7th Leg Summer Accumulator

Sunday 1st June 2014 - Cley

With Military Displaying being acted out at Muckleburgh it was a quick switch of the planned Kelling to another favourite venue in Cley. Norfolk Wild Life Trust have certainly been busy here and have nearly reinstated the whole car park,well done NWLT! An early start for some and soon the usual regulars plus others were gathering on this replenished space all hoping for a repeat of the previous match and hound fest at Salthouse. Seems like Hounds are top of everyone’s target list at the moment rather than the rather traditional Bass. The Attleborough and Dereham contingent were there early, very early to discuss the woes of the day with “ex-captain” Ellis fired up by his Tuesday night success and all he could say was ‘can’t wait until Kings Lynn, that’s the one that matters’. They were followed somewhat later by the Gorleston lot who were still recovering from their Sizewell/Bacton marathon accompanied by Oulton’s own “catalytic” Carter who won’t park on Tuesday night’s stretch of the river again. Also arriving and raring to go was that old Wells night owl who rarely fishes in daylight rookie “bells” Raven for his first taste of Holt SAC, welcome aboard again Gary. Also making an early appearance was “inspector” Morse for his first Summer session, nice to see you back Peter after your small health problem. Living close to Cley does not mean being there early but “reedy” Temple did eventually make it in plenty of time but grandson “protégée” Randell who lives even closer was not on anyone’s wavelength after his turmoils and success of the previous evening with big flounders. Arriving late, very late only to inform the gathering he had been summonsed to sea and wouldn’t be contesting, so no International to beat in the match today.

A pleasant morning beckoned with brightish sky and a very light wind with a touch of north east in it. The sea was flatish with a little swell as a result of the week’s northerlies but there was still a touch of that May brown stuff in the water along with some frothy scum at the water’s edge. Fishing just before top and down on a biggish tide meant following the tide but the beach at Cley is fairly flat so no hiking through mounds of shingle on the ebb. Pegging was on the usual club stretch at Cley, west from the boats towards Blakeney Point. All pegs were soon drawn with no customary complaint probably because “lucky” was in Kuala Lumpur and all were soon off to their allotted slots. Only a short walk for this session and bait traces were soon seen hanging from rods and tripods. A quick wander along the stretch confirmed the day’s quarry as orange and yellow juice could be seen dripping from those rigs. Well, all except “the consultant’s”, somebody had forgotten to remind Mr crab supplier for his but he really was a worm man. At the whistle all were soon projecting their baits just beyond the scum line and further.

At this stage there was a good left to right flow as the tide was reaching top and it wasn’t long before actioned started. First to show was “take it easy” Tovell (peg 8) with a small dab followed by “ex-captain” Ellis (peg 2) with a small flounder and then “tyre” Thomas (peg 4)(he too will not be parking on that stretch of the river again on Tuesday nights) with a nice dab. All small but within minutes the whole scene was about to change as “ex-captain” could be seen stalking towards the water’s edge which could only mean one thing, a big fish. Smooth-hound he quipped but no as a decent silver bar came sliding up the beach in the form of a 48cm bass and 110 points on his card, was it game over already? Further down the stretch “the boss” Morley (peg 11) found a nice 24cm dab and “the consultant” Allison (peg 13) an even better 29cm flounder. However, the luck was in the Ellis camp as dad “bigger baits” Ellis (peg 15) hauled in a 43cm bass as did rejuvenated “inspector” Morse (peg 9) with a 42cm bass. At this stage not much luck for “bells” Raven (peg 5), “silverfox” Neave (peg 10) , “catalytic” Carter (peg 12) and “reedy” Temple (peg 6) who were all failing to find a fish.

Not the case for “ex-Captain” as his form continued after the bass hauling in doubles and a treble shot of flounders and dabs including a nice 30cm flounder. “the boss” was also into some flounders but unfortunately for him nothing really serious. In contrast, “the consultant” managed to find another 29cm flounder as did “take it easy” a slightly smaller 26cm version. The Ellis camp were on fire as dad “bigger baits” found yet another bass but this time just 30cm although it did put up a fight. The strugglers were still struggling but “catalytic” at last managed to find a small flattie and then a nice plump 30cm flounder. The tide had started to ebb faster and slack water was creeping in resulting in whatever fish there was drying up for all except “ex-captain” who was finding a dab or flounder a cast. Much frustration to “tyre” on next peg who was still sitting on his single dab until his rod did a few nice nods and a 37cm bass was at last on his card.

Slack water brought no serious fish except the strugglers at last found something with “silverfox” 24cm flounder and his only fish of the day, “reedy” a 23cm dab which was destined for his supper and finally “bells” with his first Holt SAC fish a plump 24cm rockling. With slack water well established even “ex-captain” started to bring in empty traces but “catalytic” started to find some flounders which were clearly visible along the stretch which started to worry “ex-captain” a bit. As the tide started to pick up towards the end of the match the flounders began to feed resulting in “tyre” picking up a treble shot of good flatties but just a bit too late to stand a chance of catching “ex-captain”. He was still hauling in some good flounders but when he heard on the bush mobile that “the consultant”, “bigger baits” and “catalytic” were over 200 points he switched into serious mode rushing around after each chuck to get that extra one or two casts in before the end of the match. The tide had certainly switched the flounders on on the low peg numbers but the match was over before we really could take advantage of their appearance.

In the end the over 200 points was a ploy by the higher number pegs and Richard “ex-captain” Ellis was easy top rod with 6lb 6 1/3oz from 14 fish. Next was a surprised Tony “tyre” Thomas with 3lb 0oz from 7 fish followed by Dick “bigger baits” Ellis with 2lb 10oz from just 4 fish. Heaviest fish points went to Richard and John “catalytic” Carter for their 30cm (10 2/3oz) Flounders and Richard for his 48cm (2lb 4 2/3oz) bass. The super pool result was the same as the club match.

Not a brilliant match for most but with 5 bass caught we cannot complain. This time we really did get our match times wrong giving us all the slack water and no real fish. There were fish at the start and they were certainly coming on at the end so we should have started 2-3 hours later and got all the ebb as well as the start of the flood when maybe we could have seen a hound or two. We will know for future matches and could result in time changes for the remaining summer matches.

Next club match and open is the 1st Round of the West Norfolk Challenge at KINGS LYNN – WEST BANK (North) on SUNDAY 8TH JUNE fishing 1:00-6:00. Please note this is an hour later start than in the advertised fixture list and will club members please bring a raffle prize.
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Richard Ellis 6lb 6 1/3oz (14 fish)
2nd Tony Thomas 3lb 0oz ( 7 fish)
3rd Dick Ellis 2lb 10oz ( 4 fish)
4th Peter Morse 1lb 14oz ( 3 fish)
5th Keith Morley 1lb 9 1/3oz ( 8 fish)