Holt SAC North Norfolk National Sea League Round 3 (Report)

Saturday 11th December 2016 - Cley

The third round of the North Norfolk National Sea League was played out on the shingle at Cley and after the NSL Final result a few were rather pessimistic about this one. However, things did improve slightly but nowhere near the level we would expect at this venue at this time of year. The weather was predicting fresh winds with a bit of North in it and 4ft swell but thankfully although the wind was fresh there was more West than North and the serious swell did not materialise plus for once there was some colour in the water, were we in for something more serious on our cards?

A clear morning after the deluge overnight saw a healthy gathering of the teams at Cley beach car park although a few teams were one or even more members short and a bad start for them. Fortunately, a few additional match anglers supplemented the gathering as Individuals and many thanks to Goochie, Sharmo and Nathan all the way from Dover for supporting our Club and match. With recent knowledge of the performance of the venue from the NSL Final on a similar tide it was decided to place the 40 pegs just to the left of the car park and through the boats towards Blakeney Point. A bit of a hike for those in Zone A but with the last throws of the ebb it was hard sand shingle to walk on at the start although slightly different at the end but at least the wind was from behind and the shingle is slightly compacted at the top of the beach. With draw done teams were soon in debate mode deciding who was going in the close Zone E which generally turned out to be the less mobile and geriatric team members although one of the young contingent did gate crash this zone.

All were soon spread out along the shingle bank and ebbing sand and shingle ready for the off. Unfortunately, a few were over eager for the off and were out well before the whistle, not penalised this time but will be if it happens again, they have been warned! It was soon apparent that “something more serious…” was not going to happen as small whiting started coming ashore in droves and with a 25cm limit this was not good. The last of the ebb normally generally throws up a few flounders and they did oblige with a couple up to 34cm but not in the same numbers as the last Sea League match at Kelling a month earlier. With the bulk of the whiting undersize it was up to the reliable Dab to fill the cards with a few of reasonable size, not many but at least a score. However, things did start to change as the flood started and got more serious with a few good whiting being found but not many. Unfortunately, as the flood got harder and a little weed appeared even these whiting disappeared as quickly as they came, right up to the end.

At the end just 312 fish (269 Dabs, 11 Flounders, 30 Whiting, 1 Bass and 1 Coal fish) weighing 63lb 13oz. Not a lot of fish but far more than the 154 recorded in this zone in the NSL Final with 5 less anglers and a 18cm size limit on Whiting. In the end it was the top two teams in the league who shared top two places on the day in AVENUE ANGLING NORWICH and TEAM MAVER each with 6 penalty points. Avenue Angling recording 2 zone wins and 2 zone seconds and Maver with 3 zone wins and a zone third. Final podium slot went to NORTH NORFOLK LADS with 12 penalty points from 2 zone seconds and 2 zone fourths.

Top Individual on the day was that old stalwart (EDP words) RICHARD JACOBS (Avenue Angling Norwich) with a convincing total of 3lb 15oz from 17 fish. Things were a little tighter for runners-up slot where HENRY RANDELL (Team Maver) on 3lb 6 1/3oz from 15 fish just beat his team mate PAUL MARSHALL (Team Maver) by a point (1/3oz) who recorded 3lb 6oz also from 15 fish. Heaviest flat of the day was a 34cm (1lb) Flounder shared by JAKE COOPER (Team Maver) and TONY THOMAS (North Norfolk Lads). Heaviest round fish was a 37cm (12 1/3oz) Whiting taken by RICHARD JACOBS (Avenue Angling Norwich).

In the zones, Zone A was won by PAUL MARSHALL (Team Maver) and runner-up was DAVID READ (Avenue Angling Norwich) with 2lb 14oz from 14 fish. Zone B went to GARY MEDLER (Avenue Angling Norwich) with 3lb 1 2/3oz from 17 fish with runner-up NATHAN ELLIOTT (Individual) on 2lb 13oz from 12 fish. Zone C was taken by JAKE COOPER (Team Maver) with 2lb 10 2/3oz from 11 fish followed by KEVIN GREEN (North Norfolk Lads) on 2lb 3 2/3oz from 10 fish. Zone D went to RICHARD JACOBS (Avenue Angling Norwich) with runner-up KYLE AMIES (Gorleston Tackle) on 2lb 1oz from 12 fish. Final Zone E was taken by HENRY RANDELL (Team Maver) with runner-up PAUL THORBURN (Individual) on 3lb 5oz from 12 fish.

Another good competitive match where with half the rounds completed there appears to be two dominant teams with at least 11 points to spare on their nearest rivals but of course there will be a worst round’s score to drop so maybe not quite so far ahead. Next Round 4 will be on SUNDAY 8TH JANUARY 2017 at SALTHOUSE fishing 10:00 to 3:00 HW 2:43 4.4m. Pegging for this will be all 40 pegs to the West (left) of Beach Road towards Cley.

Top 10 Individuals (on the day) …

1…Richard Jacobs..3lb..15oz..….....(17 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)
2…Henry Randell..…3lb..6 1/3oz…..(15 fish).(Team Maver)
3…Paul Marshall......3lb..6oz….…....(15 fish)..(Team Maver)
4…Paul Thorburn…..3lb..5oz…….....(12 fish)..(Individual)
5…Gary Medler……..3lb..1 2/3oz....(17 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)
6…David Read……...2lb..14oz…...…(14 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)
7…Nathan Elliott.……2lb..13……......(12 fish)..(Individual)
8…Jake Cooper……..2lb..10 2/3oz.(11 fish)..(Team Maver)
9…John Bower……….2lb..10oz….....(10 fish)..(Avenue Angling Norwich)
10..Clyde Leggett...2lb..4 1/3oz...(10 fish)..(Gorlston Tackle)

Teams (on the day) …

1=.Avenue Angling Norwich .6 penalty points
1=.Team Maver…………………...6 penalty points
3…North Norfolk Lads………...12 penalty points
4…Gorleston Tackle ……………14 penalty points
5…Holt Crack Offs ………………19 penalty points
6…JC’s Boys…………………….….19 penalty points
7…Pete’s Baits……………………..20 penalty points
8…Holt SAC Youths……………..32 penalty points

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