Kings Lynn Sunday 9th September 2012 – West Norfolk Challenge Round 4
The fourth and final round of the West Norfolk Challenge Series was to be played out on the river Gt. Ouse at Kings Lynn. No club league points were at stake here just the prestige of being crowned Holt SAC West Norfolk Challenge 2012 Champion and there were a number of contenders in the frame. Success on the day could ultimately lead to success in the Challenge and one or two had been doing their homework about the venue as well as seeking some serious local knowledge, so game on. With access again secured, it was back to our favourite West Bank venue and this time we would be fishing the north end, a stretch which produced some splendid weights in the past. This time the Serengeti had gone and with no sign of the heifers all had been replaced by mountains (well not quite) of freshly mown hay. With a bright warm sky and gentle south westerly to clip the heat the big question of the day was “would we be making hay ” over the next few hours.
The river was in ideal condition with a nice flooding tide but although it was a small tide it was still flowing through at a good pace. The usual club entourage and Challenge contenders gathered nice and early in the hay but a few of the regular members could not make it so club turnout was not so good. However, we were fortunate to have a few of those southern Suffolk boys joining us to make up the numbers, thanks fellas! With an hour to go there was no sign of them, a quick call to leader DR and the response was “be there in 5 mins. just finishing our coffees”. Thought Norfolk lads were a bit laid back but these Suffolks really know how to relax and enjoy the finer bits of life. Anyway enough of these regional mannerisms and it was back to the pegging which was down to TT again (thanks RE for the offer!) with “young” Henry on Sandringham duty and something else called work although did catch him out in his kayak that evening.
Pegging was from the north drain south but not too close to the drain as this would give an advantage to anyone who was on this peg 1 slot. With the Suffolk Boys arrived and settled on their pegs all were optimistic that we were in for an excellent session at the whistle. This venue allows each angler to use their own individual techniques which was the case at the off with most opting to fish out in the tide with a few checking out the margins. One of the first to score was Suffolk boy Rodney (M) (peg 5) who plucked a nice 29 cm flounder out of the tide followed by a slightly smaller 27 cm version to Tony (T) on next peg 6. With tide flooding harder fish were seen coming in along the whole stretch with Suffolk man David (R ) on peg 10 finding a nice 28 cm flounder. Back down the stretch the “flash lights” were popping as Pam (C ) on peg 3 could be seen posing with a 32 cm flounder after registering a small eel. This success had been preceded by a similar 32 cm and 27 cm flounders to her man John (C ) on peg 2 prompting all to believe we were in for a cracking session.
During the first hour and a bit fish were coming in at regular intervals with Suffolk men Alan (L) peg 7 and Eddy (D) peg 19 finding small flounders. Also finding small flounders was Dene (C ) whose mind was probably more on his impending continental trip and focusing his intentions on the smaller stuff rather than the Gt. Ouse stonkers. For some the start was a bit slow andPeter (M) peg 17 and Sam (A) peg 20 were finding it hard but did manage to get something on their cards albeit small. However, Lowestoft matchman Mark (G) peg 18 was using his long river snoods to good effect and finding a few small eels and flounders to show that the fish were there. This was also demonstrated by Richard (E ) down on hot end peg 1 who could be seen pulling in “white slab” after “white slab” and soon snotching up 8 flounders including 3 in the 30 cm range. His early tactics of light line, a 1oz bomb and shrimp fished close in were doing the damage. Surprise of the day came to top coarse man Ivan (A) peg 16 as after landing a small flounder he locked into a nice 44 cm mullet although some said it was a scad. This excellent fish certainly shook him but more surprise was to come as another 39 cm “mullet” was soon added to his card, you can never predict what this fishing lark will throw up.
As the tide started to ease the decent flounders started to disappear being replaced by miniature undersize versions as singles and doubles started appearing on the bank. This was just two hours into the match and we could have ended the match there then as the fish just literally switched off. Slack water came and went and the ebb started to pick up but still the fish did not appear except for the odd one. Everyone was trying everything to improve their catch but in the end just ended up marking time ‘till the final whistle. For those that didn’t find fish at the start it was a torrid day, like Peter (L) peg 8 who didn’t have a single bite but did find a heft, like John (N) peg 14 who made no comment about his lack of fish.
In the end it was performance at the start that did the business with Richard Ellis taking the honours on the day with 4lb 0oz from 9 fish. Second was Mark Gooch with 3lb 5½oz from 10 fish closely followed by Ivan Allison with 3lb 4½oz from just 3 fish. Heaviest fish on the day was Ivan’s 1lb 13oz mullet. This was just a West Norfolk Challenge round and club league points were not at stake. With his success on the day Richard Ellis came out of the pack to be crowned 2012 West Norfolk Challenge champion with just 7 penalty points and received the club’s West Norfolk Champion trophy, well done Richard! John Carter was runner up on 8 penalty points followed by Tony Thomas also on 8 points but with smaller total fish points score. Both the Free and Mystery Pairs competitions were taken by Richard Ellis & Ivan Allison with a total weight of 16lb 13 2/3oz from 36 fish over the 4 matches.
A successful West Norfolk Challenge Series although participating numbers were low which was disappointing for the club but the committee has agreed to run a similar series in the Summer of 2013. Many thanks to Brights of Sheringham and Hunstanton Tackle for sponsoring the series and Rite Gear along with all club members who provided raffle prizes. The next club match will be back on the shingle at Salthouse on Sunday 16th September 2012 fishing 10:00-3:00.
Challenge Match Result Top 5
1st Richard Ellis 4lb 0oz
2nd Mark Gooch 3lb 5½oz
3rd Ivan Allison 3lb 4½oz
4th Dave Read 1lb 15oz
5th Rodney Mills 1lb 13½oz
Challenge League final standings Top 5
1st Richard Ellis 7 pts
2nd John Carter 8 pts (392 fish pts)
3rd Tony Thomas 8 pts (353 fish pts)
4th Dene Conway 8 pts (269 fish pts)
5th Ivan Allison 10 pts
Challenge Free Pairs Top 3
1st Richard Ellis & Ivan Allison 16lb 13 2/3oz
2nd John Carter & Peter Morse 13lb 14oz
3rd Andy Dawkins & Mike Dawkins 12lb 4 1/3oz
Challenge Mystery Pairs Top 3
1st Richard Ellis & Ivan Allison 16lb 13 2/3oz
2nd John Carter & John Neave 10lb 15oz
3rd Peter Loke & Trevor Elliott 10lb 5oz
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