Holt SAC New Year Open 2019 and 1st Leg Winter Accumulator (Report)

Tuesday 1st January 2019 - Gt Yarmouth

Holt SAC’s Annual New Year Open was held at GT YARMOUTH Central Beach on TUESDAY 1ST JANUARY. The original venue was to be Kelling but being woken up by the howling wind and for some forecasts predicting it to turn northerly and exceed 30mph early afternoon the decision was made to switch to “round the corner”. This would make it more comfortable for some who had booked so 5:00am texts were hastily sent to alert everyone to the change. Unfortunately, Smarty didn’t receive the text and Wizzy didn’t read it ‘cause he thought his nameless mate was playing a prank. They both arrived at Kelling to find Muckleburgh securely locked down and then found out why, many apologies for that wasted journey. As it happened the hourly shots showed Kelling to be more than fishable and those 30mph warnings never materialised although it was certainly past this by late afternoon. Probably a slightly hasty decision to move and many apologies to those who were disappointed not to be on the shingle but at least there was quite a few fish. Suspect I’ll be getting some stick for this for some months to come.

Anyway forecast for the day at Gt Yarmouth was cool with broken cloud and a moderate wind over your left shoulder and they just about got that right. The sea was almost flat calm although the swell way out in the North Sea stated to appear towards the end but there was plenty of colour. Fishing over the bottom and the flood at Gt Yarmouth is not ideal but we had no choice, however it did not stop the fish being there.

Pegging for this one was Zone B west from the Wellington and Zone A in front of the Marina. However, due to our lack of knowledge of the beach we got that wrong as a good old friend in Jubilee Club’s Freddie England came to check us out and advised that we should have been further up towards the Britannia. This would have avoided the hefts in Zone B so again many apologies. He also informed me that a Jubilee stalwart and old friend Tony Hewitt passed away on Christmas Eve, very sad particularly at this time of year, RIP Tony!

Turn out for this one had dropped from the mid-twenties to the high teens due to some taking heed of the strong northerlies forecast and others being warned of lots of hefts and expectation of lost gear. Anyway many thanks for all who supported the Club and all were more than ready for the whistle with the start being delayed by ½ hour because of the venue change. Even Smarty had made it back from Kelling in time, well done Neil!

At the start there was quite a bit of tide running so for most some distance was not an option and anywhere up to 100 yards was the norm. Unfortunately, the tide brought plenty of weed, fine stuff and generally easy to get off. Not really a problem but just a nuisance when having to clear the leader knot with fish still in the water. Yes! fish as they were there as cards started to be filled up. As we had previously been warned Gt Yarmouth was full of small fish and they were certainly there but there were also a few decent Whiting and a few good Dabs.

With the tide in full flow there was no rod rattling just 6 to 10 minute casts to have a few fish on board. However, as the tide slackened the weed eased and the small Whiting started to really attack the bait with many being well undersize. At least you could see their bites but leaving them too long on the hook allowed them to wriggle off. When the tide picked up again the bites disappeared and the weed was back with vengeance.

At this stage probably the excitement of the day occurred as a small group of the General Public gathered next to Adrian on peg 1. Some then stripped off (not to the skinny level) and started to leap into the water for a short dip, very short! Mad fools with the sea now around 4-6 degrees although they would have thought we were mad fools for being on the beach at Kelling for over 5 hours in that continuous rain just before Christmas.

Anyway as the weed and tide picked up it was time to try and find some bigger Whiting which was difficult as the Pins always got there first. Distance did bring a few better quality Whiting but the tide and weed were now pulling the line round within minutes and if you happened to have fish on board it was two pegs down like a shot. Anyway by the close the tide had flooded almost up to the buddies and the majority had positioned themselves just right.

A close competition in the end but it was CHARLIE FRARY (Peg 3) who prevailed by sticking religiously to his 20-30 yard cast throughout the whole match. He was recording double and trebles when others were bringing in nothing ending up with 7lb 5oz from 42 fish which surprisingly were 21 Dabs and 21 Whiting. Pay out in this match was to just one Overall winner with the rest to the top three in each Zone with the Overall winner excluded.

Zone A was therefore taken by ADRIAN BORDIANU (Peg 1) who had 7lb 0oz from 33 fish which include some good quality Whiting and the odd good Dab. Second was KEITH MORLEY (Peg 9) with 6lb 11oz from 37 fish. Third was CHARLIE NEEDHAM (Peg 10) with 5lb 13oz from 26 fish. This was the better Zone with the top weights but again it was very close. Zone B was won by RICHARD JACOBS (Peg 22) with 6lb 6oz from 33 fish. Second was MARK GOOCH (Peg 20) with 5lb 8oz from 31 fish and third was HENRY RANDELL (Peg 23) with 5lb 2oz from 31 fish.

The Super Pool was won by CHARLIE FRARY (Peg 3) with runner up ADRIAN BORDIANU (Peg 1) and final podium slot going to KEITH MORLEY (Peg 9). Heaviest Flat was a 30cm (11oz) Dab taken by JOE BETTINSON (Peg 6) and Heaviest Round a 31cm (7oz) Whiting shared by ADRIAN BORDIANU, CHARLIE NEEDHAM, NEIL SMART and TONY THOMAS. Altogether 474 fish (250 Whiting, 223 Dabs and 1 Rockling) weighing 88lb 7oz.

A very close competitive match with surprisingly a lot of fish. Not a big turnout but certainly some of the top match anglers in the area. It is a shame we didn’t fish the North Norfolk Shingle as we more than likely would have had more quality Whiting and again apologies for the venue switch. Next Club match is Round 4 of the North Norfolk Sea League & Open at SALTHOUSE on SUNDAY 13TH JANUARY … Tony T

Top 10 Individuals (on the day) …

1...Charlie Frary.......7lb.4 2/3oz...(42 Fish) (Peg 3)

2...Adrian Bordianu…7lb.0oz.........(33 Fish) (Peg 1)

3...Keith Morley……….6lb.11oz.......(37 Fish) (Peg 9)

4...Richard Jacobs.....6lb.5 2/3oz...(33 Fish) (Peg 22)

5...Charlie Needham..5lb.12 2/3oz.(26 Fish) (Peg 10)

6...Mark Gooch.........5lb.8 1/3oz...(31 Fish) (Peg 20)

7...John Smith..........5lb.8oz.........(28 Fish) (Peg 4)

8...Tony Thomas.......5lb.6 2/3oz...(28 Fish) (Peg 2)

9...Henry Randell......5lb.2oz.........(31 Fish) (Peg 23)

10.Andy Smith..........5lb.2/3oz......(31 Fish) (Peg 25)

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