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

Sunday 10th December 2017 - Cley

 

 

 

The Holt SAC North Norfolk National Sea League Round 3 and Lloyd Durham Shield match was fished at Cley on Sunday 10th December fishing 10:00 to 3:00. Throughout the preceding week and even up to the end of the week there were serious doubts about whether this match would ever take place with Storm Caroline thundering past the North of Scotland. The forecast of 10-12ft swells during the week along with very strong bitterly cold North to North Westerlies was certainly correct and they were still there at the end of the week. Had these persisted then certainly no match but the weather gods decided to intervene by sending a small low pressure system across central England. This certainly reduced the wind as well as switching it round by 180’ and dampening down the swell to a more palatable 4-5ft but this was warm moist air meeting that from the Artic which believe resulted in the East Anglia League at Aldeburgh being cancelled.

 

A recipe for some serious white stuff on match day but even at 6:00 there was no sign of it even on the westward extremities of our match travellers’ domain. However, within an hour there was 5cm of it but much is the determination of team members these days that this was not going to deter them and all bar just ONE made it to the draw. Thanks to all who supported the match in what turned out to be atrocious cold conditions. It may have been white stuff inland but on the coast we have our own micro climate where the “warm” North Sea keeps temperatures above freezing giving us persistent rain throughout almost the whole match, reminiscent of the last League match at Gt. Yarmouth. Enough of this weather digression but it does play a major role in our match scene particularly on the shingle with nothing between us and the North Pole except North Sea.

 

The draw was in the Cley car park “bus” shelter which amazingly has withstood the ravages of many a storm surge where you can find a quartile out of the wind even if you have to bury yourself in the shingle under the eves, thanks Cley-next-Sea & Norfolk Wild Life Trust! Pegging for this was zones A-C immediately west from the Car Park towards Blakeney Point, Zone D immediately east from the “bus” shelter and Zone E immediately east of the wreck. Zones that in theory were clear of hefts and relatively easy walking on the hard exposed shingle.   Fishing over the top meant no real following the tide but some were rather apprehensive about the positioning of their buddies as the odd surges rolled up the beach.

 

An acceptable 4-5ft swell at the start which was enhanced by the wind veering from southerly to a more easterly direction and strengthening along with the wet stuff which by then and throughout most of the match was lashing down. A sea that normally pushes the Dabs off and enables the Whiting to have a look in but there was a clue to why this wasn’t to be. Along the whole stretch there were hundreds of sea birds sitting in the scum line obviously picking up rubbish that had been produced by the recent big seas. In particular, smashed razors which was not a good sign if we wanted to bag up on those stonking whiting that had been there a week previous.

 

At the whistle all were able to cast over the breaking waves although for some it was hard given the conditions. It was soon apparent that the match wasn’t going to be barren as the odd Whiting and Dab were soon being recorded. However, the concerns about those razors and Whiting were soon answered as those Whiting were spewing up razors, not a good sign! To add to all this and the weather, the recent seas had dislodged a lot of weed which is general not a problem at Cley and this was hampering a clean retrieval. Not too much of a problem as it was easy to remove but some was sharp and a number of rigs were lost as well as being lost when covered by the pounding surf . Surf that you have to be fully aware of as found out by our local taxi man who attempting to get those few extra metres and was soon upended by a sudden surge. We all must be conscious of what the sea can do if we don’t want to be “pot bait” (Holt SAC Safety and Risk Assessment Statement Hazards and Safety Requirements).

 

For some the first 1-2 hours brought a few Whiting but as high water came and went these started to peter out apart from the odd one. For most the Dabs were there but not in serious numbers but at least making match cards a little more acceptable. Slack water if you can call it that seemed to switch off everything although some were able to still find the odd fish throughout. As the tide started to pick up a little on the ebb the Dabs made a return but they probably shouldn’t have bothered. Amazingly in such swelly conditions lots of undersize 16 and 17cm specimens just to add to the frustration of many. Any distance didn’t help and surprisingly a lot were found in the gutter just behind the thrashing waves where the place must have been a real feed soup. The final hour helped to prop up the score for a few but for the majority the struggle had been lost early on. In the end 335 fish (299 Dabs, 33 Whiting and 3 Flounders) were recorded weighing just 66lb 10oz.

 

The winning team was HAS BEENS with just 6 Penalty Points from 2 zone wins and 2 zone 2nd’s. Runner’s up were NORTH NORFOLK LADS with 9 Penalty Points from a 2 zone wins, a 2nd and a zone 5th. Final team podium slot went to GORLESTON TACKLE with 12 Penalty Points from a zone win, a zone 3rd and two zone 4th’s with BIG CATCH TACKLE having the same score but with an inferior dropped score. Individual winner on the day used his consistency in being one of those who caught throughout and that was ANDY GALLACHER (HAS BEENS) Peg 1 who did the business in style with 5lb 6oz from 26 fish. Someway behind was runner-up North Norfolk Lad’s DAVE SHORTHOUSE (NORTH NORFOLK LADS)(Peg 27) who managed to find those fish late on in the gutter albeit small recording 4lb 3oz from 25 fish. Final podium slot went to DAVID READ (HAS BEENS) (Peg 33) who managed to find 3lb 10oz from 18 fish. There was no serious heaviest fish to contest the current league heaviest fish.

 

In the zones, Zone A was taken by Andy Gallacher (HAS BEENS) (Peg 17) with 258 points from 26 fish followed by Adrian Bordianu (NORFOLK BOIs) (Peg 7) as in Round 2 with 114 points from 14 fish. Zone B was won by Bev Self (GORLESTON TACKLE) (Peg 19) with 131 points from 14 fish (you can fish the shingle Bev, well done!) followed by Kevin Green (NORTH NORFOLK LADS) (Peg 13) with 109 points from 13 fish who were the same contenders in zone B in Round 2 but roles reversed.

 

Zone C went to Dave Shorthouse (NORTH NORFOLK LADS) (Peg 27) with 201 points from 25 fish and Richard Jacobs (HAS BEENS) (Peg 23) with 165 points from 13 fish. Zone D was won by David Read (HAS BEENS) (Peg 33) with 174 points from 18 fish and Billy Temple (BIG CATCH TACKLE) (Peg 32) with 163 points from 17 fish. Final Zone E went to Mike Watts (NORTH NORFOLK LADS) (Peg 47) as in Round 2 with 162 points from 17 fish followed by Gary Medler (HAS BEENS) (Peg 48) with 104 points from 11 fish.

 

In the Club match top Club Member to take the Lloyd Durham Shield was Overall winner Andy Gallacher. Heaviest Club Flat fish went to Richard Jacobs with a 30cm Dab (11oz) and Heaviest Round fish a 34cm Whiting (9oz) taken by John Carter.

 

There were 6 participating in the SAMF Qualifier of which 2 qualified for the 2018 Masters who were Andy Gallacher and Mike Topping.

 

Yet again another tough match weather-wise which was made even harder with no real steady flow of fish and lack of numbers of Whiting. Every match this season seems to have had its own unique conditions and this match was no exception. Even so it was good to see the competitive team approach prevailing throughout at all levels of the team leader board. Next Round 4 is on SUNDAY 14TH JANUARY at SALTHOUSE fishing 10:00-3:00 LW 11:31 4.4m with draw from 8:15 on the Salthouse Beach Road. Please note this will be switched to Kelling if Salthouse marshes are flooded. Please also note that Round 5 has been brought forward by a week to SUNDAY 4TH FEBRUARY fishing 10:00-3:00 HW 9:13 4.9m.

 

There are number of Holt SAC Open matches on over the Christmas Holiday period so if you are interested in fishing these please book by texting 07780793141 as soon as you can. These matches are …

 

XMAS OPEN & TOWN TEAM CHALLENGE … Kelling Saturday 23rd December 10-3.

ROCKET HOUSE OPEN ………………………………. Salthouse Wednesday 27th December 10-3.

NEW YEAR OPEN ……………………………………….. Kelling Monday 1st January 10-3.

 

Top 10 Individuals (on the day) …

 

1…Andy Gallacher…….5lb..6oz………..(26 fish)..(Has Beens)

2…Dave Shorthouse…4lb..3oz………..(25 fish)..(North Norfolk Lads)

3…David Read…………..3lb..10oz………(18 fish)..(Has Beens)

4…Richard Jacobs…..…3lb..7oz…………(13 fish)..(Has Beens)

5…Billy Temple……….…3lb..6 1/3oz…..(17 fish)..(Big Catch Tackle)

6= Mike Watts…..……...3lb..6oz………...(17 fish)..(North Norfolk Lads)

6= Ian Childerhouse….3lb..6oz………...(12 fish)..(Charlies Angels)

8...Bevan Self………….…2lb..11 2/3oz...(14 fish)..(Gorleston Tackle)

9…Neil Smart……………..2lb..7oz………....(12 fish)..(Gorleston Tackle)

10.Adrian Bordianu…..2lb..6oz…….…....(12 fish)..(Norfolk Boi’s)

 

Teams (on the day) …

 

1...Has Beens ……………….6 penalty points

2...North Norfolk Lads....9 penalty points

3…Gorleston Tackle……..12 penalty points (Worst Score 4th)

4…Big Catch Tackle ….…12 penalty points (Worst Score 6th)

5...Norfolk Boi’s…….....…17 penalty points

6…Charlies Angels ……….19 penalty points

7…Angling Addicts..……...25 penalty points

8…Holt Crack Offs………….32 penalty points

 

Teams (todate) …

 

1...North Norfolk Lads ……….…24 penalty points

2…Has Beens ………….............28 penalty points

3...Gorleston Tackle.….…….….37 penalty points

4…Big Catch Tackle………………39 penalty points

5…Charlies Angels….…...………55 penalty points

6...Norfolk Boi’s……....………….56 penalty points

7…Angling Addicts..…………....72 penalty points

8…Holt Crack Offs…………..…..84 penalty points

 

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