10th Leg Summer Accumulator and Sabre Tackle Summer League Match 8 (Report)

Saturday 21st June 2015 - Kelling

Another early 9:00 start on the shingle but at least we had the Muckleburgh Café to revitalise us on this rather chilly morning. Many thanks again Hamad for opening up for us nice and early and apologies for the low numbers. Unfortunately, the hounds were howling on the Lincolnshire coast and the Sword men had been lured there to satisfy their appetite for some arm bending and adrenalin running action. They were not disappointed with over 100 smoothies and at least 20 or more doubles, well done lads!

For once this adventure left the turnout rather depleted but more than enough for a decent match and all were soon arriving and tucking into bacon sarnies washed down with some of Hamad’s fresh coffee.

Pegging for this one was to be around the Kelling block house but with our International “young Henry” reporting bass around the wreck the intention was switched to the wreck end. However, on arrival at our parking slot our path to our gate was blocked by the construction of a 1100 metre pipe that is to take the Dudgeon wind farm cables under the shingle and out to sea. A 2ft plastic pipe being welded together at 6m every 40mins being hauled the full length of Muckleburgh Collection by a digger. This will be one of two that will be hauled out to sea through a tunnel under the shingle by a tug boat.

Enough of this technical stuff, so as the path to the block house was now cleared by this construction job it was back to plan A and the block house was to be the match stretch for this one.

A good south westerly blow turning north westerly during the match was going to give us a nice bass sea although there was no real swell to give serious movement which is what is needed at this venue. Another concern was lack of colour in the water which was gin clear just yards off the beach and there also that horrible green marsh weed everywhere. We were for a change fishing 2 up and 3 down so in theory we should be in for a few bass over the top and some good flounders at any time during the match, how wrong we were on this one! With sustenance complete and pegs drawn all were soon trudging through the shingle to their allotted slots and fishing top of the water meant parking on the shingle and none of this chasing the tide.

At the whistle all were soon using their well honed Kelling tactics, 40-60 yards for the majority and the odd one or two hammering it to the horizon. It wasn’t long before everyone was aware that this green marsh weed was going to be a nuisance as rods could be seen being hauled in complete with great lumps of the stuff. These days we are used to such conditions so it was not really a problem just that nuisance and you had to ensure your trace was well on the beach before either picking it off which was easy or casting out your spare rod. It soon became apparent that there were some decent flounders around as some nice ones started coming ashore amongst all this green weed. For some this continued up to HW but for others it was a struggle and as is usual at this venue finding where the fish are feeding is the challenge.

As the tide started to ebb the fish began to switch off and as slack water approached the weed eased off but so did the fish. Although, the odd flounder and dab could be seen coming ashore at the 40-60 yards range and a few dabs at range. Even the gutter was not producing its usual quota of reasonable flounders and instead it was “coughing” up some really miniature versions. In the final throws of the match the continuing ebb brought back the tide and a few good flounders began to appear before the end. Surprisingly, there was not one round fish caught and the bass were very much aloof at this one, contrary to our original pre-match prediction.

In the end it was a reasonable bag of good flounders and odd dabs that won the day weighing 3lb 8oz from 8 fish. In contrast, the runner-ups weight of 3lb 2oz from 10 fish was predominantly dabs with a couple of good flounders. The heaviest flat fish was three 32cm (13oz) flounders and of course there was no heaviest round fish. The stretch either side of the block house certainly lived up to its flounder reputation but everyone was surprised at the lack of bass although it was reported that a small one was lost in the waves. Altogether just 45 fish (24 dabs and 21 flounders) were recorded weighing just over 14lb.

On the individual performances, for once the close pegs were not exactly close but “take it easy” Tovell (peg 10) had no problem this time negotiating the shingle. His end peg slot certainly paid dividend as his usual range tactics delivered 8 dabs up to 28cm and a couple of nice flounders at the end giving him 150 points and a shot at top spot. Next peg was “cuddly” Carter (peg 9) who was also into dab mode and found a couple of nice 24cm specimens for 28cm. Hubby “steady” Carter (peg 8) was struggling early on but a couple of dabs up to 29cm followed by a couple of small flounders gave him 54 points. For a change “kipper” was in flounder mode and although he was using range tactics could only find a 24cm and a serious 32cm version for a total of 54 points.

As always happens with “silver fox” Neave (peg 6) he too locked into a serious 32cm flounder followed by 3 dabs up to 27cm and a very small flounder for 88 points. Then there was the dark horse of this match “hokey pokey” Loke (peg 4) who had found some of that “Cleethorpes Warrior” spirit and was in serious catching mode for the first time in months. A first cast 29cm flounder got his card underway followed by 3 more good flounders up to 32cm and then 3 reasonable dabs during the slack time. On retrieving his last cast he was being informed that he had been beaten by 4 points on end peg only to see a 29cm flounder leap out of the water in front of him and 168 points on his card for a certain podium finish. In contrast, “yoda” Thomas (peg 2) was yet again struggling to find big fish and could only find 14-16cm flounders in the gutter resulting in just 52 points from 6 fish. For once “last cast” Watts on end peg 1 had a very slow start and even had to hike back to his motor for a replacement rod as he had an early ring catastrophe. However, he soon got back into catching mode with 4 flounders up to 31cm and then a succession of dabs towards the end for 144 points from 10 fish and a shot at a podium place.

In the end it was the rejuvenated Peter “hokey pokey” Loke who did the business with 3lb 8oz from 8 fish. Runner-up was close end peg man Paul “take it easy” Tovell with 3lb 2oz from 10 fish followed by the other end peg man Mike “last Cast” Watts with 3lb 0oz also from 10 fish. Heaviest flat was the 32cm (13oz) flounders shared by John Neave, Peter Loke and “Kipper” and of course no round fish.

The next club match is off the beaches and into the estuary at Kings Lynn West Bank for something slightly different although we hope those stonking flounders are still there. This is the 1st Round of the West Norfolk Challenge Series of 4 matches at Kings Lynn on Sunday 28th June fishing 9:30-2:30 LW 10:50 4.1m. This is also an Open and Penn Point match.

Club Match Result Top 5

1st    Peter Loke           3lb 8oz          ( 8 Fish)

2nd   Paul Tovell           3lb 2oz          (10 Fish)

3rd   Mike Watts           3lb 0oz          (10 Fish)

4th   John Neave           1lb 13 1/3oz  ( 5 Fish)

5th= John Carter          1lb 2oz          ( 4 Fish)

5th= “Kipper”               1lb 2oz          ( 2 Fish)

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