Identical rays top Skate Open
Shore: A 6lb 10oz ray apiece saw Garry Hutson and Ian Beadle sharing top spot in the Skate Open fished on the Yorkshire coast last Saturday night. Third place went Neville Charlesworth.
There’s a few hounds showing along the Lincolnshire coast leading up to the Daiwa Smoothhound Open on July 19th. Daiwa have provided £1000 of top prizes for what promises to be a fantastic match. The venue looks likely to be Mogs eye, with regular reports of fish, and some to double figures, in that area. The match already 120 anglers pre-booked, and is attracting many of the country’s big names.
Skegness Pier SAC are holding an Open match the following day, and it’s hoped that some of the anglers will stay and fish both matches. A problem at the moment is the shortage of crab, with many anglers struggling to secure supplies for the match. The tackle shops are trying hard to get crab meet angler demand.
Last week’s NFSA match result: 1st Bob Gascoigne with 16 fish for 350cm; 2nd Neil Cutler with 14 fish for 311cm; 3rd George Smith 13 fish for 267cm. Zone winners were zone George Smith, Neville Charlesworth, Steve Durrant and Bob Gascoigne. The longest fish was a 33 cm flounder for Steve McGregor. George Smith and Garry Hutson took the pairs section. The next match is at East Halton this Sunday, and it is already fully booked.
Boats: Unsettled weather stopped most boats venturing out last weekend. The weather looks better for Sunday coming, but the small tides may mean fish are hard to find.
New tackle: I was given a sneak preview of a new range of budget rods by Daiwa. I fiddled with the uptide rod which has the feel of something much more expensive. There’s plenty of action in the blank, and it was built to the usual high Daiwa standard. There’s also a three-piece beach rod which looked very good. Cleethorpes angling Centre should have these in stock pretty soon.
