Holt SAC Foreman Cup and 9th Leg Winter Accumulator (Report)

Sunday 3rd March 2019 - Kelling

Holt SAC’s Foreman Cup & 9th Leg Winter Accumulator Club match was held at KELLING via Muckleburgh Collection on SUNDAY 3RD MARCH fishing 10:00-3:00 with LW 11:26 on a small 4.1m tide. A small turn out again for a Club match but this was expected with many members fishing the previous two days in the Joc Goodie memorial. Even so the Club is well supported with members coming from far afield for this one, from Ely, Kings Lynn, Gt.Yarmouth and Oulton and just one local member, well done lads!

Forecast for the day was wet and breezy as storm Freya nudged in . It certainly was this although the stiff south westerly off your back was not too bad until the end but the rain was incessant and the fine stuff that gets everywhere. Sods law was prevailing again as this sort of weather seems to be following our matchesa round this season. Not really pleasant at all but at least this left the sea once again flat flat with no real swell and plenty of colour which filled everyone with optimism.

Fishing the last of the ebb on a small tide meant not too much following the tide and just parking at the top for the duration. However, the shingle has been built up here over the past few tides to a steep bank making it a tedious pain returning fish and yes there were quite a few to return!

With the Joc Goudie match on our usual stretch it was decided to rest that and peg the patch around the wreck which in theory was not used. Although probably got the pegging slightly too far past the wreck towards Weybourne due to the marker post on the Muckleburgh fence being removed, many apologies Bev!. With that match producing big Pouts and some Dog fish at the wreck end convinced us that this was the place to be. Sadly these species did not materialise probably due to not fishing the full flood and we were left to the regular Dab and Whiting species although the Whiting were a bit thin on the ground

From the start for some rods started to rattle particularly on the high order pegs and small dabs started to be recorded. Dabs were definitely the dominant species but the odd good Whiting got recorded in the first hour with Bev Self (Peg 6) finding one of 31cm and Richard Ling (Peg 1) a 28cm version. Not really monster fish but neither the species nor quality were not there. Finding the fish at this stage was the challenge which seemed to be around 40-60 yards although a few serious casts from Mike Watts (Peg 4) ended up in the wreck debris and lost gear, he didn’t go there again.

As the tide bottomed slack water came and the Dabs switched off somewhat but the vermin were still there. Bait been stripped in minutes and plenty of just undersize edibles rising to the surface and coming ashore unless they decided to drop off. Not a good time particularly with the persistent rain penetrating everything. Fortunately, this period didn’t last too long as the tide decided to visibly flood and the movement came back to the water.

By now the tide had pushed well on to the shingle bank and thankfully the vermin had all but disappeared. This change of flow brought the Dabs back on and rods started to rattle violently but not where they had been at the start. This time on the lower pegs and in the middle of the stretch but you had to find where they were feeding. They had now moved close in 30-40 yards and if you found this spot you could bag up with double and treble shots of Dabs in the final half hour.

This is precisely what happened to the eventual winner TONY THOMAS (Peg 3) who after being in the doldrums at the start eventually found them in that last half hour. A raft of traces baited up during that period helped him to find altogether 23 fish worth 169 points comprising of 21 Dabs and just 2 Whiting. The runners-up slot was shared by RICHARD LING (Peg 1) and BEV SELF (Peg 6) with 148 points each. Richard had 19 fish which included a nice 28cm Whiting, a Rockling and 17 Dabs. Bev had 15 fish which included that cracking 31cm Whiting and 14 Dabs.

Heaviest Flat fish went to JOHN CARTER (Peg 5) with a 28cm (8oz) Dab and heaviest Round fish that 31cm (7oz) Whiting to BEV SELF (Peg 6). Altogether 93 fish (83 Dabs, 9 Whiting and 1 Rockling) were recorded weighing 15lb 12oz.

Another successful Club match for catching some fish but the weather made it very uncomfortable although it did almost stop raining by the end. No real serious fish as was expected from the wreck but we will know where to peg it properly next time. With just one Club match left it leaves the Club’s league overall winner after 27 matches closely poised. Current leader is TONY THOMAS on 1115 points followed by MIKE WATTS on 1141 points and NEIL SMART on 1013 points. Mike still has the final match score to add and Tony’s score in that match to be used to adjust his score it is going to be all very close.

That next Club match and last of the season is for the Roy Waller Memorial Cup and is the final round 6 of the North Norfolk National Sea League on SUNDAY 10TH MARCH at Bacton via Castaways fishing 11:30-4:30 HW 8:43 LW 3:14 4.7m. This too is tightly poised between BIG CATCH TACKLE and GORLESTON TACKLE. Although Big Catch Tackle are the current leaders with 45 points from Gorleston Tackle’s 49 points but nonce you remove their worst scores they are both on 34 points. So lots at stake in this one and lots of permutations to determine who can win.

The Draw for the match will be from 9:30 and breakfasts, etc. will be available from around 8:30. After the match there will be a short meeting and presentation of all the winnings and crowning of this year’s top team. There will also be a raffle so will all members please bring a raffle prize … Tony T

Top 6 Individuals (on the day) …

1...Tony Thomas.3lb. 8oz.....(23.Fish) (Peg 3)

2=.Richard Ling…3lb.1 1/3oz.(19.Fish) (Peg 1)

2=.Bev Self........3lb.1 1/3oz.(15.Fish) (Peg 6)

4...Mike Watts.....2lb.8oz……..(17.Fish) (Peg 4)

5...John Carter....2lb.2/3oz...(11.Fish) (Peg 5)

6…Neil Smart……..1lb 8 1/3oz..(8 Fish) (Peg 2)

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