Salthouse Sunday 15th January 2012 – 2nd Leg Winter Accumulator & Teams of 5
With light South Easterlies predicted we all knew this could be a good match but the resulting high pressure gave us clear skies and plummeting temperatures. A very chilly start with our first real match this winter with ice covering Salthouse beach car park. For most it was a careful early morning drive to the North Norfolk coast made more interesting for Ashley(V) who had to put pen to paper for a car to car altercation. Apart from that 5 full teams for a change gathered at Salthouse car park along with a trio of class acts from down south. With a full complement pegging was 3 sections on our usual stretch west in front of “Little Eye” mound and 2 sections east up to “Gramborough” hill. The latter being a good checkout of this stretch for the National Sea League Final later this year on 1st/2nd December.
With such a popular beach there was always a chance of contention with pleasure anglers for beach slots but those that did appear were very cooperative, many thanks for their understanding. With pegs drawn quickly all were soon starting their arduous hikes to the pegs particularly those on the “iron works”. Fishing top down gave us flat shingle to set up on with no real steep bank to negotiate as the tide ebbed. All were more than ready for the whistle with most opting for the gentle lob with the hardened casters unable to resist blasting it to the horizon. As the sky tried to become overcast the probability of a good run of whiting was on but it soon became apparent that the always reliable dab was going to be the fish of the day. From the off, dabs could be seen being returned all along the stretch with singles, doubles and the odd treble being recorded by most.
For a pleasure angler the sight of so many small dabs would be boring whereas for the match angler it may also have seemed boring but it also meant business. Well business for some as the action became frenetic with dab after dab being caught whilst others were left perplexed as they just could not find fish in numbers. Unfortunately, the majority of the dabs were small and treble shots of undersized dabs were regularly being landed and that was small. Even so a steady flow of small fish meant your card was being filled and points accumulated so that wasn’t bad. Although the whiting weren’t playing ball on this day finding a sizeable version was a bonus which could match a treble shot of small dabs. With 2 sections to the east and 3 to the west it was difficult to judge how everyone was performing but it soon became apparent that west was fishing far better. Although the dabs here were still small the numbers were higher and there were more point scoring whiting from this stretch.
Surprisingly, fish were being caught throughout the ebb although some did find they went off for a while during slack water but a steady flow of fish always makes for a good match. With the sections split and activity going on all along the stretch it is difficult for obvious reasons to comment on individual battles during the match. In the end, it was those that caught the most fish who did the business with clubman Stephen Boyce taking the honours from a known peg 20 hot spot with 6lb 10oz from 39 dabs and no whiting. Next was Alan Lewis from down south on peg 11 who had a point to make after dismal performances at Kelling by recording 6lb 4oz from 35 fish which included three whiting. Final podium slot went to our clubman Bill Beeton on peg 9 with 5lb 2oz from 30 fish which again were all dabs. The heaviest flat for club points went to Trevor Elliott with a 30cm flounder and heaviest round to Peter Morse with a 31cm whiting.
On the teams front, Avenue Angling came good at last by taking the match with just 6 penalty points closely followed by the current team of the series, HSAC Rite Gear on 7 points. Fast improving HSAC Crack Offs came third with 10 points followed by HSAC Morston Creek who had a disastrous day on 14 points and HSAC Blakeney Bar who had an equally poor day with 15 points although they do now have a full team. The top 3 teams after 4 rounds are HSAC Rite Gear (30), Avenue Angling (35) and HSAC Morston Creek (38)
A match that produced plenty of fish , a staggering 642 for just over 102lbs of which 12 were whiting, 4 flounders and the rest dabs. What a match this would have been if the whiting had come on stream, maybe next time. Next match is Sunday 22nd January 2012 which is the North Norfolk Team Challenge at Kelling fishing 9:00-2:00. This is a prestigious event where the top 10 points scorers from the club will count for the Avenue Angling shield so can all club members attend to support the club. As mentioned before, the boys from down south are threatening to do the business so we need to muster the strongest team possible so please give your support. This will also be an Open match along with a raffle for club funds so please bring along a prize.
Individual Match Result Top 5
1st Stephen Boyce 6lb 10 1/3oz
2nd Alan Lewis 6lb 3 2/3oz
3rd Bill Beeton 5lb 2 1/3oz
4th Alan Doy 5lb 0 1/3oz
5th Peter Loke 4lb 12 2/3oz
Club Match Result Top 5
1st Stephen Boyce 6lb 10 1/3oz
2nd Bill Beeton 5lb 2 1/3oz
3rd Peter Loke 4lb 12 2/3oz
4th Ivan Allison 4lb 8 2/3oz
5th Dick Ellis 4lb 7 2/3oz
Team Match Result Top 5
1st Avenue Angling 6 points
2nd HSAC Rite Gear 7 points
3rd HSAC Crack Offs 10 points
4th HSAC Morston Creek 14 points
5th HSAC Blakeney Bar 15 points
Team To-date Top 5
1st HSAC Rite Gear 30 points
2nd Avenue Angling 35 points
3rd HSAC Morston Creek 38 points
4th HSAC Blakeney Bar 55 points
5th HSAC Crack Offs 56 points
Please use this link for full set of results …
http://www.holtseaanglingclub.com/TT/NNTSL%2015Jan12.htm
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