Salthouse 16th January 2011
With a few of the regulars on other assignments this weekend a rather depleted gathering met at Salthouse for the 2nd match of the winter accumulator. A dry blustery South South Westerly and a flat flat sea gave us a perfect beach for fishing bottom up on a very small tide. We all knew the flats would be there but everyone was full of expectation that just maybe the whiting could be back.
Pegging the usual stretch to the left of the car park in front of “Little Eye” hillock saw everyone set off eagerly to get prepared even JC and Pam with stove, bacon butties and everything else except kitchen sink. Everyone got nicely parked below the shingle bank well out of the way of the gusty wind and close to the flooding tide … perfect, no hiking this week to retrieve and cast. So eager was everyone to start that all were ready and waiting at the water’s edge minutes before the whistle.
On a day like today the question was distance or close in and as it happened this really didn’t get answered. First blood went to Tony “Yoda” Thomas who had a 29cm whiting first cast at distance and the message went along the line that there’re back, could this be true. Then from close in John Silverfox Neave scooped up a treble shot of dabs and then another one, they were certainly there for John in the early stages as he was pulling in dab after dab. For the others the early expectation of big whiting being back was soon dispelled as double and treble shots of pin whiting started to be the order of the day.
Whatever the distance it was pin whiting with the odd dab but Silverfox was still pulling in dab after dab. Peter “Inspector” Morse saw his card fill up with pins, Dick “umbrellaman” Able decided to launch his bait to the arctic circle and John “Steady” Carter and Pam “Cuddly” Carter decided to break out the bacon butties … good job we were all upwind of their pegs. Still the pins kept “rolling” in but then the tide went slack and Silverfox’s steady run stopped whilst everyone else kept pulling in the odd pin and dab.
Once the tide started up again in the final hour and half, fish responded and everyone started to catch pins and dabs which eventually included Silverfox. The better dabs certainly came from distance with Yoda picking up a 29cm specimen dab but the pins were everywhere. With a final rush of dabs Tony “Yoda” Thomas took top spot with 4lb 1 1/3oz from 32 fish followed by John “Silverfox” Neave with 3lb 5oz from 28 fish and Peter “Inspector” Morse with 2lb 14 2/3oz from 32 fish. Although the Pins made up the majority of the 151 fish caught there were still 61 sizeable fish all of which were flats apart from that one whiting. A most enjoyable session and for once in temperatures more suited to the angler.
Match Result Top 5
1st Tony Thomas 32 Fish 4lb 1 1/3oz
2nd John Neave 26 Fish 3lb 5oz
3rd Peter Morse 32 Fish 2lb 14 2/3oz
4th John Carter 23 Fish 2lb 10oz
5th Dick Able 23 Fish 1lb 14 2/3oz
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