I
am not a particularly competitive person by nature but I do like to
occasionally “have a go”, so I signed up for the Bewl Bridge Fly Fishers annual
bank fishing competition. I did so
because I like to support the club, get to know more members and learn from
watching others. Yes, and it is another
chance to get out for some fishing. This
proved to be a well-organised event run by John Benfield, the club’s competition
guru. I duly arrived, had a sausage
sandwich in the sailing club café and joined the queue of 41fishers to pay my
£35 entrance fee (which covered my 8 fish ticket and the evening meal). Financially it does not come better than
that. For my fishing friends in the
States that’s around $50. The ping pong ball with my location number was then
drawn and it was blue bank number 13! Fortunately I am not superstitious. Now of the 17 miles of shore line there were
3 areas of bank being fished shown by black lines. Blue bank
was from Bramble Bay to Pine Bay. The
other bank locations were around Dunsters and Rosemary Farm.
The anglers
fishing those locations got transported from the Fishing Lodge by the fishery’s dory. My group got to leg it from the car park to
the clearing at Bramble Point where we assembled in sunshine and a cold breeze
prior to the walk off.
The walk off is
done in numerical order starting with the lowest number drawn. As I was number 13 I had to watch 12 other
fishers select their position prior to me adopting one. The idea is that after lunch the walk off
order is reversed, but that didn’t really work as our group did not assemble
again for lunch as we were too spread out.
At Bramble Point there was already a non-competition angler fishing and he had banked a few fish, so we were all optimistic when at 10.00 we entered the water for the first
3 hour session. Because the reservoir is
so full we had to wade out around 30 yards to get thigh deep in the clear, but
very cold (4 C), water. My location
wasn’t ideal but it was good enough to cover fishable water.
Gary who was fishing down-wind of me picked
up a couple of fish in the first hour on slowly retrieved boobies, so inspired
by him we were all trying hard. Another
chap with a red cap on who was fishing down wind into the bay using naturals (I
think) had 4 fish but apart from that we all blanked.
After lunch,
having got really cold in the morning, I moved round to Seven Pound Creek out
of the worst of the wind, where I could fish without wading. Then the sun came out and it was very
pleasant. However, the fishing did not
improve, the odd fish were caught but considering the number of competent
anglers fishing it was disappointing.
The boys on Bramble Point mid afternoon
Seven Pound Creek in the afternoon sun
No
fish were topping and I tried everything I could think of, starting with an
intermediate line with a team of lures, followed by buzzers under a bung (there
were a few flies coming off the water) and finally a Di 3 line with a booby on
the point and a couple of lures on droppers.
I even fished blood worm patterns deep.
At 17.00 we called it a day and walked back to the weighing in. Surprisingly the other banks had also not
fished very well, with quite a number of fishers blanking.
Things
started to improve when we got back to the club house and we enjoyed an
excellent meal, lots of banter and the results.
The overall rod average was very low 1.66 fish per competitor. There were winners and runner-ups announced
for each bank. The most fish caught by
an individual angler was 6 (total weight 12lb 10oz) and two others had 5 fish each. Bert Short caught the biggest fish weighing
3lb 10oz.
So to sum up, the fishing was a challenge, the
weather mixed, the water very cold, the organisation excellent and getting to
know other members of the club brilliant!
The official report of the event will appear,
courtesy of Ray French, in the next edition of the amazing “Bewl Angle”, the club
magazine.
Foot Note: I have just been on the club forum and here is an "official" statement.
Foot Note: I have just been on the club forum and here is an "official" statement.
Congratulations
goes to the overall winner, Tony Fox who caught six fish near Goose Creek. The
top rods on the day were as follows:
1.) Tony Fox - 6 fish for 12 pounds and 10 ounces.
2.) Frank Daley - 5 fish for 12 pounds and 7 ounces
3.) Harry Fox - 5 fish for 10 pounds and 8 ounces.
4.) David Little - 4 fish for 8 pounds and 3 ounces.
5.) Daryl Planson - 4 fish for 7 pounds and 9 ounces.
6.) G. Manley - 3 fish for 6 pounds and 10 ounces.
6.) Peter Young - 3 fish for 6 pounds and 10 ounces.
8.) Bert Short - 2 fish for 5 pounds and 14 ounces (also caught the largest fish of the day - 3 pounds and 1 ounce)
9. J.P Turner - 3 fish for 5 pounds and 12 ounces.
10.) Keith Lawrence - 3 fish for 5 pounds and 11 ounces.
Many thanks go to Andy Lush from Friendly Fisherman for sponsoring the competition and providing the prizes; Tracey and the catering staff at the Yacht Club for providing a superb hot meal and pudding; and to Howard and all of the staff at Bewl for helping out and making sure that anglers were delivered safely to the correct banks.
1.) Tony Fox - 6 fish for 12 pounds and 10 ounces.
2.) Frank Daley - 5 fish for 12 pounds and 7 ounces
3.) Harry Fox - 5 fish for 10 pounds and 8 ounces.
4.) David Little - 4 fish for 8 pounds and 3 ounces.
5.) Daryl Planson - 4 fish for 7 pounds and 9 ounces.
6.) G. Manley - 3 fish for 6 pounds and 10 ounces.
6.) Peter Young - 3 fish for 6 pounds and 10 ounces.
8.) Bert Short - 2 fish for 5 pounds and 14 ounces (also caught the largest fish of the day - 3 pounds and 1 ounce)
9. J.P Turner - 3 fish for 5 pounds and 12 ounces.
10.) Keith Lawrence - 3 fish for 5 pounds and 11 ounces.
Many thanks go to Andy Lush from Friendly Fisherman for sponsoring the competition and providing the prizes; Tracey and the catering staff at the Yacht Club for providing a superb hot meal and pudding; and to Howard and all of the staff at Bewl for helping out and making sure that anglers were delivered safely to the correct banks.
speachless efforts you are doing. i must say you are very well Doing in your work. i always love to see such kind of work.
ReplyDeleteDeep sea fishing in Dubai