2nd Leg Summer Accumulator and Sabre Tackle League Match 11 (Report)
Sunday 19th April 2015 - Bacton
"The Sand"
With High Pressure dominant for well over a week everyone was a bit apprehensive about this match. This was further exaggerated by forecasts of fresh to strong North to North Easterlies raising the possibility of white water on the whole match stretch. A slightly overcast Sunday morning showed that those weather men had got it spot on and the early arrivals were soon looking rather concerned as the water battered against the revetments. Thoughts of switching to the shingle were soon dispelled not because of the fear of upsetting “big baits” Lake but because it really did look a very bassy sea. Pegging for this one was five pegs to the right of the first pipe for the close peggers and twenty pegs exactly between first and second pipe. Observing the sea from Castaways Cliff was a bit misleading by a stiff blow in your face but down at sea level totally different with a nice surf rolling in on the ebbing tide. The only problem was for the trolley brigade because the gas site contractors had for whatever reason placed immovable fencing on the access slope to the beach. Not even a metre strip on the slope for access for anyone even themselves, looked like a deliberate act to prevent public et al using the slope.
Anyway with the match stretch pegged a good turnout was in full banter mode in Castaways Jolly Roger relating their experiences of the previous week. Fishing the ebb down to the bottom and up a bit meant fishing from the open beach not behind the revetments but the fresh northerly was holding in the tide so a delayed start time of 30 mins until 11:00 was agreed to allow all to be in front of the revetments from the off. Such a delay meant more banter and more excellent bacon butties and coffee to indulge in. Thanks again to Anna and Richard for their hospitality and allowing us to once again use their premises. Grand job with the Jolly Roger construction project, hats off to you both for your initiative on this one. Anyway it was back to the draw where everyone was happy with their close and double pegs although “pikey” Muirhead did moan about the distance to his end peg 1, slap bang alongside the second pipe, come on “speedy”! Three more new members joining during the week with Peter Livermore joining us for this one, welcome aboard Peter, we’ll soon have a nickname or two for you. A few notable absentees for this one particularly the club’s two England Youth Internationals in Henry Randell and Jake Cooper who were on a squad day at Shoreham showing the rest how to catch A fish, well done lads! Another top man away was Mike Watts out in the Caribbean without his rods, so he said which left the pundits speculating that maybe the person to take up this mantle was a rare appearance of Tom Gibbs who had done the business recently at Kelling. Anyway all seemed quite happy with their pegs and it was into the wind for a short walk or trolley haul to the pegs. Unfortunately, it was a hapless start for poor old (not really so old) “inspector” Morse whose trolley took control of its powered decent of the rough edge of the slope although it did make it to the bottom intact but a bit loose.
Two paragraphs on and not a mention of fish, it’s getting worse. So now to begin as everyone just managed to set up seaward side of the revetments, at least we got that delay right! A few elected to erect brollies and buddies even though we were chasing the tide but some do like their comfort out of the wind especially “the boss” Morley who likes to keep his bones warm these days. All were more than ready for the whistle and it was obvious from the start that the majority were targeting behind the third of fourth breaker as there was little depth of water close where the small surf was rolling in. It soon became apparent that we were going to be troubled by weed, not surprising with a northerly as lines started to be hauled in with the loose stuff on them. Not a serious problem, easy to get off but a nuisance when you got to the leader knot. It also became apparent that we were in for struggle as empty rigs started to come ashore and on the majority of occasions with bait attached. Although the tide was ebbing it was a slow process probably due to the wind holding it up. Even so this process showed that the beach wasn’t perfectly flat but full of hollows and ideal for those stonking flounders to lay up in but they were just not there. One can only speculate why it remained barren so long into the ebb but maybe the beach was flatter than we expected and too much shallow water with the rolling surf.
The dead lock was soon overcome as a decent flounder was seen carded along with a rockling and a small whiting but these came to those that were putting a bit of distance to their cast, well beyond the white water. Things then started to look up as a double shot of a 43cm bass and 32cm flounder was seen rolling in through the surf. With the ebb well on its way everyone was full of anticipation but again rods remained motionless except for the nodding in the surf. Again these fish came to those that were putting some distance into their cast but for the rest it was the same old story. As the ebb bottomed the odd fish or two were found but for most it was a pointless struggle. A further two bass were found with the odd flounder, dab, whiting and rockling but it was a real dire day. Fortunately, the weed died way but started up again as the flood began but this was no consolation to those who had empty cards. In the end it was the bass that won the day with 5lb 1oz taking the match from just 6 fish. In total just 23 fish (10 flounders, 3 dabs, 5 whiting, 2 rockling and 3 bass) were recorded weighing a total of just under 10½ lb.
On the individual performances, the only advantage the close peggers had was that it was a short walk but the so called “slope” made short work of that on the way back. End peg “inspector” Morse (peg 25) tried every trick in the book but a blank card just added to his woes as he was the one with the runaway trolley. On the other hand “take it easy” Tovell (peg 24) was one of those with some distance and ended up with a mixture of flounders, dabs, whiting and a solitary rockling totalling 8 fish for 101 points which included a nice 29cm flounder. On this particular day this score put him well in contention, certainly for a podium placing. The final close pegger was “short walk” Borley just right of the first pipe on peg 24, a known hot spot but he too struggled. However, he did manage to winkle out his customary 27cm flounder on Irish wrigglers to give him 21 points. On the other side of the first pipe “taxi” Kendrick (peg 18) could not find a fish to drive home the same as “steady” Carter (peg 17) whose storming start to the year seems to have petered out. The “gods” were certainly looking down on “super sub” Brown (peg 16) in this match as he managed to scrape out not just a small ting but a decent 28cm whiting and 16 points. Although out of contention in the match this fish very much kept alive his chance of the Sabre Tackle title.
The “old” match stalwart “the boss” Morley tucked away in his buddy on peg 13 did his usual trick of finding a decent 28cm flounder and a small ting although he would say the latter was undersize but he did get 30 points for them in total. Next was that “Cleethorpes Warrior” hot from a touch of Humber flounder bashing in “Ping Pong Po” Loke (peg 12) who managed to scrape out a small flounder and decent rockling for 19 points. No such luck for “young catcher” Brown (peg 15), “part time” Clarke (peg 14) and “silver fox” Neave (peg 10) who could not repeat their respective successes at Kelling the previous week and found nothing to measure. Even “big baits” Lake (peg 11) on one of his favourite sandy beaches could not find fish but watch this space he will be back big time. Then we come to the man who really knew where the fish were in “off duty” Gibbs (peg 9) who kicked off with a fine 24cm flounder . He followed this with a 43cm bass and 32cm flounder double shot and shortly afterwards a 33cm bass all on lug, none of this fancy peeler stuff. He wasn’t finished here as a stonking 37cm flounder was soon added to his card and for good measure a smaller 23cm version. These gave him an amazing 243 points from these 6 fish and certainly a real contender for top spot on the day.
Making his Bacton match debut was club rookie “trolley man” Livermore (peg 7) who was using all his experience to locate a fish and eventually succeeded in finding a decent 28cm flounder for 24 points. His first club match and although he only had one fish he said he had thoroughly enjoyed the session particularly having to work at finding a fish, spot on Peter! In a similar situation was “yoda” Thomas (peg 5) although he could have been dubbed “umbrella trolley man” or even “weaver man” for the day. He was trying everything to find a fish and with rigs scattered around his trolley he eventually had a few small taps on his mono resulting in a small 32cm bass on his card for 34 points. Finding fish was also “small hooks” Stannard’s (peg 3) challenge and the weed with his light gear gave him an end of groyne experience early on. He survived this to sneak in a decent 28cm flounder and nice 24cm dab for 38 points. Final two pegs were renowned hot spots adjacent to the second pipe with “blacks” Bulch (peg 2) and “pikey” Muirhead (peg 1) on board. Unfortunately, you get nothing for location reputation and both failed to find a fish all day which seriously dented “blacks” challenge for the Sabre Tackle title.
In the end it was of course Tom “off duty” Gibbs who as predicted took over Mr Watts’s mantle for the day with a winning total of 5lb 1oz from 6 fish.
The Winner
Next was the ever consistent Paul “take it easy” Tovell with 2lb 2oz from 8 fish followed by Jeff “small hooks” Stannard with 13oz from 2 fish. Heaviest flat on the day went to Tom with his 37cm (1lb 4oz) flounder and he also took the heaviest round with his 43cm (1lb 11oz) bass . These results have finalised the Sabre Tackle League standings with Shane Brown taking the title with 281 points with Tony Thomas creeping into second spot with 278 points followed by Mark Borley and Christian Bulch tying for third spot on 275 points. An extremely close league after 11 matches and it’s a pity this match was not to the standard of the others but enough said about performances in this one.
"Cleethorpes Warrior" "Umbrella Trolley Man"
Definitely one of the poorest matches for some time for most but good on Tom for finding the bass and Paul for finding the fish. In contrast, this could be a good omen for the Bass Festival particularly as there are reports of more bass coming off the shingle. Next club match is on Sunday 26th April and has been moved from Salthouse to Kelling fishing 11:00 – 4:00 with draw on the Muckleburgh Collection cliff car park from 9:15. The switch of venue is to avoid the Salthouse car parking problems and to check out the match stretch for the Bass Festival.
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Tom Gibbs 5lb 1oz (6 Fish)
2nd Paul Tovell 2lb 1 2/3oz (8 Fish)
3rd Jeff Stannard 0lb 12 2/3oz (2 Fish)
4th Tony Thomas 0lb 11 1/3oz (1 Fish)
5th Keith Morley 0lb 10oz (1 Fish)
Sabre Tackle League Standings Top 5
1st Shane Brown 281 points
2nd Tony Thomas 278 points
3rd= Christian Bulch 275 points
3rd= Mark Borley 275 points
5th John Neave 240 points
Sabre Tackle Winter League - Final Table
------ ... ------
