaking ahead of Craig Buy (peg 28) with 10 dabs in the first hour but as the tide eased Craig started get the dabs at medium range and overhauled “yoda”. Then as the tide started to flood “yoda” regained the initiative by finding some good flounders close in and overhauled Craig by just 1oz at the end. Keith Morley (peg 30) was also getting in on the act with a lot of small and reasonable dabs but they proved in the end to be just that bit too small, he needed another good flounder which never came. “no hat” Attew was demonstrating how to fish this venue when he found a 33cm flounder and a colossal 37cm version worth 60 points. To add to this he managed to find the final whiting a healthy 30cm in the last minutes of the match.
In the end it was the “man on fire” Rob Tuck who took the honours with 8lb 10 1/3oz from 37 fish including that 40cm bass. Very closely followed by Sam “no hat” Attew with 8lb 9oz from 27 fish helped along by that monster 37cm flounder. Final podium slot went to Tony “yoda” Thomas with 7lb 6 2/3oz from 32 fish. Heaviest round fish went to Rob Tuck with his 1lb 5oz bass and heaviest flat to Keith Morley with his 1lb flounder. Sam did get a bigger flat but recorded a smaller fish on the Open section of his card which was not spotted until the following day.
On the club front, Sam and Tony took 1st and 2nd with Ivan “the consultant” Allison taking 3rd spot with 5lb 11 1/3oz from 22 fish. The club’s heaviest flat and round points both went to Sam for his 1lb 4oz flounder and 1lb 1/3oz bass. The Super Pools was taken by Rob, Tony and Craig Buy with 7lb 5 2/3oz from 30 fish. In total there was 490 fish recorded weighing around 120lb.
This was one of the best club and Open matches for some time and the majority thoroughly enjoyed the competition. The weather was going to play its part but in the end that surfing website was spot on. It is a pity that others were put off by the forecast and the club does appreciate those that took the time to apologise for non-attendance aferwards. For those that continue to knock the club and its running of Open matches they have the right to their opinion, it is their loss not the club’s. This match has been a good prelude to the forthcoming National Sea League Final which will be held at this and other venues on the shingle ridge at the beginning of December and will be hosted by the club. In theory the whiting should have joined the dabs and flounders by then and if the weather plays ball we should with 29 teams have a cracking event.
The next club match was at CLEY on SATURDAY 3RD NOVEMBER fishing 10:00-3:00 which has now been completed.
The next club match is for the J Long Shield and is the 2nd Round of the North Norfolk Sea League at KELLING on SUNDAY 11TH NOVEMBER fishing 10:00-3:00. Will all club team members please ensure they are available to fish.
Open Result Top 5
1st Rob Tuck 8lb 10 1/3oz (37 Fish)
2nd Sam Attew 8lb 9oz (27 Fish)
3rd Tony Thomas 7lb 6 2/3oz (32 Fish)
4th Craig Buy 7lb 5 2/3oz (30 Fish)
5th Keith Morley 7lb 3 2/3oz (33 Fish)
Club Result Top 5
1st Sam Attew 8lb 9oz (27 Fish)
2nd Tony Thomas 7lb 6 2/3oz (32 Fish)
3rd Ivan Allison 5lb 11 1/3oz (22 Fish)
4th Peter Morse 5lb 3 1/3oz (22 Fish)
5th James Pearce 3lb 10oz (14 Fish)
Please use this link for full set of club match results … Holt SAC Match Results (28Oct12)
Please use this link for current league table… Holt SAC League Table (28Oct12)
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