Twelve of the fourteen anglers met up at the Ship Inn, Alveston Thursday evening to catch up with old friends and book in for the matches to be fished on the banks of the Severn estuary. The venues that on inspection earlier that day seemed to be comprised of evil looking mud and large clumps of grass. A challenge for most of us.
Day One
The first days angling was at Aust and the anglers were met with a strong SW wind and an ominously overcast sky when they booked in to draw their pegs and collect the rag and lug baits. Fortunately the rain held off and the day slowly got brighter but the onshore wind remained but as long casts were not deemed necessary this was not a problem. The fishing was slow but Tony Porritt had a codling in the first hour giving him hope of the longest round fish. As the match progressedthe occasional flounder or eel could be seen being brought ashore through the mud and grass. At the end of the day it was a local man, well from the other side of the estuary, Mark Cowell who was in top spot with a catch of four flounders for 112cm. Second place went to Paull Curtice with three eels for 105cm. Barrie Senior was third with an eel and three flounders for 96cm. Tony Porritt did take the longest round fish pool with his codling of 38cm. Paul Parsons had the longest flat fish a flounder of 30cm.
Day Two
Whale Wharf near Littleton-on-Severn was the venue for the second days match and supposedly the better venue. It would certainly be easier to fish with fewer large clumps of weed to pull the rigs over. The wind had eased but the weather was still looking variable with a shower as the bait was being sorted out. Although a long walk to the pegged section of the shore the anglers had plenty of time to set up and the sun threatened to break through. Fishing was as slow as on the previous day although a couple of better fish were caught with both Peter Neale and Mark Cowell catching 44cm bass. The results for day two saw Paul Parson top with two flounders, two eels and a sole for 145cm. Paull Curtice managed another second place with three flounders and two eels for 132cm with Reg Clough catching two eels for 70cm. The longest round fish pool was shared between Peter and Mark for their 44cm bass. The longest flat fish pool was also shared between Dave Lovelock and Paul Parson both having a flounder of 30cm.
The presentation was held at the White Hart at Littleton-on-Severn, many thanks to them. At the final count over the two days our retiring Shore Festival Officer Paull Curtice went out on a high taking first place and the gold pin with 4 points. Second place and the silver pin went to Mark Cowell with 6 points. Bronze pin winner was Paul Parson with 7 points. Congratulations both the pin winners and the pools winners.
Kim Bowden, Reg Clough and Paull Curticewon The Executive Drawn Teamswith a combined total of 25 points.
Many thanks to all who helped with the event. Mark for bringing the bait, Dave Lovelock and Stuart Jones for pegging the venues, Paull, Keith Scaggs and Kim Bowden for the various organisational and administrative jobs that have to be done to make an event like this successful.
For next year we are looking at Eastbourne as a possible venue fishing end April beginning of May when there should be some plaice around. Keep an eye out for more details on the EFSA website and Facebook
Final Final
Points Position
4 1 Paull Curtice
6 2 Mark Cowell
7 3 Paul Parson
7 4 Reg Clough
12 5 Paul Hart
14 6 Barrie Senior
14 6 Kim Bowden
14 6 Stuart Jones
16 9 Jerry Knight
17 10 Allan Jones
18 11 Dave Lovelock
21 12 Tony Porritt
22 13 Keith Scaggs
24 14 Pete Neale
Report by
Barrie Senior
