7th Leg Winter Accumulator and Sabre Tackle Winter League Round 2
Sunday 15th February 2015 - Cley
After the grueller at Kelling everyone was particularly pessimistic about another match on the shingle so soon after that one. To add further to their concerns was the forecast of light to moderate easterly with a touch of north coinciding with a small neap tide which is not the best combination to have on the east coast. Even so it was a murky quiet morning with an odd glimpse of the sun that greeted an excellent turnout at Cley beach car park. A strong contingent of the Sabre following were also making themselves apparent albeit a bit late, showing that they may just be starting to like the shingle. It was good to see a healthy group of Juniors all in proper match mode along with “lady” Watts bracing herself for some fresh air sport, well done Rachel! This all bodes well for our Juniors Tournament and Ladies Championships in early May.
Pegging was back to our usual stretch west of the boats towards Blakeney Point which with such a good turnout meant a bit of a hike for some. However, fishing all the ebb on a neap meant some good hard sand out and a small strip of sand on the way back. The sea had some colour but not flat with a 2-3 foot swell which was slightly concerning if we were having to target the flatties. Everyone was hoping for low peg as this stretch has demonstrated in the past that is where the fish have been found but this time it did not go quite as predicted. After plenty of chat pegs were soon drawn and everyone was soon off to their allotted slots including the 3 trolley brigade.
By the time the whistle went the weather had turned rather chilly and the sea had started to pick up with wind being a bit more north of east.
As it appeared that the swell would increase as the match wore on it was imperative to locate fish early on to at least have something recorded. After the experiences of the previous match everyone was nervous that we were in for a repeat so locating the fish early on was of paramount importance. This has become a difficult task these days as the fish seem to move around a lot, here one minute and gone the next. Unusual for the shingle they have been found at range recently as well as at medium distance whereas the gutter has been barren. With such unreliable predictions everyone opted for their own personal choice of where to place the bait at the off.
It soon came apparent that the fish were back as dabs started to come ashore in singles and doubles. The majority were not particularly big but they were points on card and that was all that mattered at this stage. For a change they were coming from all ranges but not really in great numbers for most. These were joined by a number of good flounders as the tide flooded and the odd whiting. At this venue the sea has to flood for around two hours before slack water arrives and the tide switches direction. For those two hours dabs were coming in at regular intervals with the flounders, good ones reaching a peak around slack water. It was as if somebody had then flipped a “stop feeding” switch and for most the fish disappeared for the rest of the match. There was the odd dab and a solitary codling coming up the beach, almost identical to Kelling the previous week. However, the sea was coming reminiscent to then with some serious swell building up which is probably why the fish keep their heads down but there we can only speculate.
After that general run down of the action a brief mention of individual performances. For once “take it easy” Tovell (peg 25) had drawn his ideal end peg where he started to amass a serious total of small dabs interspersed with the odd big one up to 27cm. All came from his enjoyable distance casts ending up with 18 dabs for 173 points and a shot at the podium. Next to him was the old stalwart “the consultant” Allison (peg 24) who wanted a good result to keep him in the hunt for the league title and he did just that. With 12 dabs and a nice 29cm flounder he was looking respectable and a 27cm whiting near the end propelled him to 129 points and a shot at the podium. On next two pegs (23 & 22) were the Scarff duo in “young lady” and “rover” who were into their own personal battle. This time “young lady” was struggling, finding just 2 fish for 13 points whereas “rover” kicked off with a nice 28cm flounder and then finding 4 dabs for 66 points reversing the honours of their previous encounter at Kelling.
After the drama of the previous match a thoroughly dried out “big braid” Borley (peg 21) had a thing or two to prove (he didn’t get wet) and ended up with 13 small dabs and 95 points. Making his debut in these matches was “hot rod” Cooper on peg 20 where he was trying to come to terms with a bucketful of wrigglers which produced a cracking 32cm flounder and a share of the heaviest flat of the match. Unfortunately, he could not take advantage of this early fish and with just a further 6 dabs ended up with 90 points. “hot rod” is yet another club member who has been selected to fish for the England Youth Team in the Home Internationals in Ireland in July, well done Jake! With his experience “the boss” Morley (peg 19) was showing the youngster a thing or two with an early 27cm flounder followed by two smaller ones to go with his 9 small dabs to give him 110 points.
“big flounder” Beresford (peg 18) was out to find his favourite big flattie but to no avail this time as he had to be content with 8 small dabs for 62 points. It was to be “come on you fish” Bulch’s day on peg 17 as his cold had subsided and he was going to focus on a big score. Well it didn’t go quite as planned as for most of the match he could only find two small dabs but then decided to launch at range a pennel filled to the gunnels with fresh lug. The result a 40cm codling giving him a total of 79 points and heaviest round fish of the match. In contrast “young Sam” Bulch was showing his dad a thing or two with a nice 28cm flounder at the start followed by 4 small dabs ending up with 55 points, less points than dad but more fish. On next peg 15 to the Bulch’s was “steady” Carter who was having a terrible day and the early successes of 2015 were now becoming a distant memory. However, he did manage to find 3 dabs and a good 29cm flounder for 61 points but he had also locked into a codling or big flounder only to lose it in the gutter, those good days will be back.
In contrast “pointless” Parks was getting the hang of this match lark as he found 11 small dabs followed by a couple of reasonable flounders to give him a healthy 112 points. Sorry about missing you off the league table Dave but you are now there in vengeance. “large baits” Lake (peg 12) thought he would have yet another bash on the shingle but doubt if this session had turned him. A good started with a 26cm dab followed by 3 small, a healthy 29cm flounder and another small dab for 72 points but don’t think this was sufficient to really switch him on. Hard core Holt SAC “silver fox” Neave was yet again up to his usual tricks as he reeled in small dab after dab and then a 28cm flounder followed by a joint heaviest version of 32cm. A further two small dabs gave him 9 fish and 112 points. It is amazing what these big flounders can do to one’s score. Then it was the turn of the Watts contingent in “the lady” (peg 10) and “last cast” (peg 9) with both having a rather cool day one way or other. “the lady” was doing her bit for the female gender as she found 5 small dabs for 37 points demonstrating that she could more than compete against the best that England can produce in the May UK Ladies Championships on the same beaches. Not quite the same for hubby “last cast” whose usual raft off dabs was just not materialising and ended up with just 6 dabs for 51 points . He could not understand how next door was bagging up and he wasn’t but at least he did save face at home.
Yes next door! Here we had “protégée” Randell (peg 8) who was into small dabs from the off and 5 of them on his card in no time. The tide started to slacken and into the gutter, the real gutter with big bunches of wrigglers and out comes 5 single serious flounders in succession up to 30cm and big points on his card. Even a trip back to the car park (a long way) did not stop them coming in, just gave them time to materialise. Once slack water had finished and tide began to push he commented ‘no more flounders, they have gone now’ and he was right but it didn’t end there. Having run out of wrigglers he then started using lug and blacks wrapped with mackeral with similar tactics of in the gutter and just beyond. Again he was bringing in a small dab a chuck and even an odd double shot of undersized whiting whereas everyone at this stage was finding nothing, giving him 18 fish for 211 points and a certain shot at top spot. “protégée” has also been selected for the England Homes Youth Team, well done Henry! All of the action was probably a bit too much for “inspector” Morse (peg 7) who was rapidly getting writer’s cramp. It was really down to earth for him as he could only find two small dabs for 16 points and he did not want too much comment about that performance but he’ll be back.
Performing only slightly better was “yoda” Thomas (peg 6) who managed four small dabs early on and then a treble shot of a dab and two reasonable flounders at which point he thought, ‘here we go’. Wrong! Sending out all manner of baits at all ranges, he could only just manage 2 more small dabs ending up with 8 fish for 67 points. In a similar vain “digger” Fairclough (peg 5) was really testing his newly found enthusiasm but could not understand how with identical baits at the same distance he could not find “protégée’s” big flounder. There was no elusive flounder for him and he could only muster 5 small dabs for 37 points but he certainly will be back! Next to “digger” were the two youngsters “junior” Holden (peg 4) and “young catcher” Brown (peg 3) who were really into match mode. There was extreme excitement early on as “junior” locked into a cracking 31cm flounder caught on wrigglers, much to the disgust of “digger” who had to sign his card, guess who had given “junior” the wrigglers. Two more small dabs completed “juniors” score giving him 3 fish for 49 points. Unfortunately, “young catcher” was not having a good day and was barren until the very last cast when he managed to find a small dab for 7 points.
In contrast to his youngster, “super sub” Brown (peg 2) was acting out his nickname by finding a nice 32cm whiting very early on. This was followed by a raft of 11 small dabs at various stages throughout the match even when everyone else had stopped catching giving him a total of 116 points. On his favourite end peg 1 was “hokey pokey” Loke who really did think it was his lucky day when that came out of the bag and the thought of that missed carvery was soon a distant memory. Unfortunately, that luck was just not there as minute after minute his card remained blank whilst others were pulling in fish after fish. After many frustrating attempts to use his favourite tactic of rolling his lead down to Blakeney Point he at last found that elusive small 18cm dab which was followed by 7 reasonable dabs and a small flounder for 87 points.
It was that man who gave us a master class in catching big flounders who did the business on the day in young Henry “protégée” Randell with 4lb 6oz from 18 fish. Not surprising he knew where and when those flounders would be there as he spent most of his homework time on this beach in the mid-noughties. Next was Paul “take it easy” Tovell with 3lb 10oz from 19 fish who was back in dab heaven and was showing the youngsters a thing or two. Final podium slot went to Ivan “the consultant” Allison with 2lb 11oz from 14 fish which has certainly kept his shot at overall league title alive. Heaviest flat fish was shared by Jake Cooper and John Neave with their 32cm (13 1/3oz) flounders and heaviest round fish to Christian Bulch with his 40cm (1lb 5oz) codling.
In total 162 fish( 139 dabs, 20 flounders, 2 whiting and 1 codling) were recorded weighing a total of around 34lb. Everyone caught so it was a far cry from the previous match giving everyone just that little bit of zip to keep working at the shingle.
Next club match, 8th leg of the Winter Accumulator and 3rd Round of the Sabre Tackle Winter League is at Bacton via Castaways on Sunday 22nd February fishing 12:00-5:00 with HW 8:47 and LW 3:26 on a big 5.1m tide at Cromer.
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Henry Randell 4lb 6 1/3oz (18 fish)
2nd Paul Tovell 3lb 9 2/3oz (19 fish)
3rd Ivan Allison 2lb 11oz (14 fish)
4th Shane Brown 2lb 6 2/3oz (14 fish)
5th= Dave Parks 2lb 5 1/3oz (13 fish)
5th= John Neave 2lb 5 1/3oz ( 9 fish)
Winter Accumulator Current Standings Top 5
1st Tony Thomas 14lb 8 2/3oz
2nd Peter Morse 13lb 10 1/3oz
3rd John Carter 12lb 0oz
4th Ivan Allison 11lb 14 1/3
5th Dick Ellis 8lb 9 1/3oz
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