Holt SAC North Norfolk National Sea League Round 6 (Report)

Sunday 12th March 2017 - Bacton

 

 

The last Holt SAC match of the 2016-17 season and Final Round 6 of the North Norfolk National Sea League was played out on the sand at BACTON on Sunday 12th March. The match draw was in Castaways Cliff Top Inn where we also had a Buffet followed by presentation of the league trophy and winnings for the six rounds after the match. Many thanks again to Ana and Richard for allowing us to use their premises as a base and for an excellent buffet.

 

Long range forecast for the day was stiff northerlies and a probable no no for Bacton but as the time got closer this changed to a flat calm with a gentle to moderate south south easterly and they got it almost spot on. However, they did mention rain at some time during the match but thankfully with this being a no-buddy beach this never materialised. A slightly overcast day gave ideal conditions and with just a hint of a swell perfect for those stonking Bacton Flounders but of course this was March and not October. At bit of a swell may have helped but there we are never satisfied.

 

Pegging for this one was planned to have the 5 zones west of the first pipe and either side of the other two pipes although we may not have got those around the 2nd and 3rd pipes quite right. From our past experiences these appear to be the most productive slots on this beach but on this occasion we think we got this slightly wrong.   Difficult to 100% predict here were the fish are residing when the beach changes on every tide. Since our match there two weeks previous the sand had built up 2-3 feet under the revetments and off course they have been getting on with their caged flints “protecting” the Gas Site. Was told they are spend £150k on this, maybe they should have put 2 noughts on this and put rock armouring along the whole stretch if they want something to work long term on such a strategic site. Anyway many thanks to Henry Randell, Kevin Warner and Luke Brierley for the pegging.

 

For a change the tide was nicely ebbing from the start and everyone were well in front of the revetments at the whistle. It was then a matter of following the tide for the first 2-3 hours until it finally decided to reach bottom for the last couple of hours. Tactics were varied with the casters doing a bit of distance with others trying to find the close gullies or sussing out their prime pipe slots. Early on there was not much filling of buckets but rods were rattling or should we say twitching as small undersized Whiting came ashore, suppose you would say 8cm is small. To add to this nuisance there was weed to contend with, not a lot just enough to be annoying particularly to the casters. However, they did find the odd Dab amongst this weed which put something on their cards.

 

It was soon apparent that it was going to be grim and it was a matter of luck if you could get through the small Whiting to the other fish that were still there. Not big and not in numbers but still there. A few small Dabs along with odd good one and there were a very few reasonable Flounders but not those stonking specimens.   A few slinky sizeable whiting were found amongst the army of small ones but they were well past their sell by date but never mind good points on the card. Changing tactics for some to a bit of distance towards the end as the tide started to flood was rewarded with a few of these Whiting but just a bit too late for a big score. However, there always seems to be a special or surprise fish at this venue and this match was no exception with a 31cm Sole in the last throws of the match from west of the 3rd pipe. The expectation of lots of school Bass was unfounded with just three being recorded.

 

A poor match for numbers of fish but even out of the 33 team members there were only 4 blanks so there was a good competitive result. Although one of their team struggled AVENUE ANGLING NORWICH came on top yet again with 6 penalty points from 3 zone wins and a zone third. Runners up having a similar profile with their International Captain struggling were TEAM MAVER with 10 penalty points from 3 zone seconds and a zone fourth. With their Captain shovelling snow in Norway a rejuvenated JC’s BOYS took final podium slot with 14 penalty points from 2 zone seconds, a zone fourth and a zone sixth.

 

The Individuals result followed that of the Teams with ANDY GALLACHER (Avenue Angling Norwich) taking the honours with 1lb 9oz from 6 fish closely followed by JAKE COOPER (Team Maver) with 1lb 6oz from 7 fish. Final podium place went to GARY MEDLER (Avenue Angling Norwich) with 1lb 5oz from 4 fish. Heaviest Flat fish was that 31cm (12oz) Sole taken by PAUL HARVEY (JC’s Boys) and Heaviest Round a 29cm (8 1/3oz) Bass to ALAN DOY (Gorleston Tackle). Altogether 98 fish (40 Dabs, 25 Flounders, 20 Whiting, 8 Rockling, 3 Bass, 1 Sole and 1 Coal Fish) were recorded weighing just 22½ lb.

 

In the Zones, KEVIN WARNER (Holt Crack Offs) found a series of 4 flounders and a whiting to take Zone A with 59 points from 5 fish and 4 place overall. Zone A runner up was PAUL HARVEY with 57 points from 4 fish very much helped by that Sole worth 36 points close to the end giving him 6th place overall. Overall winner ANDY GALLACHER took Zone B with his card of 5 Flounders and a Dab for 74 points. Zone B runner up was second place man JAKE COOPER with 67 points from 7 fish which was also most fish of the match.

 

Zone C winner was JEFF STANNARD (Gorleston Tackle) with 58 points from 6 fish and 5th place overall and runner-up PETER MORSE (JC’s Boys) with 31 points from 3 fish and 17th place overall. Zone D was taken by third place man GARY MEDLER with 63 boosted by a 29cm Flounder and 27cm Dab with a total of 4 fish. Zone runner-up was BILLY TEMPLE (Team Maver) with 46 points from 5 fish. The final Zone E was taken by DAVID READ (Avenue Angling Norwich) who found some Whiting at the end for 56 points from 5 fish and 7th place overall. Just one point behind was Zone runner-up DAVE BURR (Team Maver) with 55 points from 6 points.

 

This was the Final North Norfolk Sea League match of the 2016-2017 season and with the worst score dropped of the 6 rounds AVENUE ANGLING NORWICH were crowned champions with just 30 penalty points, a team comprising of GARY MEDLER (Captain), JOHN BOWER, ANDY GALLACHER, RICHARD JACOBS and DAVID READ. Runners up were TEAM MAVER with 46 penalty points who managed their squad well to ensure they had a full team for each match. Final podium place went to HOLT CRACK OFFS with 66 penalty points who struggled at times to field a full team but were kept in contention by quality performances from their star players. Full final League table is detailed below.

 

 

"Ana"

Andy Gallacher, Richard Jacobs, Gary Medler, David Read, John Bower

 

This match was also the final match of the Club’s 40 match Overall League of which 7 were cancelled. The result of this match determined who was Overall Club Champion who accumulated 710 points with the runner-up just 7 points behind on 703 points.   To keep everyone in suspense particularly the one who is wondering if he did enough, these results and complete final league table will be released shortly.

 

Even though the sea and weather conditions were ideal we all knew it may well be tough and we certainly don’t want to dwell on this. The short league meeting after the match agreed that the future of the North Norfolk National Sea League and how/who runs it would be determine by the Holt SAC AGM in two weeks time. It was also agreed that if the league continues it will adopt a size limit of 18cm for all fish to bring it in line with Holt SAC rules and the National Sea League Final ruling. The meeting also agreed that Gt. Yarmouth and/or Gorleston should be considered as venues for next season. All teams qualify for the NSL Final in Eastbourne on the weekend of 18th/19th November. Six of the Eight North Norfolk Sea League teams have said they will be potentially participating and each will receive around £40 contribution from the league towards their entry fee for the Final.

 

This has been an interesting Sea League season with some quality rounds as well as one or two not so good. Even so over the 6 matches there were just 6 blanks and 4 of these were in this last match which proves there is plenty of fish on the shingle for such a series. Some teams struggled to find a full team for every match which jeopardized their chances of being in contention for being on the podium at the end but sure they will address this in the future. Let’s hope it all continues next season … Tony T

 

Top 10 Individuals (on the day) …

 

1…Andy Gallacher……...1lb..8 2/3oz….(6 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)

2…Jake Cooper…..……...1lb..6 1/3oz….(7 fish)..(Team Maver)

3…Gary Medler………......1lb..5oz………..(4 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)

4…Kevin Warner……..…..1lb..3 2/3oz….(5 fish)..(Holt Crack Offs)

5…Jeff Stannard…………..1lb..3 1/3oz…(6 fish)..(Gorleston Tackle)

6…Paul Havey…..………...1lb.. 3oz………(4 fish)..(JC’s Boys)

7…David Read……...……..1lb..2 2/3oz..(6 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)

8…Dave Burr………………..1lb..2 1/3oz..(6 fish)..(Team Maver)

9…Kevin Green…..………..1lb..1 1/3oz…(6 fish)..(North Norfolk Lads)

10.Alan Doy……..………....1lb..1/3oz…..(3 fish)..(Gorleston Tackle)

 

Teams (on the day) …

 

1...Avenue Angling Norwich ..4 penalty points

2...Team Maver.….………….....10 penalty points

3…JC’s Boys ………….............14 penalty points

4…North Norfolk Lads .……….15 penalty points

5…Gorleston Tackle..………….16 penalty points

6= Holt Crack Offs …………….18 penalty points

6= Pete’s Baits…………………...18 penalty points

8…Holt SAC Youths………..…..31 penalty points

 

Final Team Position (2016-2017) …

 

1...Avenue Angling Norwich ..30 penalty points

2...Team Maver.….…………......46 penalty points

3… Holt Crack Offs ………….....66 penalty points

4…North Norfolk Lads .…………68 penalty points

5…Gorleston Tackle..……………71 penalty points

6…JC’s Boys …………………………88 penalty points

7…Pete’s Baits…………………….113 penalty points

8…Holt SAC Youths………..….151 penalty points

 

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