Well, the tradition of fine weather certainly continued on Sunday and competitors at the annual fundraising event on behalf of the Macmillan Palliative Care Nurses at the James Paget Hospital basked in Mediterranean conditions throughout.
I have to express some disappointment in the number of anglers who booked places for this event, but who failed to turn up without letting me know this year. A few did contact me to say that they were unable to attend for various reasons, but 14 anglers failed to contact and this resulted in far more beach being pegged than necessary, with the inevitable big gaps, which we strive to avoid.
To the fishing then, sadly, a match which started of with enormous promise failed to maintain the good form and catches were disappointing too. Many anglers reported plenty of bites right from the off, but as the flood topped, the bites died and the expected run of fish on the ebb failed to materialise. Barry Coulson reported 15 fish in the first hour, but only managed 2 sizeable specimens. The anticipated weed was manageable for much of the event, but as the ebb really got underway it arrived with a vengeance, ruining the last 2 hours.
In the end the result was a tie with both Henry Randell and Stephen Boyce sharing top spot with 1 lb 4 2/3ozs each (61 points)
Henry & Stephen shared a total payout of £164.00 and will hold the Mark Alsop Memorial Challenge Cup for 6 months each. The payout was made up as follows: Angie’s Special Prize £60.00, Match Pool 1st – £50.00, Match Pool Second £30.00, plus 2 x section wins at £12.00 each.
36 adults and 6 juniors competed and only 19 managed catch returns on such a difficult day.
Sadly, the inaugural Harrison Smith Trophy proved difficult for some good, keen young anglers and with none of these 6 catching, Jake Smith kindly agreed that all the entrants names be put into the Cup and he drew out the prizewinners. The trophy, winners medal, a new reel and £20.00 cash going to Jayke Plant. Runner-s up medal, £10 cash and a tackle rigs prize went to Ryan McClean, whilst Harry Roberts took the third place medal and tackle prize.
On a very hard day, the full result is as follows:
1st equal Henry Randell & Stephen Boyce 61 points each
3rd Mike Watts 52 points
5th equal Adrian Crane & Tony Thomas 44 points each
6th P Weller 38 points
7th Barry Coulson 28 points
9th equal Trevor Elliot & P Luke 20 points each
10th John Abbott 18 points
12th equal Roger Allerton & Jake Smith 16 points each
15th equal Steve Smith, Andy Gray & Graham Greenwood 14 points each
18th equal Cain Plumb, Alan Steel & M Bowles 14 points each
19th Simon Roberts 7 points.
The Biggest Flatfish pool saw 4 anglers share £40.00 fora 24 cms Dab, whilst Tony Thomas collect a further £40.00 for the biggest round fish, a 39 cms whiting.
Seven section winners picked up £12.00 each
Peg numbers:
1 – 10 Stephen Boyce
11 – 20 Mike Watts
21 – 30 John Abbott
31 – 40 Henry Randell
41 – 50 Adrian Crane & Tony Thomas (equal)
51 – 60 Steve Smith
61 – 70 Trevor Elliot
The balance sheet is made up as follows:
36 adults @ £10.00 each = £360.00
6 Juniors @ £2.00 each = £12.00
Donation to Macmillan from match tickets = 36 x £3.00 = £108.00 plus 6 x £1.00 = £114.00
Cash donation AKD Engineering = £100.00
Angie direct donation = £20.00
Cash Donation Shaun Dickson = £10.00
Cash Donation Roger Allerton = £10.00
Section win donated (J.Abbott) = £12.00
Raffle takings = £213.00
Total donation to Macmillan Nurses at James Paget Hospital, Gorleston = £ 489.00
Match Pools 36 x £3.00 Match pool = £108.00
Biggest Flatfish = £36.00
Biggest Round fish = £36.00
Section Pools = £72.00
A further contribution of £20 by Angie (Mark Alsop’s Mum) was used to strengthen and balance the pools payouts.
I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all who helped to make this another great day and especially to Hayley Alsop for all her hard work in gathering so many raffle prizes, Mark’s Mum Angie for her continuous generosity and support and to Jake Smith and family for their commitment during such a difficult time for them.
Others without whose help this cannot be achieved include Steve & Joy Smith for all their hard work in canvassing sponsors, Keith Mountifield, Roger Allerton & Cain Plumb for similar help and to Simon Roberts for pegging out.
Finally, thanks must go to all of you who turned out and tried on such a hard day for fishing, eventually raising a total of £489.00 for our chosen charity.
Thank you.
John Abbott
