8th Leg Summer Accumulator and Sabre Tackle Summer League Match 6 (Report)

Saturday 6th June 2015 - Bacton

For this one it was the turn for a bit of sand to give the “sand pipers” a go on their favourite beaches. A Saturday evening session at Bacton was on the menu to target those hounds and the chance of a bevy afterwards in the infamous Jolly Roger to celebrate success followed by a leisurely drive home and a Sunday morning lie in to recover from those arm aching specimens. Well that was the plan but the howl of the “Lincs Hounds” scuppered some of this producing a slightly reduced turnout but more than enough to give us a decent match. With a number of club members focused on the specimen scene in these summer months it would be good to give them something from the club to register their efforts so we have a plan on the stocks for next year, not a “cunning plan” just a plan so watch this space.

Castaways was again our meeting point on this sunny but rather windy afternoon. All were making a leisurely drive to the venue nice and early for the draw although one was slightly behind schedule. That was “Mr Organiser” himself who got “take it easy” worried when on arrival he found no beach pegged and no sign of the said person. A quick call soon took away the concerns as “Mr Organiser” was for a change in relaxed mood and keeping to the speed limits. Fishing last of the ebb and the flood gave us plenty of sand from the off and with just a slight swell there would be no problem later on. With a couple of “pleasurers” in our usual close peg bay to the right of the first pipe, “take it easy” advised to put close pegs in the bay to the left of the pipe with the remainder either side of the2nd pipe. This would avoid the rather barren 2nd bay to the left of the pipe but sods law prevailed as the pleasurers then packed up in our usual bay because there was too much weed, was this a bad omen for our match?

Back at Castaways base camp all were undeterred about all this and were well into banter mode prior to the draw which included the “Carter Camp” and on this sunny afternoon the “High Powered Watts” contingent had made all the way from Ely with “biblical” intent on showing the boys a thing or two, fishing wise of course! There was also “hokey pokey” having a siesta on the seaward facing OAP bench dreaming about what bass were swarm in front of him until he was rudely awaken by reality. Close pegs were soon snapped up leaving the so called fit mob to hike out to the 2nd pipe, was this a good choice, only time would tell. All were soon charging to their pegs out on the sand with the majority taking the Shell bodged route down the slip with the odd one using the Castaways steps directly to the beach. Fortunately, the sand was hard and the long walkers and associated trollies were soon in place. Not much weed on the beach and after the whistle we were soon going to find out if the pleasurers were telling us porkies or not.

Bacton is a venue where you have to find the fish and all ranges were being used by everyone at the start of this one. The tide was a relatively big one so fishing the last of the ebb would mean fishing close in at the start but it soon became apparent the pleasurers were right and the real weed was there. Fishing close in soon attracted lots of the loose red weed which was easy to get off but there was plenty of it. Surprisingly this did not deter the fish as flounders and dabs started to come ashore from this range. The dabs mainly from the 1st pipe and some good flounders from the 2nd pipe which was a pattern that was established for the whole match. In contrast, a little distance avoided some of the red stuff by keeping rods high but was replaced by that muddy sludge fine weed which was a devil of a job to remove. However, distance still brought in similar flounders and dabs from these two locations as well a few schoolies, rather small but good to see them around for the future.

There were fish there from the off and if we had started earlier then probably more would have been found but we were after something slightly bigger by fishing an evening flood. As the tide bottomed and started to flood the weed issue initially eased particularly at slack water and cards started to be filled with some good flounders, dabs and schoolies. In addition, to these a couple of whiting appeared at the 2nd pipe with one being 35cm, so where did that come from. To add, to this a gunnard also came from this pipe and not to be out done the 1st pipe found a small pout and a 49cm eel, you always can get surprises at this venue. Although, there were a few quality flounders along the whole stretch, the 2nd pipe seemed to have the majority but these all suddenly ceased as slack water came and went. However, the flooding tide did eventually switch the fish on but it also brought back that red weed in vengeance creating major problems for those around the pipes. For some of them they had to retire as it was becoming impossible to avoid the stuff.

For those that could avoid the weed this state of the tide was rewarding with fish coming back on the feed and in the end it was numbers of fish that did the business rather than quality of fish. Top weight of 7lb from 26 fish came from the 1st pipe end but the runner up came from the 2nd pipe end with 6lb 3oz from just 17 fish. Altogether 129 fish were recorded (74 dabs, 37 flounders, 13 bass, 1 pout, 2 whiting, 1 eel and 1 gunnard) weighing 42lb 5oz. Surprisingly, the majority of the quality flounders came from the 2nd pipe but the majority of the fish came from the 1st pipe. Our objective for fishing the evening flood at this venue was those smooth hounds but not even a sniff of them and even those big bass from here were elusive. Maybe if we had fished more of the flood into dark would have brought the desired results although suspect that red weed and muddy sludge stuff could have been the culprits, maybe next time!

On the individual performances, peg 15 was situated adjacent to the left hand side of the 1st pipe and on board was “short walk” Borley on what is his favourite peg.   Although he had 4 small dabs early on, weed becme his major problem particularly as the tide turned and a suggestion to cast over the pipe was not taken up. However, he did find a further 3 flounders including a cracking one of 34cm for 107 points from his 7 fish. On next peg 14 was “the boss” Morley who was having a quiet day by his standards who also had small dabs at the start followed by a small bass. Further dabs and a couple of flounders with one being a nice 32cm version helped to bump his score up to 139 points from 10 fish. His sparring partner “take it easy” Tovell was next door (peg 13) and he too was having a quiet day and was well into dab mode with 9 dabs and one pout for 86 points. “cuddly” Carter (peg 12) was also into dab mode and although she could only find 3 they were good

specimens with the largest 27cm. Unfortunately, the weed was her major problem as her close range was taking her bait well down tide resulting in 47 points on her card but she’ll be back for more. Hubby “steady” Carter (peg 11) was also into these dabs but he also found 3 small bass, a 33cm flounder and that 49cm eel to give him 222 points from 11 fish and a shot at a podium place.

Next peg 10 was ‘Birthday Boy’ “last cast” Watts who is always here to do the business and yet again his 10 minute casts were doing the job and kicking off with a small bass helped to get his score card going. He was finding the fish but a lot of his flatties were very small and not generating serious points but a couple of 28cm and a 29cm flounder helped improve his score which was aided by another small bass. However, a last cast double shot of 20cm dab and 32cm flounder probably sealed victory for him with 336 points from 26 fish. Trying to emulate hubby was “biblical” Watts (peg 9) who was plagued with this weed problem from the off with casts being swept round. However, a quick casting tip from “take it easy” put yards on her cast avoiding the worst of the weed resulting in what you would expect from advice from “take it easy” Tovell a bucketful of dabs. altogether 10 in total with the best a 28cm specimen giving her a healthy 126 points, she certainly was showing the boys a thing or two!

First peg in the 2nd pipe zone was “silver fox” Neave (peg 6) who was more on a species hunt than points by locating a 28cm whiting after a couple of dabs. A 31cm flounder helped to improve his score but it was the lack of fish that beat him although he did find that 22cm gunnard to give him 114 points from 8 fish. “super sub” Brown was having a cracking day with a couple of 29cm and a 30cm flounder along with that 35cm whiting helped to give him serious points and further decent flounders put him well in contention for top spot. However, young Danny next to him was struggling with the weed and had to retire with over an hour to go with 262 points from 14 fish. “young catcher” Brown (peg 4) was adjacent to the 2nd pipe but could not get the distance to avoid the weed and had to retire late on with 3 dabs on his card for 50 points although this included a 26cm and 28cm specimens. Many thanks Danny for collecting the pegs at this end!

On the other side of the 2nd pipe was “hokey pokey” Loke (peg 3) which under normal circumstances was a dream peg for him. He certainly demonstrated this with a first cast 34cm flounder followed by one of 32cm but the weed was his undoing and he struggled with this as it it continued to clog up his reels. As the tide turned it took him into the pipe which was the last straw and he abandoned his session for an early ‘take away’ with 109 points from 4 fish. “small hooks” Stannard (peg 2) was struggling to find his rhythm and his close tactic was throwing him into the weed and taking him into the path of “hokey pokey”. However he persevered and a 35cm flounder boosted his confidence but a lack of fish on the flood gave him just 136 points from just 6 fish. In contrast “yoda” Thomas (peg 1) was finding the fish from the off with a nice 30cm flounder first cast followed by a small bass. A slight distance helped to keep out the red weed but the clingy muddy stuff was a real nuisance. The trusted lug and wriggler combination worked well bringing in a succession of good flounders and 5 small bass. Distance and rod held high to avoid the weed helped to bring fish ashore right through the flood in contrast to “small hooks” giving him 297 points from 17 fish and shot at a podium place.

In the end it was numbers of fish which did the business with Mike “last cast” Watts taking the honours with 7lb 0oz from 26 fish. Runner up was Tony “yoda” Thomas with 6lb 3oz from 17 fish followed by Shane “super sub” Brown with 5lb 7oz from 14 fish. Heaviest flat was Jeff Stannard’s 35cm (1lb 1 1/3oz) flounder and heaviest round John Carter’s 49cm (11oz) eel.  

A match that did not produce our intended smooth hound quarry and a match that was dominated by that red and muddy weed. However, we demonstrated that we can contend against such conditions and produce some quality fish. At the moment this was the club’s last summer match at Bacton and would like to thank Anna and Richard for the continued use of Castaways for our matches there. Next club match is back to the shingle at Salthouse on Sunday 14th June 2015 fishing 9:00 – 2:00 LW 12:07 4.5m which is one hour later than in the fixture list.

Club Match Result Top 5

1st Mike Watts          7lb 0 oz          (26 Fish)

2nd Tony Thoma       6lb 3oz           (17 Fish)

3rd Shane Brown      5lb 7 1/3oz      (14 Fish)

4th John Carter         4lb 10oz          (11 Fish)

5th Keith Morley        2lb 14 1/3oz    (10 Fish)

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