11th Leg Summer Accumulator and West Norfolk Challenge Round 1 (Report)

Sunday 28th June 2015 - Kings Lynn Estuary

 

 

Holt SAC’s 4th Annual West Norfolk Challenge Series kicked off with Round 1 in the Ouse Estuary at Kings Lynn. The match stretch for the first match this year was the Central part of the West Bank just south of the Treatment Works and a good south west blow meant for once none of those noxious fumes. An early 9:30 start fishing 2 down and 3 up on a very small tide meant a reasonable flow throughout avoiding the tide ripping through. Not exactly the ticket for those that like 2 up and 3 down but that timing would have been difficult for this one on a Sunday evening.  

 

Pegging for this match was 2 sections on the West Bank south from the Pylon in front of the two wind turbines on the East Bank. Fishing the ebb meant a steep drop to the water’s edge and a short strip of dried mud at the top and a good flat area to set up on. However, the weather gods forecast of 47-57% chance of rain at some stage during the match turned out to be 100% chance turning this rather flat area into a rather muddy quagmire, a few were not amused! Even with this forecast a good turnout was making its way through the Serengeti out field to the draw in the middle of the stretch. Encouraging to have a turnout more than last year even with a number of regulars missing for various reasons. Unlike the shingle and the sand there are no long hikes to the pegs and with the club’s access to the West |Bank it’s a matter of driving to the nearest gap in the hedge to your peg although the associated steep grassy back can be a bit treacherous.

 

With pegs drawn all were soon setting up on the “dry” mud, thankfully well before the wet stuff arrived. This was the usual catch and release match to normal club rules with eels being retained for weighing and being returned to the river at the end of the match in accordance with the Environment Agency’s requirements. The Kings Lynn matches always attracts anglers of mixed skills ranging from those from around the country with stacks of estuary experience to local anglers who were tasting this fishing environment for the very first time and this match was no different. It was encouraging to see that some of the club’s new comers to the estuary had done their research to ensure they were at least competitive for this one. For them they were into eels and good flounders from the whistle which was to keep their enthusiasm high in the ever increasing quantities of sticky mud.

 

For the first two hours there was a respectable flow in the river which was helping to keep the fish active. Flounders were the dominant species during this period 35cm (1lb 1oz) specimens being taken by Alan Doy, Jeff Stannard and a couple to Richard Burt in the first hour of the match. Big flounders are the target species in these catch and release matches as they generate a significant number of points. A point highlighted by Henry Randell who was tracking Richard flounder for small flounder and only had half his score on his card. This was an important time in the match when the flounders were on the feed and everyone had to maximise their catch during this period to be in contention at the end. At this early stage the lower order pegs from the pylon south in section A were having a better average catch per peg than those in section B.

 

Everything was running smoothly for the majority with a comfortable match in progress and then the rain started, gradually increasing in volume for a good 2 hours. One of the very few times we have had rain in the club’s Kings Lynn matches, turning that relatively dry mud into something rather sticky and adding yet another variable into the match strategy. This almost coincided with the bottom of the tide and arrival of slack water when there was a noticeable drop in fish being recorded. Normally, such conditions in a big tide allows mid-stream activity to be investigated resulting in a number of good eels. However, not for this one as they seemed to be rather elusive although the odd one was still being found. In particular, a good healthy specimen of 1lb 6oz to Trevor Elliott which bumped up his score considerablely. Then there was that eel of around 11oz which had taken Peter Loke’s bottom hook or should we say not quite taken the hook. This resulted in the midday entertainment of the match as it decided to make an escape for freedom half way up the bank only to see Peter bound down the muddy slope via back bottom and boots to pushing it back up the bank just cms from the water’s edge. He had remembered his big eel saga from same match last year where a very big match winning eel made a successful bid for freedom but more dramatic this time, good job he’s short!

 

As the tide started to flood a few more eels started to show particularly on the high order pegs but not in the numbers of previous years. However, the majority were of reasonable quality and very few “boot laces” which is a worry for the future of this species. Fortunately, the flounders started to feed again although not in the same quantity and quality as prior to slack water. Their return was a life line for some who had been having a grim time early on as they at last found some decent fish to boost their scores. Unfortunately, rather too late to influence the result as Mark Sharman on the high order end peg had been catching throughout the match and took the honours on the day. Although his bag of 11 reasonable flounders helped his score along it was his 8 eels weighing 4lb that put him into contention but it was a 32cm flounder at the end that gave him top spot with 8lb 3oz from 20 fish. He certainly needed that flounder as runner up from the other end peg 3 was Richard Burt with 7lb 14oz from just 12 fish. These included those two 35cm flounders along with three of 33cm and 4 good eels for 1lb 14oz which illustrates how big flounders can be match winning fish. Final podium slot went to Jeff Stannard next to Mark with 7lb 5oz from 16 fish whose score was again helped by one of those 35cm flounders and 5 eels weighing 3lb 14oz. Heaviest fish of the match was Trevor Elliott’s 1lb 6oz eel.

 

The match also kicked off two Pairs competitions in the Free Pairs and Mystery Pairs which will cover all the matches in the Series. In the Free Pairs competitors are allowed to nominate their own partner whereas the Mystery Pairs partners are selected via a draw of a competitor in the top half of the final result of the first match with one from the bottom half. The competition for both Pairs is the combined weight of the pair over all 4 matches with the worst match combined weight dropped. The current leaders in the Free Pairs is Christian Bulch and Mark Sharman with a combined weight of 12lb 15oz and in the Mystery Pairs is Richard Burt and Kev Sealey with 10lb 12oz and it looks as though this competition is going to be very close. Further placings are detailed below and full set will be on the website.

 

An extremely healthy match to kick off the club’s 2015 West Norfolk Challenge campaign with a total of 192 fish (140 flounders, 56 eels and 3 smelt) being recorded weighing 77 ½lb. Although the eels were somewhat elusive, everyone bar one caught at least one so they are at least still on the “menu”, literally speaking of course!

 

The next Round 2 of the West Norfolk Challenge Series will be Kings Lynn West Bank north end (wind permitting)  provisionally scheduled for Sunday 26th July fishing 10:00 – 3:00 HW 3:03.

 

West Norfolk Challenge Result Top 5

1st Mark Sharman       8lb 3oz          (20 Fish)    (1 P Point)

2nd Richard Burt         7lb 13 2/3oz   (12 Fish)   (1 P Point)

3rd Jeff Stannard        7lb 4 5/6oz     (16 Fish)   (2 P Points)

4th Henry Randell       5lb 2oz           ( 15 Fish)  (2 P Points)

5th Mike Watts           5lb 14 2/3oz    ( 17 Fish)  (3 P Points)

 

Club Match Result Top 5

1st Jeff Stannard         7lb 4 5/6oz     (16 Fish)

2nd Mike Watts           5lb 14 2/3oz    (17 Fish)

3rd Trevor Elliott         5lb 12 1/3oz   (10 Fish)

4th Henry Randell        5lb 2oz          (15 Fish)

5th  Alan Doy              4lb 15 1/6oz  (14 Fish)

 

Free Pairs Top 5

1st Christian Bulch & Mark Sharman      12lb 15oz        (30 Fish)

2nd Richard Burt & Ed Driver                12lb 10 1/3oz   (24 Fish)

3rd Trevor Elliott & Alan Doy                10lb 11 1/2oz   (24 Fish)

4th Peter Loke & Henry Randell             9lb 8 1/3oz      (26 Fish)

5th   Richard Ellis & Jeff Stannard          9lb 5 1/6oz      (23 Fish)

 

Mystery Pairs Top 5

1st Richard Burt & Kev Sealey               10lb 12 1/3oz   (20 Fish)

2nd Jeff Stannard & Tony Thomas          10lb 3 1/2oz     (24 Fish)

3rd Mark Sharman & Andrew Muirhead    9lb 11 5/6oz    (24 Fish)

4th Christian Bulch & Peter Loke             9lb 2 1/3oz      (21 Fish)

5th   Jeff Stannard & Mark Borley            8lb 12 5/6oz    (22 Fish)

 

"1950/1960's Nostalgia"

 

------ ... ------