Match Reports

14th Leg Summer Accumulator and West Norfolk Challenge Round 2 (Report)

Sunday 26th July 2015 - Kings Lynn Estuary

Holt SAC’s West Norfolk Challenge Round 2 was played out at the north end of the West Bank at Kings Lynn. A gentle southerly breeze at the start which as predicted strengthened and turned slightly south east as the match progressed. Thankfully that little bit of east just managed to deflect the majority of the noxious fumes from the Treatment Works. Also, thankfully a dry start but as predicted the rains came then it was the wet stuff throughout except for the odd rest bit but we all are accustomed to it this summer. Pegging was just south of the culvert at the north end of this stretch which gave us some nice grassy jetties to set up on and again thankfully avoiding that sticky mud of the previous contest. For once a short drive to the pegs through the “Serengeti” and easy access to the bank but where have all the heifers gone?

For once a slightly reduced turnout due to the usual start of the summer hols and the lack of readily available peelers. Pity there are always those that like to take advantage of such situations with that facebook peeler scam trying to fraudulently take cash from hard working anglers. Mind you there is a lot of it these days and thanks on this one goes to Christian and crew for bringing it to our attention. Thanks also to Dave(R), Phil(R) and Nigel(S) for joining the regulars to boost the numbers and make it a good competition. For once we were fishing the whole of the flood on a neap tide finishing in theory almost to the top of the water, just like we did in the good old days on South Quay in Old Town in Brian Cole’s matches when there were big eels on worm.

Anyway history wasn’t going to repeat itself in this one even though everyone was in optimistic mood at the off. Starting just after the bottom meant a steady tide to start with, just enough to encourage those big eels and flounders to feed. Unfortunately, they had not been given the script as rods for most remained motionless and Mr Organiser began to wonder if the Humber option would have been a better bet even with a strong south easterly in your left eye. Others were also wondering if the venue choice had been correct particularly after Nigel(S) had an eel a chuck from the East Bank the previous day on worm. However, as the flood started to pick up the odd flounder and an even odder eel started to appear but it was painfully slow. The wet stuff then decided to settle in so we all knew then that most of us were in for a long haul in this one.

With more tide and depth of water fish did at last start to show with Mike(W) on end peg 1 finding a reasonable flounder and a couple of measurable eels. Unfortunately, a further 4 flounders including one of 30cm did not give him a match winning score this time ending up with 129.5 points from 7 fish. Dan(E)’s first trip to Kings Lynn (peg 2) got off to a good start with a reasonable eel but could only find one more small flounder for 36.5 points. Phil(R)’s trip up from Constable country (peg 3) was even less productive with just one reasonable flounder for 28 points. Next peg 4 was last match’s runner Jeff(S) and he saw his league title challenge stutter as he also found just 1 flounder for 28 points.

Fairing slightly better after a slow start was John(C) on peg 5 who eventually found 4 reasonable flounders to give him 63 points at the end. No such luck for “Speedy” on peg 6 and even though he had fresh Cromer peelers he couldn’t find a fish all day so looks like he’ll be sticking to pike from now on. Tony(T) on peg 7 was also having a difficult day with no fish after 2 hours but with a serious switch to crab as the tide began to push harder he found a 26cm flounder and then a treble shot. Further flounders then came in quick succession including one of 31cm but they switched off abruptly as the tide slackened although he did find a 10in eel 3 feet out giving him 105.5 points from 7 fish. Dave(R) close tactics were playing off as he was managing to find some reasonable flounders throughout along with a small eel to give him 139.5 points from 9 fish and a shot at a podium finish. No such luck for Matt(F) on last peg in Zone A (peg 10) who could only find a small eel and a reasonable flounder for 36 points.

Peg 16 and first peg in Zone B had Nigel(S) on board and could not repeat even on good cast from the previous day’s eel a chuck experience by not finding a single fish, he’ll be back again to change all this. Showing his well founded river skills on peg 17 was Gary(M) who was straight into a good eel and then 6 small flounders for 134 points but he needed a bonus fish to get him into podium contention. Not so for our England International Henry(R) on peg 18 who was into fish throughout the match as he recorded 11 good flounders and 2 eels one of which was over a pound. Finding his fish here using his Irish Homes International experience, honing his skills from this real experience and not from talk or read on the net , a real International angler for the future. He ended up with a possible match winning total of 233.5 points but he was seriously worried by Ed(D) on peg 20 who was finding some really good flounders of 32 and 33cm to boost his score to 199 points from 10 fish and a certain podium contender.

The high order pegs were certainly finding some fish as Mark(B) on peg 21 managed to find 3 good flounders for 40 points. A rough day again for “Kipper” on peg 23 who could only find just one fish but that was a bonus flounder of 31cm for 36 points, one day it will really click for him at Kings Lynn. Finally, there was effectively end peg 24 with Alan(D) on board and although he had a quiet day by his standard he did find that bonus fish a 35cm flounder at the end which bumped his score up to 102 points from just 4 fish.

In the end it was young Henry Randell who did the business with 4lb 13 5/6oz from 13 fish but he did needed that big eel. This was because Ed Driver’s big flounders gave him a runners up spot with 4lb 2 1/3oz from 10 fish. Final podium slot went to middle of the pack man Dave Read with 2lb 14 1/2oz from 9 fish and justifying his trip up from deepest Suffolk. Heaviest fish on the day was not Henry’s eel but Alan Doy’s 1lb 1 1/3oz flounder beating the eel by just 1/3oz. Altogether 72 fish were recorded (63 flounders & 9 eels) weighing 27lb 4oz.

With a number of top absentees the overall league positions have of course changed with Henry currently top of the leader board with 3 points, Mike Watts 2nd on 5 points and Ed 3rd on 6 points. The same could be said for the pairs competitions with Richard Burt & Ed Driver leading the FREE pairs on 806 points even though Richard was absent and Jeff Stannard and Tony Thomas the MYSTERY Pairs on 624 points. As the worst scores are dropped in the Individuals and Pairs competitions the absentees will come back into contention if they fish the last two rounds especially as it is very tight in the Mystery Pairs.

On the club front, Henry again took the honours with Mike Watts 2nd with 2lb 11 1/6oz from 7 fish and Tony Thomas 3rd with 2lb 3 1/6oz also from 7 fish. Henry took the heaviest club round with his 1lb 1oz eel and Alan heaviest flat with his 1lb 1 1/3oz flounder.

A rather disappointing match for fish numbers but we cannot control what is there and when they are feeding. This stretch has never really performed exceptionally particularly away from the culvert. One theory for this was put forward by young Henry and that is the bottom here is very silty and therefore does not hold the fish like the other stretches we fish. Round 3 will be on Sunday 9th August fishing 10:00 – 3:00 with HW at 3:01 and 4.2m at Cromer which will be almost identical to this match. For this one we will be going deep into the “Serengeti” fishing south of the round 1 stretch nearly opposite the fishing boats, if possible.

West Norfolk Challenge Result Top 5

Posn.	Member	Weight		No. Fish	Weight Points
		(lb)	(oz)

Henry Randell

13 5/6

234

Ed Driver

2 1/3

199

Dave Read

14 1/2

140

Gary Medler

12 2/3

134

Mike Watts

11 1/6

106

West Norfolk Challenge League Top 5

Posn.

Angler

League Points

Total No. of Fish

Total Weight Points

Henry Randell

480

Mike Watts

414

Ed Driver

429

Alan Doy

340

Gary Medler

335

Free Pairs Top 5

Posn.	Pair	No. Fish	Weight Points	Weight
				(lb)	(oz)

Richard Burt & Ed Driver

806

12 2/3

Peter Loke (2) & Henry Randell

691

6 1/6

Tony Thomas & Mike Watts

659

11 2/3

Christian Bulch & Mark Sharman

621

Trevor Elliott & Alan Doy

617

13 1/2

Mystery Pairs Top 5

Posn.	Pair	No. Fish	Weight Points	Weight
				(lb)	(oz)

Jeff Stannard & Tony Thomas

624

Ed Driver & Matt Frost

578

2/3

Mike Watts & "Kipper"

532

1 1/6

Richard Burt & Kev Sealey

517

12 1/3

Jeff Stannard (2) & Mark Borley

491

3 1/2

Club 14th Leg Summer Accumulator Result Top 5

Posn.	Member	Weight		No. Fish	Weight Points
		(lb)	(oz)

Henry Randell

13 5/6

234

Mike Watts

11 1/6

130

Tony Thomas

3 1/6

106

Alan Doy

102

John Carter

Full Results Round 2

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