Stalham and District AC

With bright sun high pressure and a cool breeze conditions were always going to be tough, and with the way the yards are fishing, the 12 anglers who lined up for the draw must begin to doubt their own sanity!

Ian Holmes drew peg 13 on the Big Basin and snared 2 big skimmers on the feeder to go with his small fish for 4lb 1oz and a comfortable win.

2nd was Dave Dearman who drew the right hand end of the Gate basin (same as last week) and caught 90 fish to weigh 3lb. Next to Dave was Pete Sutton who had 2lb 5oz for 3rd.

All 3 anglers on the crane basin blanked and the 2 on the jetties in the big basin likewise did not get a bite. So the fishing continues to be as dire as we have ever known it at Stalham with no sign of a change! In the words of a certain Mr Harmer “roll on the Summer!”

As to the winter points Mr Dodson tightened his grip on the trophy this week with 4oz earning him yet another 16 points and extending his lead to, a surely unreachable, 65 points. Trev still has remarkably not blanked so far this winter.

Next week there will be no doubt be another episode of madness when we all turn up for 5hrs of struggling to catch…………………see you there……

This week’s entry was down to 11 with the strong winds and lack of fish many chose not to spend their time at the yards at the moment. All the pegs were on the gate basin this week and basically you needed a boat to catch with only Pete Sutton catching in open water towards the end of the match.

The weights were still very low but there was some slight improvement in that they were made up of lots of small fish rather than one bite and one large fish (although one 3 lb bream would have been very welcome in my peg ).

Dave Edgerton won this week with 2lb 5oz and he had bites all match from his peg between 2 boats up the left of the gate basin. Ian Holmes was 2nd from the left end of the gate with 1lb 10oz and reckoned he had more bites this week than the last 5 weeks put together! Ian was also a bit unlucky as due to the low turnout only 1st place was paid out and the winner was in his section too, end result no brown envelopes!

There were 4 other catchers including the ever consistent Trev Dodson who unbelievably still hasn’t blanked this winter. He is now some 50 points clear at the top of the winter points which looks pretty safe at this stage.

Next week is the Li Livard cup…..See you there !?

PS My spies tell me that the Stalham Renegades are running matches at Old Stables till the end of the winter season contact Dave Agass for details

Sunday 5th January 2020

A turnout of 18 anglers was unbelievable, given the current form at the boatyards, and yet again the yards continued to be a fish desert for most, with only pockets of small fish being caught from one area in the big basin.

Dave Dearman fished peg 17 between the boats in front of the offices and caught fairly steadily once they arrived, but they were tiny and he had 59 fish for 1lb 9oz but this was easily enough to win.

Harry Barron made a return to form 2 pegs away on peg 19 at the end of the road he caught small roach on the waggler to weigh in 14oz and take 2nd place.

John Burton sat on peg 18, like a rose between 2 thorns, and managed to break his extensive run of blanks this week, catching FIVE fish for 4oz and 3rd place. Well deserved if only as reward for such dogged perseverance over the past few weeks!!!

Only 3 other anglers caught fish and there seems no clue as to why the fish have deserted the boatyard this year.

See the singles KO results here

Next weeks match will be running as normal if you can stand 5 hrs for “A bite”(or no bites at all!) come along………………………..see you there?

Stop Press

If you just can’t stand the thought of yet another blank – there is an alternative…….(no not the ultimate solution….) you could go to Martham Pits, where I believe there will be a match organised if there is enough interest. Contact Dave A on his usual numbers by Friday.

29th December 2019

This match was again surprisingly well attended considering the recent form of the boatyards – hard is an understatement!

Ian Holmes, on peg 20, caught a 1lb 9oz skimmer on his 3rd cast with the feeder and thought he was on for a good day but NO, this solitary skimmer was enough to win the match as everyone else was scratching for a bite.

Chris Tims was on peg 18 and fished pinkie, managed 17 fish for a grand total of 7oz for second place. He was closely followed by Trev Dodson who had 2 roach from peg 7 at the top of the Gate basin for 4oz and third place. Trevor had to recover one of his fish from between the boards after dropping it through a gap much to the amusement of a certain Mr Burton!

Dave Edge didn’t register a bite but was happy to win the draw for his section and pocket a welcome £20 as some compensation for gruelling day.

Next sweep is back at Toad Hall on 31st December 2019 – See you there……

27th December 2019

This match was very well attended with a field of 22 turning up for the draw. Mark Seaman (who else!) drew peg 20 and had a runaway start with five fish coming one after the other to feeder across and he consolidated his advantage catching runs of fish throughout the match and coming out a clear winner with 41lb dead.

Leading the chasing pack was Lewis Dicken who put 31lb 11oz on the scales for 2nd place and just behind him was Steve Rouse who took 3rd with 30lb 15oz.

There were some good backing weights and most people had a few fish – which was a welcome change after the boatyards over recent weeks, Jon Burton hasn’t got over the shock yet after winning his section!!

Return to the boatyards for the next sweep on Sunday 29-12-19 and back to reality and no fish………………………see you there

A damp and dreary dawn greeted the 19 entrants for this weeks match at the yards. There was a very high tide again and with all the recent heavy rain, the water was very high, covering the boards at the end of the Gate Basin, which didn’t bode well for the fishing – again!

It was a very hard match once more this weekend with bites at a premium. Dave Dearman on peg 27, the 3rd jetty in the big basin, had 3 bream for 5lb 3oz and 1st place this week.

He was followed by Mark Harmer at the top of the Gate Basin had roach for a while before snaring a 2.5lb bream which gave him 4lb 3oz and 2nd place even though he had no more bites after the bream!

Terry Smith had 2lb 3oz on the of roach on the waggler on peg 4 to secure 3rd place.

After this there were only 2 more anglers breaking the pound and 9 DNW’S (including some who are becoming regular members of this group! I mention no names…………..)

Things can only get better – can’t they!??

Don’t forget the matches over the Christmas Hols:

FRI 27TH DEC TOAD HALL 8.30AM DRAW FISH 10AM TO 3PM

SUN 29TH DEC – BOATYARD – 9 AM DRAW – FISH 10AM TO 3PM

TUES 31ST DEC – TOAD HALL – 8.30AM DRAW FISH 10AM TO 3PM

Happy New Year to all – next club match is Sunday 5th January 2020 which is the 3rd round of The Singles Knockout……….. See you there…..

The Yards all looked very similar to the way we had left them last week. same gaps, same sun, SAME WIND!! and yet again the fish, particularly the roach, did a disappearing act.

New member Dave Shearing made the trip from Diss to fish this match and after he drew peg 12 at the top of the Crane Basin facing the wind and sat biteless for the first hour, he was probably doubting his sanity. But, things picked up with a skimmer on the whip line, and then a run of 4 more good skimmers on the feeder in about 30 mins until disater struck and he lost one and they all just melted away.

However, 5 fish for 9lb 6oz was easily enough to win the match, more than doubling Mark Harmer’s 2nd place catch of 3 skimmers from the Big Basin for 4lb 8oz. Chris Tims caught 1 skimmer early and then proceeded to bump one which was the end of his bites for the day. But 1 fish for 1lb 14oz gave him 3rd place this week.

It was very tough going with bites at a premium for all. Out of a field of 21 there were 10 blanks and of the 11 who caught only 4 broke 1lb!!!

Because of the dire way the yards have been fishing over the last couple of weeks, it was decided to move 2 of the Christmas sweepstake matches to Toad Hall fishery in Norwich. So please note the changes below.

FRI 27TH DEC TOAD HALL 8.30AM DRAW FISH 10AM TO 3PM

SUN 29TH DEC – BOATYARD – 9 AM DRAW – FISH 10AM TO 3PM

TUES 31ST DEC – TOAD HALL – 8.30AM DRAW FISH 10AM TO 3PM

As always thanks must go to Colin Jonas for organising the matches and providing the Christmas Munchies after the match – enjoyed by all whether they caught or not!

Next week is a normal club match – book in by 7.45 etc ……………see you there

There was a change in the weather this weekend to rain showers and strong south westerly winds which many of us thought (hoped) would turn the fish on to feeding, but it was not to be. 18 anglers lined up for the draw and also to draw for their “partners” for the Pairs Trophy, see below for results.

Chris Tims made it 2 wins on the trot with 8lb 7oz of small fish from a windy peg 16 up the side of the Gate Basin.

Harry Barron found the fish again on the big basin where had 8lb for 2nd place just beating Tony Wilkinson on the next peg who had 7lb 15oz for 3rd.

The Crane basin was a bit of a mystery this week, with several large skimmers caught but no small fish! Dennis Willis won his 5 peg section with 1oz! Just 2 fish and no one else caught. In fact 5 out of 10 anglers in the Crane blanked, yet last week 1st and 3rd place came from it.

Next week is The Christmas Match so don’t forget to bring a prize for the table and let’s hope the fish are a little more spread out and eager to feed than they were this week……………………See you there…………………..

P.S. Dates for Sweep stake matches over Christmas Hols.

Friday 27th December 2019 Draw 9am Fish 10am – 3pm

Sunday 29th December 2019 Draw 9am Fish 10am -3pm

Tuesday 31st December 2019 Draw 9am Fish 10am – 3pm

After the heavy frost on Saturday morning, the 20 anglers who turned out this Sunday were relieved to see the day dawn frost free. Mind you the north-east wind didn’t bode well for the fishing, coupled with a long open water section on the Crane Basin, bites were likely to be at a premium. Chris Tims drew peg 5 on the end of the Crane Basin, and sitting right under the Crane, he caught steadily from the start to the finish to put 13lb 3oz on the scales to take 1st place this week.

Mike Dossena returned this week and had fish from the off from the right hand end of the Gate basin to take 2nd with 10lb 2oz and also win his section of two!

Back on the Crane and Dave Agass was on peg 4 between the boats where he caught through the match to end up with 8lb 15oz for 3rd this week.

So after the big weights last week it was back to the reality of winter fishing boatyard style, with many people waiting until the last hour for a bite. There was a small cheer when Adie Hall finally caught his first fish for three weeks on the Crane, and a certain Mr J. Burton was mighty pleased when he also finally caught after around 14hrs without a bite!!!! And yet when he drew his peg on the first jetty he was quite pleased…….. what a hard and cruel sport this match fishing is!

Next week is the Pairs Trophy……..let’s hope the weather gods are in a westerly frame of mind, with no frost or rain or sun and not too much wind……………………don’t ask for much do we………….See you there

With a miraculous turnout of 23 hopefuls after two very hard weeks, everyone was trying to guess where they wanted to draw!!! With the weather virtually ideal with cloudy conditions, a light south wind and no frost…….(I know we had all that last week!!)…… it looked like we might be on for some fish but what actually happened took everyone by surprise. Harry Barron made it 2 wins on the spin this week and has blown the “20” club clean away to be the only member in the “30” club (which was very nearly the “40” club)! Harry had a great net of bream/skimmers from his peg on then Crane basin (where you couldn’t buy a bite last week) for a runaway win with 37lb 15oz.

Now switch basins to the big basin where Dave Dearman caught 19 bream/skimmers for his 2nd place net of 25lb 8oz and another great days fishing.

Back to the Crane basin where Terry Smith, on the peg next to the winner, had 23lb 10oz of similar bream/skimmers for 3rd place.

There were another 6 double figure weights and John Hehir had a bream of 3lb 10oz in his net of 10lb 4oz. But as always at the boatyard if you weren’t on the fish it can be very hard and if you happened to draw the river pegs this week it was a very long 5 hours as the 3 of them sat biteless despite all their best efforts. Jon Burton is talking about taking art evening classes in an effort to improve his drawing

This week was also the singles KO 2nd round here are the results.

Next week its the Ida Livard cup, lets hope the fish are still feeding and the weather is kind…………………See you there…..