Salthouse Sunday 16th December 2012 – Foreman Cup
After a Series of Team matches it was refreshing to get back to some real individual stuff on the shingle at Salthouse. With some members chasing big fish around the corner and others chasing brownie points it was still a healthy crew that gathered nice and early at the Salthouse beach car park. A relatively mild clear morning with a light south westerly greeted these regulars including new member Peter “orange van man” Simmons returning to do a bit of matching with his repaired back to show us how to do the business. Not so much the “orange van” these days but we’ll find something more appropriate as he does his stuff, welcome back Peter! With the festive season coming up there was plenty of joyful banter as well as tales of woe but the main thing on everyone’s mind was to catch on a very even stretch of beach.
With analysis of the Sea League Final pegging analysis at hand it was decided to push the match stretch slightly further west than we normally use between Great and Little Eye mounds. The mid and end pegs seem to do well in the Final so hopefully moving further to mid-field would enable everyone to record similar bags. The sea was almost flat with a 1 foot swell with a perfect colour but the sky was bright which was a bad omen for those elusive whiting. Fishing top down gave a good shingle bank to set up on but with a fairly big tide we would soon have to follow it down. Pegs were drawn and all were soon off to their allotted slots and for a change a decidedly lack of the trolley brigade, maybe they had lost their leader. Only one in the form of “consultant” Allison’s was observed and even that really was not one for the shingle as he soon found out.
With the buddies on the high bank all were more than ready at the whistle. With a flat sea it seems customary these days to start off with the venue chuck and Salthouse was no different. It wasn’t long before we knew that we were in for a decent match as the good old reliable dab were seen to be coming ashore. Almost everyone was into fish on the first cast and for a change some of a reasonable size in the 22-26cm range but it was “silver fox” Neave (peg 4) who was off to a flier with double and trebles coming ashore. Next to him “consultant” Allison (peg 5) was into small dabs but did report that “silver fox” was on his own personal mission to show that he still had the touch after being slaughtered by the youngsters over the past few weeks. On adjacent peg 6 “yoda” Thomas was into a nice 26cm dab first cast and slightly smaller versions on subsequent casts. However, a switch to a lighter rod resulted in all this disappearing for him and a number of blank retrieves followed, big mistake that switch! Next peg supremo “better booms” Beeton (peg 7) was for a change struggling somewhat with just a few dabs to show and a lot undersize. Was this a day when he could at last beat “better booms” went through “yoda’s” mind, big mistake that thought!
Back at the low end an intense battle was materialising between “red stuff” Randell (peg 3) and “sandy coke” Loke (peg 1) as they were exchanging fish for fish with some well into the 20cms. However, “sandy” coke had the end peg advantage and could roll his lead around and using this tactic took the initiative with a nice 29cm flounder worth 28 points on his card. In between these two was “captain” Ellis (peg 2) and although he was not struggling he could not match these two for numbers of fish and could not work out what he was doing wrong but remained upbeat. In the middle of the stretch, returning guru “orange van man” Simmons (peg 9) was filling up his card with lots of small and good size dabs and he had to admit he had been doing a lot of practicing on this particular beach over the last few weeks. “chig” Mushroom (peg 10) and his retired mutt were also into the small dabs but he then found a 28cm whiting which helped to put a few points on his card. After his success at Gorleston “no-longer dickleburgh man” Camilleri (peg 12) was in repeat mode as he was carding a lot of small dabs but finding it difficult to find any of real size which eventually was going to affect his final result.
Small dabs was also the name of the game for poor old “inspector” Morse (peg 13) who in between croaky coughs was not having a particularly good day. Although he had found a few dabs the numbers were not matching those around him and he was back in that trough which he has been in ever since his success at Kelling in early October, it’ll come back Peter! End peg 14 “steady” Carter was having a totally different day as he was reeling in fish after fish with a number of 25cm and over dabs earning serious points. His performance was in stark contrast to the previous week at Gorleston where he finished bottom of the pile and was probably a chance meeting with “umbrella man” ribbing him about this that sparked him into action at Salthouse.
As the ebbing tide direction started to switch the fish also began to slumber as only the odd one could be seen being returned. This was a time for the usual walk about and catch up on what the competition was all about as well as snatching a roll or two. With the tide well down it was time to move tripods closer to the waters edges and avoid the trudging up and down the shingle bank. Nothing better than sitting on the shingle at the water’s edge of a flat sea with the rod right low waiting for that monster flounder to bend the tip double. Slack water here can sometimes last a couple hours but on a biggish tide it can be over fairly quickly and fortunately this was the case here.
It was certainly a quiet time for most none more so than “better booms” Beeton who had been struggling with undersize dabs in his duel with “yoda” Thomas on next peg who had been keeping a slender leader. A change of tactics by “yoda” to a rolling lead suddenly improved his score although he probably was picking them up from “consultant” Allison’s swim who had suddenly found a couple of small dab treble shots. “better booms” was none too happy with these events as any attempt on rolling would have resulted in him ending up in the barren patch in front of “yoda”. This situation worsened even further for him as “yoda” hauled in a 30cm flounder worth 32points and giving him a good 40 points advantage over “better booms”. At which point “better booms” would have none of this and had to find the fish which he duly did with his smelly bait at close range. Whiting and a treble shot of dabs suddenly saw him catch and over-haul “yoda” by the whistle, it’s never over until the fat lady sings so true!
“consultant’s” run on next peg was slowing down and on adjacent peg “silver fox’s” train had certainly hit the buffers as the fish deserted him. Back on peg 2 “captain” was try to make amends by finding a monster 30cm dab but it was far too late to do any real damage. The contest was still raging on pegs 1 & 3 where “sandy coke’s” healthy lead suddenly evaporated as “red stuff” carded a 30cm flounder near the end to leap frog “sandy coke”. The news of this fish didn’t go down too well with “better booms” as he had given “red stuff” some of his specially prepared smelly lug but as it happens the flounder took a chunk of straight mackerel although a lot of “red stuff’s” fish were on those smellies. “orange van man’s” fish had dried up but a chance walk about followed by some rolling lead tactics soon had a few more good flatties on his card to put him back in the frame.
At the whistle it was the early success in the match and a bit of consistency which saw John “steady” Carter take the honours with 5lb 7 1/3oz from 25 fish. Second place was shared by Peter “orange van man” Simmons and travelling partner Henry “red stuff” Randell both with 4lb 12 2/3oz from 25 and 20 fish respectively. Heaviest club flat points was shared by Richard “captain” Ellis, Henry and Tony “yoda” Thomas who all had a 30cm (10 2/3oz) flatty and heaviest round points to Peter “inspector” Morse with a 31cm (7 1/3oz) whiting. The Super Pools result was the same as the club result.
A most enjoyable and competitive match on a perfect day for the shingle. Altogether 233 fish were caught weighing 45½lb of which 225 were dabs, 4 flounders and 4 whiting. Moving the pegs slightly further west than normal did even things out a bit although the 2 end pegs did record good results. To demonstrate this evenness the lowest 5 results were all within 8 points between 130 and 141 points (2lb 11 1/3oz – 2lb 15oz) which cannot be bad for the competitive addicts. If only the whiting would make a showing and then we would have some serious competition, maybe next match!
Next match is the for Ken Brown Cup at KELLING on SUNDAY 23RD DECEMBER fishing 10:00-3:00 and this will also be Xmas Fayre Open and North Norfolk Town Team Challenge. The Team Challenge will be for teams that are from or have had club members assigned to a town in the area. The club has resurrected a shield that used to be fished for in the past between Cromer, Holt and Sheringham and will be won by the winners but will be retained by the club. There will be no monies at stake here just bragging rights and hopefully we can bring back a bit of history. The Open will have the usual £12 fee for overall, section (if sufficient no.) and heaviest fish (flat/round) plus £1 access and there will also be a £5 Option Pool on overall position. Please bring a raffle prize and please let the committee know if you are attending. Members may also fish this match as a club match for club points where there will be no match fee just the £1 access fee.
This match is followed by the Janet Waller Cup and Annual Rocket House Open at SALTHOUSE on THURSDAY 27th DECEMBER fishing 9:00-2:00. It is traditional that this is a length only match where everything counts. The Open will again be a £12 fee for overall, section (if sufficient no.) and longest fish and there will also be an optional £5 Super Pools on overall position. There will be no raffle on this day but please let the committee know if you are attending. Members may also fish this match as a club match for club points where there will be no match fee.
The following SUNDAY 30TH DECEMBER will be a pure club match for the Matthews Cup at CLEY fishing 10:00-3:00. Normal club rules and fees will apply here.
The final match of this festive season will be for the Nelson Shield and New Year Open at KELLING on TUESDAY 1ST JANUARY 2013 fishing 10:00-3:00. The Open will have the usual £12 fee for overall, section (if sufficient no.) and heaviest fish (flat/round) plus £1 access and there will also be a £5 Option Pool on overall position. Please bring a raffle prize and please let the committee know if you are attending. Members may also fish this match as a club match for club points where there will be no match fee just the £1 access fee.
A very busy two weeks so let’s hope the weather is kind to us!!!
Seasons Greetings from the Committee!!!
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Club Result Top 5
1st John Carter 5lb 7 1/3oz (25 Fish)
2nd = Peter Simmons 4lb 12 2/3oz (25 Fish)
2nd = Henry Randell 4lb 12 2/3oz (20 Fish)
4th Peter Loke 4lb 8 1/3oz (24 Fish)
5th Bill Beeton 4lb 5 2/3oz (25 Fish)
Please use this link for full set of club match results … Holt SAC Match Results (16Dec12)
Please use this link for current league table… Holt SAC League Table (16Dec12)
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