Kings Lynn Sunday 27th May 2012 – 5th Leg Summer Accumulator & West Norfolk Challenge Round 1
This was the club’s first true match on the Gt. Ouse this year and the first round of the club’s West Norfolk Challenge series. Locating the match on the west bank created its own challenge of access but a little effort produced a result and we were able to use our traditional stretch of the Gt. Ouse. The size and timing of the tide meant fishing over the top which was in contrast to the club matches in previous years at this venue so a new experience for some club members. A sunny and overcast day with a gentle east to south easterly gave use wind in our face but ideal comfortable conditions for the match.
As a reasonable club turn out gathered on our west bank parking area it soon became obvious there was no real public support for the Open event with just one guest in attendance. Most disappointing for club members but probably there are too many Open events these days resulting in clashes plus some probable unnecessary politics which hasn’t helped. Anyway this did not diminish member’s competitive enthusiasm and the stretch was soon pegged and pegs drawn. With opportunity to check out the hot spots on this bank pegging was north of the treatment works from the culvert south. With a flooding tide all were checking out exactly where to cast at the whistle and surprisingly all found that even at distance they could hold so we at least got the tide right.
Being the first true estuary match for the club this summer a fair amount of experimenting with rigs and bait was to be done during the match to get the right fit for this venue for this year. This was the express aim of guest match man Steve Durrant who was checking out the venue for the up and coming DC’s Estuary Challenge match at this venue in a few weeks time. His tactics of light main line and snoods with crab scored immediately as he latched into a monster 38cm flounder on his first cast from peg 16. First cast success also went to Peter Morse (peg 12) with a 31cm flounder and Tony Thomas (peg 17) with a reasonable eel. All the rest were left pondering when their first fish would come as cast after cast left their rods motionless.
Peter (M) was seen to bring in more slightly smaller flounders and Sam Attew (peg 19) also managed to find a small flounder. Much to the frustration of Henry Randell on next peg 18 who was trying everything to find a solitary fish and his “spring” was slowly been wound up. The lower order pegs appeared not be too active and this was confirmed by Ivan Allison as he took a constitutional with the tide starting to ease. He confirmed that Richard Ellis (peg 3) and John Carter (peg 4) had both at least found a small flounder and witnessed a few other fish being caught but nothing serious at this stage. With the tide easing Tony (T) managed to find a small flounder and a good eel of around a pound to keep him in contention. To relieve his frustration Henry (R) at last found a 21cm flounder which was quickly followed by 28cm version.
After his early euphoria Steve (D) was struggling but managed to find a small eel. However, it was John (C)’s turn to match Steve’s early success as a 38cm flounder came flapping up through the mud to start giving him good points. Next and end peg Richard (E) was also now finding some specimen eels as his bucket started to fill with 3 of them. Peter Loke (peg8) started to find small eels and small flounders as well to make his card look a little more respectable. As slack water arrived at the top of the tide it always seems to be the best time to fish Kings Lynn as you can put the bait anywhere with a rolling lead. Under these conditions the big eels are around and when they take the old adrenaline rush really kicks in.
As the tide began to restart Peter (M), Henry (R) and Sam (A) at last managed to add to their score and Ivan (A) in the end found a solitary eel. However, it was poor old (not so old) John Neave who was having yet another torrid day by not finding a single fish to continue his real dip in performance. As the tide picked up, although others were finding the odd good eel and small flounders it was John (C) and Richard (E) who were going head to head for the match from pegs 4 and 3 respectively. Effectively end peg, Richard (E) was being clever and allowing the ebbing tide to drift his bait towards the culvert where he was able to pick up some good eels and reasonable flounders. John (C) was able to match his number of fish but his eels were not quite of the same quality as Richard’s.
In the end this last flurry of activity landed Richard Ellis (peg 3) with the honours for the match with 4lb 10oz from 9 fish followed by John Carter (peg 4) with 4lb 4 ½oz also from 9 fish. Final podium slot went to Tony Thomas (peg 17) with 3lb 1oz from 7 fish. In the Open the heaviest fish contest was shared by John Carter and Steve Durrant with their respective 38cm (1lb 5 1/3oz) flounders. On the club scene heaviest flat points went to John Carter for his 38cm flounder and heaviest round points to Richard Ellis for his 1lb 2oz eel.
All in all an enjoyable match in comfortable surroundings although the number of fish were disappointing. Altogether 45 fish were caught (19 eels and 26 flounders) weighing in total 20lb 5oz. This match demonstrated that there were some quality fish on the west bank but probably slightly too early for numbers of fish at this venue. The main disappointment of the day was the attendance which has led to the committee contemplating cancelling the remaining matches of the series. However, the committee has decided that as it is such a good venue the club will continue running the remaining matches irrespective of the size of the turnout. The overall champion and pairs competitions will continue as planned. The free pairs and mystery pairs have all been selected and as the pairs competitions are on accumulated weight over all 4 matches it does not prevent others joining these competitions at the next or future matches. The current standings in all these will be prepared after the next match in July.
The next club match is at Kelling on Saturday 2nd June fishing 9:00-2:00.
Club & Open Match Result Top 6
1st Richard Ellis 4lb 10oz
2nd John Carter 4lb 4½oz
3rd Tony Thomas 3lb 1oz
4th Steve Durrant 2lb 9½oz (Guest)
5th Peter Morse 1lb 12½oz
6th Peter Loke 1lb 6½oz
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