Salthouse Tuesday 27th December 2011 – Janet Waller Cup & Rocket House Open
With the wind , weather and sea conditions identical to our outstanding match at Cley 2 weeks earlier we were expecting some good sport and we were not disappointed. Overcast skies and chilly South Westerly greeted us at Salthouse beach car park but with temperatures akin to mid-October and with all fish counting the sweat was certainly to pour. As is the tradition with the Annual Rocket House Open this was a “length only” match with every fish counting so numbers of fish was the target for the day. A healthy contingent of club members along with a good show from round the corner gathered nice and early at the car park for this post-festive match to join in a lot of pre-match banter. Well, all except “diver” Gedney who forgot to bring his compass and has problems navigating East of the Gt. Ouse.
Pegging was as usual West from Great Eye mound up to the iron works and in front of Little Eye. Fishing top down left a good flat shingle stretch to set up on and with a slightly reduced peg distance this made it rather cosy and would certainly help with all the running around that was predicted. As expected everyone was more than prepared for the off where a gentle overhead thump seemed to be the order of the day. As is the norm, first cast is a good indicator of prospects to come and this was to be no different as “yoda” Thomas had a small whiting and dab on his card within 5 minutes and this was to set the theme for the whole match. At the same time fish could be seen to be returned along the whole stretch so we really were in for a good session.
With so many fish being caught early on it became particularly hectic and it was important to try and target double and treble shots each cast to just keep up with your neighbour. A few blank retrieves at this stage of the match could jeopardize your standing at the end . The majority were finding doubles and trebles but in the early stages a few were only managing a solitary fish, namely “red stuff” Randell, “long snoods” Goochie, “yoda” and “end peg” Allen who for a change was stuck out on peg one. In the middle of the pack one particular person, “captain” Ellis was having a torrid time and was struggling to even find one fish. As the match progressed it turned into frantic battles between trios of anglers comprising of “silver fox” Neave, “no hat” Attew and “diver” Gedney at the high end along with in the adjoining pegs “dereham man” Allison, “no name yet” Ellis and “ladders” Leggett.
Further along the stretch “smooth” Conway was doing his usual trick with small dabs in his tussle with “piffy” Randleson and “steady Carter” but as the ebb started to stutter so did his catch rate. Next to this group was an even more intense skirmish between “bass man” Beeton,”gorleston bender” Tovell and “big feet” Lacey who were neck and neck on fish numbers and length. Alongside this trio was “big eels” Medler who was matching them fish for fish but “the boss” Morley on next peg was beginning to falter and someone did say he probably was going to be fired. Even so he was still giving “dickleburgh man” Camilleri and “end peg” Allen a run for their money.
As the tide ebbed even further the weed started to appear and the catch for most began to diminish for a few. However, young Henry once again had changed tactics with a gentle lob and was straight into more good dabs and whiting trebles. This sparked “long snoods” Gooch to follow suit with a similar result except he could find only miniature dabs. Next to the youngster was “sandy coke” Loke now dubbed “lucky” who stuck to his own usual game of a good lob throughout the match and was carding treble shots of small dabs interspersed with the odd good whiting. However, it was “ladders” Leggett whose Blackpool combinations were really doing the business as he continued to reel in treble and double shots of small dabs along with the odd big whiting. For a while it appeared all around him had been matching him but when he asked for a 2nd card that was 47 fish , he was on the home run.
Although others had tried their hardest it was Clyde “ladders” Leggett who came out top with 1198cm from 57 fish followed by clubman Sam “no hat” Attew with 1055cm from 45 fish. Final podium slot went to Paul “gorleston bender” Tovell who was just one fish away with 1045cm from 52 fish. Longest flat on the day went to Dick Ellis with a 33cm Dab almost on his last cast and longest round to Tony Thomas with a 36cm Whiting.
All in all a cracking match with plenty of competition and 787 fish recorded (761 dabs and odd flounder, 26 whiting, rockling and a scorpion fish). This equated to 164 metres of fish with an average of 782 cm and 37 fish per man, we certainly got this one right. Next on the agenda is the New Year Open 2012 and Nelson Shield match at Kelling on Monday 2nd January 2012.
Open Match Result Top 5
1st Clyde Leggett 1109cm 57 fish
2nd Sam Attew 1055cm 45 fish
3rd Paul Tovell 1045cm 52 fish
4th Bill Beeton 987cm 46 fish
5th Gary Medler 963cm 49 fish
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Sam Attew 1055cm 45 fish
2nd Bill Beeton 987cm 46 fish
3rd John Neave 947cm 48 fish
4th Ian Gedney 936cm 44 fish
5th Peter Loke 861cm 39 fish
—— … ——
Comments are closed