The second match of 2023 was fished at the North end of Trunch lane on Saturday 4th February. The small but experienced field of eleven anglers fished in perfect conditions with a slight swell and an offshore wind around high water. The beach had a good steep slope and because of the deeper water on that section of the beach, the distance casters weren’t having it all their own way for a change, with plenty of fish coming out at all ranges.
Roy Munro was fishing at very close range and finding some nice dabs. The dabs were a good stamp so much so that Roy targeted them for the entire match in a focused but relaxed approach but couldn’t keep up with the whiting for length. Plus he didn’t have any fish bait so had to stick to worm after a gull paid him a visit an ate his bluey halfway through the match.
Rik Jarvis returned to the matches with a great 22 fish and 558cm
The flood fished very well with a continuous stream of fish being landed with double and treble shots of good sized dabs and whiting everywhere. It was a close fought match with angers needing 5m of fish plus by mid match to be anywhere near a top three placing. High water saw the fish switch off the feed and only return an hour into the ebb, almost at the end. The winners would be decided right at the end of the match jostling for places and gambling on quick changes to baits and fishing times to gain a vital odd fish or two to move up into the prizes.
Top Three
In third place with 688cm was Tony Burman using biggish baits on size 1 hooks, casting a long way on his Tourney match rod and Penn Fathom set up. Tony kept catching one or two fish steadily when the fishing dropped off around high water by trying different ranges and baits to keep catching and stay in touching distance of the leaders but it was the last minutes of the match that Tony demonstrated his match fishing expertise. The last six minutes of the match saw Tony land a treble shot of fish, he quickly cast out another rig, recorded the fish and then as the whistle went for the end of the match Tony retrieved a double shot of fish with the rig barely having five minutes in the sea! These last minute fish were critical in such a close match and pushed him up into third place beating Dan Jackson into fourth by just 10cm.
Tony Burman turned the match around in the last few casts in third place with 25 fish for 688cm
In second place was Adie Cooper who fished in his usual methodical and organised way to put together 874cm with a catch of 31 dabs and whiting. He used Black lug and bluey tips for the entire match fished at long range. A last cast bait swap to sandeel, to seek out a bigger whiting, resulted in an empty hook with two whiting on the hooks baited with black and bluey, the gamble sadly didn’t pay off tonight with a single fish separating first and second places.
Adie Cooper making it look easy with 31 fish for 874cm and second place
Neck and neck with Adie with 31 fish Gary Hutson had brilliant start with treble and double shots of decent sized whiting and dabs non-stop up until high water. Gary used fresh lug, black lug, frozen black lug and bluey on a three hook clip down rig cast a long way. Even when fishing slowed down on the ebb, he kept the momentum going with at least one fish per cast and in fact had just one cast without a fish in the entire match. Gary also added an early dogfish at 45cm which gave him longest round fish, he won the match with 902cm.
Gary Hutson won with 902cm and 31 fish
The rest of the anglers caught plenty of fish with no blanks and Mylo won the longest flatfish for a 31cm dab and Tracey Cooper showed she is improving with a very respectable 3m of fish. The match results sheet is in the pictures below.
Many thanks to Russell for running the match and to Adie for pegging out the beach. Thanks to the travelling anglers coming down to support the club. Typically of the Skegness club it was another enjoyable match with very friendly atmosphere, next match is at North Shore in a couple of weeks and we look forward to seeing you there.
