Holt SAC Xmas Fayre, Town Team Challenge and Bumfrey Shield (Report)

Sunday 22nd December 2019 - Kelling

 

 

 

Holt SAC ‘s Annual Xmas Fayre, Town Team Challenge and Bumphrey Shield match was fished at KELLING via Muckleburgh Collection on SUNDAY 22ND DECEMBER. Fishing was daylight hours on the shortest day from 10:00-3:00 on a small flooding tide. Altogether 41 anglers participated making up 10 teams in the Town Team Challenge competition. Anglers coming from the far flung reaches of Kent, Suffolk , Norfolk and the odd ones from Cambridgeshire, Gainsborough and Grimsby (although not really that odd) plus the usual smattering of Norfolk locals . Many, many thanks for all your continued support of this event and Club Opens, much appreciated!

 

With the threat of early morning dampness there was a quick change of plan to move the draw from the Muckleburgh gate to The Ship Inn in Weybourne. Many, many thanks again to Lyndon Swift and joint owner for accommodating us at very short notice and for providing excellent breakfasts, I’m sure we’ll be back if you’ll have us.

 

The match stretch of two Zones (A & B) was from near the wreck at Weybourne to just past the block House at Kelling. The Norfolk shingle can be very peggy with one zone out performing the other so for this match as in previous years each zone was treated as a separate match. This meant we could pay out down to fifth place in each zone and the overall winners would boost their prize money through the super pool.

 

A damp start followed by intermittent showers and a stiff West North Westerly gave the sea a nice lump and the swell produced a good sea colour. The forecast was spot on and everyone was thankful we opted for the “Ship” for the draw. As usual Mr Organiser was last on the beach with just minutes to the start but was just about baited up by the whistle, must improve on that in 2020.

 

Within minutes lines were being retrieved and buckets seen moving along the shingle as multiple fish were being recorded. It soon came apparent that speed was going to be the name of the game and finding the quality fish the skill. It also became apparent that we were going to be plagued by undersize Dabs and Whiting attacking the bait before those decent fish and this was certainly case. There’s nothing more sole destroying than seeing three Dabs come through the surf to find them all undersize and your card remaining untouched for another 6-10 minutes.

 

This is a venue where distance is not essential and generally fish are found at a more respectable range. It was certainly the case that in this one some of the known casters struggled to find numbers of fish at range but relentlessly stuck to that game plan. However, there were other casters who were adjusting there tactics to address this. On some pegs distance with small baits was finding some quality whiting whereas the same peg was finding Dabs close in. Finding those Whiting was good points whereas the Dabs were smaller and less points. It was therefore a matter of articulating your technique to continue a steady flow of points onto your card.

 

In general at the start better Whiting were found at distance but as the flood started they moved off or down tide and the Dabs appeared closer in. Getting the switch right was key as it had the other benefit of speed but in such situations when next to a permanent caster it is easy to be swayed to continue at range. In such cases one should play one’s own game and a few got caught out by not doing just this and missed those Dabs mid way through.

 

As the tide met the shingle ridge the Whiting at last started to show in the last hour of the match. Some of these were quality fish probably brought in as the light started to dip. A pattern that was predicted by young Henry who said that the last 1/2 hour would be manic and fishing to 4:00 even better. The latter was no option as the light would have been fading faster but certainly some cards were seriously topped up with that ½ hour flurry at the end.

 

By the end plenty of fish on the cards with 1305 (724 Dabs, 571 Whiting, 4 Flounders, 2 Bass, 2 Pout and 2 Rockling) recorded weighing just over 288lb in total plus a lot of undersize (<18cm) fish. Opposite to prediction all the top weights came from Zone A particularly the block house end at Kelling and not the wreck end of Zone B at Weybourne

 

Overall winner was CHARLIE FRARY (End Peg 4) with 12lb 12oz from 53 fish. Runner up was HENRY RANDELL (Peg 18) with 11lb 5oz from 54 fish and third was MARK WILSON (Peg 10) with 10lb 10oz from 41 fish. The top three were also Zone A winners and there was some quality fish in this zone demonstrated by 6th place DAVE WHITTAKER with 8lb 9oz from just 28 fish which included 7 Whiting 30cm and over. Zone B was taken by VINCE CRAWFORD (Peg 43) withh 9lb 2oz from 44 fish. Runner up was ADRIAN BORDIANU (Peg 45) with 8lb 12oz from 38 fish and ROB TUCK (Peg 46) third with 8lb 10oz from 43 fish.

 

It was a family affair for the Frary’s with JUNE FRARY (Peg 5) taking the Ladies competition with 9lb 13oz from 47 fish and was a commendable 4th overall. Ladies runner-up was ADELE SMITH (Peg 25) with 5lb 6oz from 27 fish. The Junior competition winner was BRAYDON ALDOUS (Peg 12) with 3lb 9oz from 18 fish and runner-up JACK TOPPING (Peg 35) with 2lb 11oz from 13 fish. Heaviest Flat of 29cm (9 1/3oz) was shared by JUNE FRARY (Peg 5) (Flounder), RICHARD HIPPERSON (Peg 34) (Dab) and TONY THOMAS (Peg 23) (Dab). Heaviest Round a 40cm (1lb) Whiting was taken by MARK GOOCH (Peg 16).

 

In the SAMF Masters Qualifier there were very few entrants and there was just one qualifier. That was CHRIS SPALL and I will be liaising with him regarding this.

 

The Town Team Challenge was taken by ALDEBURGH comprising of Alan White, Chris Spall, Colin Provins and Vince Crawford with 32 penalty points. LOWESTOFT (John Carter, Mark Gooch, Mark Sharman, Mark Wilson) were runners-up with 35 points and NORWICH (Adrian Bordianu, Richard Hipperson, Keith Morley, Dave Wright) third with 37 points.

 

Another cracking match on the shingle and supported by a great bunch of top guys and gals. Even the rain didn’t dampen the spirits although the plague of undersize fish did try. To compensate for this there were plenty of sizeable fish and some quality ones too particularly at Kelling block house. It was this location that was the big surprise with quality fish and Zone A out performing Zone B with numbers of fish 689 to 616. . A statistic we shall be looking at for our future matches at Kelling. Apologies for the delay at the end in preparing the results for this one, in 2020 we will have all this computerised. We’ll also have a bit of light and hopefully have a few less people camera shy.

 

For Henry it was another useful 3 Penn Points to keep up his challenge at the top of the Sea Angler’s Penn League, well done Henry. The Club has just one more 2019 match and that is the ROCKET HOUSE OPEN at SALTHOUSE (NR25 7XW) fishing 10:00-3:00 HW 8:26 4.6m. This is another Penn Points match so still time to top your points for 2019. Continuing this theme the following match is for the first Penn Point of 2020 with the Club’s NEW YEAR OPEN on WEDNESDAY 1ST JANUARY at KELLING (NR25 7EH) via Muckleburgh Collection fishing 10:00-3:00 HW 10:36 4.3m. Anyone wishing to fish either of these please text 07780893141.

 

Finally, I would like to personally thank everyone who has supported the Club and myself throughout 2019, it has been more than appreciated. We can now look forward to 2020 which is going to be a good one. With the Club’s Annual Bass Festival on the Shingle at the end of April and Air Ambulance Open during March. The SAMF Masters in Kent in March along with other SAMF events during the year. The Club’s West Norfolk Challenge in the Nene & Ouse estuaries during the Summer along with other Club Opens on the Shingle. The National Sea League Final in November at Skegness, a new venue for this event. Then there is the Club’s series of Opens around this festive period. All in all there’ll be plenty going on in 2020 to keep the rods rattling.

 

Finally, finally a MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our readers from Holt Sea Angling Club … Tony T

 

 

Top 10 Anglers on the day …

1...Charlie Frary....12lb.11 2/3oz.(53.Fish).Peg.4
2...Henry Randell...11lb.4 2/3oz..(54.Fish).Peg.18
3...Mark Wilson......10lb.10oz......(41.Fish).Peg.10
4...June Frary.........9lb.13 1/3oz.(35.Fish).Peg.5
5...Vince Crawford..9lb.2oz.........(44.Fish).Peg.43
6...Steve Adams.....8lb.13 2/3oz..(41.Fish).Peg.14
7...Adrian Bordianu.8lb.11 2/3oz..(38.Fish).Peg.45
8...Rob Tuck...........8lb.9 2/3oz…..(43.Fish).Peg.46
9...Dave Whittaker..8lb.9oz .........(28.Fish).Peg.8
10.Alan White.........8lb.7 1/3oz....(36.Fish).Peg.13

Zone A Prize winners …

1...Charlie Frary....12lb.11 2/3oz.(53.Fish).Peg.4
2...Henry Randell...11lb.4 2/3oz...(54.Fish).Peg.18
3...Mark Wilson......10lb.10oz.......(41.Fish).Peg.10
4...June Frary.........9lb.13 1/3oz..(35.Fish).Peg.5
5...Steve Adams.....8lb.13 2/3oz..(41.Fish).Peg.14

Zone B Prize winners …

1...Vince Crawford..9lb.2oz.........(44.Fish).Peg.43
7...Adrian Bordianu.8lb.11 2/3oz..(38.Fish).Peg.45
8...Rob Tuck...........8lb.9 2/3oz….(43.Fish).Peg.46
4...John Smith.........8lb.1oz………..(37.Fish).Peg.27
5...Richard Jacobs...7lb.13 2/3oz..(41.Fish).Peg.30

 

Town Team Challenge winners …

1...ALDEBURGH……...32 Penalty Points
2…LOWESTOFT………..35 Points
3...NORWICH…………..37 Points
4...WOODBRIDGE…...41 Points
5...DISS…………………...42 Points
6=.HOLT…………………...45.Points
6=.IPSWICH……………..45.Points
8...GRIMSBY……………..47.Points
9=.FELIXSTOWE……....51.Points
9=.GT YARMOUTH…....51.Points

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