What a weekend, while the majority of the country hunkered down to ride out storm Dennis, 63 anglers enjoyed a windy and wet Saturday and Sunday on the North Norfolk Coast venues of Salthouse and Kelling for the 3rd annual “Joc Goudie International Beach Masters” competition in support of the RNLI.
For those us who did not know Joc we listened to the many stories and anecdotes banded about all weekend. While being a character known to many within the NAC, it’s his mentoring of young anglers particularly those within the Scottish international team for which Joc is remembered. So, it was great to see a contingent of 22 Scots make the long journey to join us (one angler came all the way from Stornoway to compete) and celebrate Joc’s contribution to UK sea angling. This was clearly illustrated by The Saltire flags pitched on the beach by the much needed bivvys. The Norfolk area was represented by the great and good of the area hoping for local advantage over the Salthouse and Kelling beaches.
Salthouse beach
Booking-in kicked off on Friday and a steady stream of anglers through the day brought in their raffle prizes and drew their match cards hoping to avoid a poor peg, if you drew Salthouse (Zones A & B) Day One you then had Kelling (Zones C & D) on Day Two, and vice versa. The banter/craic was good with many friendships rekindled over discussion of tactics for the different beaches.
Throughout the day everyone kept their beady eye on their phones for the latest in weather reports. As the day ended the forecast was for windy gusts with showers, so the competition was on, no storm called Dennis was going to beat these anglers.
It was a bait pack match supplied by the Rite Gear team with 10 yellowtails, 10 frozen black, and a pack of large bluey being the order of the day, and the key to success was always going to be down the which peg, and your bait presentation skills, lesson learned the hard way, thanks Russell.
Day One started with the pegging out team getting up early and despatched to the beaches, great job Billy, Tyler, Gary and Adam. 33 Pegs at Salthouse and 33 Pegs in Kelling pegged out. The weather was windy, with a few showers the excitement was building as everyone hit the beaches, so match on!
Kelling beach
Early on it became clear that there was a difference between the pegs on the various beaches and the results show that there was a 200 fish difference between the beaches.
Day One Summary
- Salthouse 519 fish, giving 103lb* fish principally whiting, dabs, and occasional rockling and flounder
- Kelling 729 fish, giving 143lb* fish principally whiting, and dabs
- Total 1248 fish, giving 246lb* fish (*rounded)
Day Two saw a change in the weather, and this was clearly the topic of discussion when bait was gathered for the final day. With a look at Day One results to see the performance of the peg the previous day. Some were more optimistic than others. The forecast was gusting winds up to 50 miles per hour and rain, storm Dennis had truly arrived, and it stayed!
Day 2 Summary
- Salthouse 366 fish, giving 72lb* fish principally whiting, dabs, and occasional rockling, pout and dog fish
- Kelling 553 fish, giving 99lb* fish principally whiting, dabs, and occasional rockling and pout
- Total 919 fish, giving 171lb* fish (*rounded)
Please see the Norfolk Angling Facebook page for the results sheets for each zone’s top 3 podium positions and the overall results.
Pouting showed up for some
As everyone headed back to check in report cards and to dry out, it was up to the back-office team to analyse results and confirm zone winners and declare the overall podium positions. What was very noticeable was the difference in results between the days and that the report cards were distinctively soggy. So well done all for coping with storm Dennis and producing some impressive results. In total 2167 fish totalling 417lb.
Having scrunched the numbers the team adjourned to the Dormy House Hotel for the presentations. But before naming the winners the task of selling raffle tickets was on the agenda. It’s the first time I’ve seen a queue for a raffle and additional books needed well done Nicole and Maggy, and Barry for being raffle master. Thanks to all a total of £500.83 raised for the RNLI.
Match winner Henry Randell on right with Dene and Scott
The Final Results
- Henry Randell – match points 3 – weight points – 583 number of fish – 59
- Chris Spall – match points 3 – weight points – 540 number of fish – 64
- Dave Shorthouse – match points 3 – weight points – 499 number of fish – 58
Juniors Overall Results
- Ciaran Peck – match point 15 – weight points 382 – number of fish 48
- Andrew Mclean – match points 15 – weight points – 311 – number of fish 41
- Bruce Copeland – match points 22 – weight points 299 – number of fish 34
Thank all for making it a successful match with top angling, and a successful weekend of banter, Joc was remembered and his legacy lives on, it was great to see the Junior anglers exercising their craft, good luck for the future. See you all next year, details of the event will be posted on Facebook and in the Rite Gear tackle shop.
