Stalham and District AC

19 anglers turned up to fish this first match after lockdown and they were greeted by a hard frost followed by a rain shower or two – lovely!!!! Combine the wonderful weather with some dire fishing for all but the fortunate four who drew the jetties in the big basin, and you have a the sort of day when you seriously doubt your sanity.

So the jetties were the only place to be this week with the top four weights all coming from them headed up by Dave Dearman on the 1st jetty who weighed in 7lb 9oz including 1 large skimmer hooked whilst reaching for his flask!! Trevor Dodson was on the 2nd jetty and came in 2nd with 6lb 8oz . Dave Gipson had 5lb 12oz off the 4th jetty for 3rd and Martin Littlefield was in 4th place off the 3rd jetty with 4lb 6oz. The rest of the basins were won with ounces and there were 9 blanks!

Let us all hope that the fishing improves with better weather conditions and we don’t see a return to last years low weights and lack of bites.

The Christmas Match (on the 20th Dec) is going to also be run as this years Charity Match in memory of Dave Agass who passed away earlier this year and is much missed on the bank by many in the club and the wider Norfolk match fishing community. So in addition to bringing bottle or other prize for the Christmas match there is a £5.00 donation required to fish the match. I have heard that there is going to be another match event in memory of Dave organised in 2021 probably at Reepham will give more details when they are available.

Boatyard Matches to resume this Sunday – 6th Dec.

Book in by 7.45am club members only

Last Match before LOCKDOWN!!!!

The weather was better than originally forecast with only a light drizzle from time to time but the main feature was the wind which was very gusty and swirled from different direction all day making the fishing quite difficult at times.

Chris Tims was late for the draw and had booked in by phone arriving just after 8am to find that he had been drawn peg 1 at the top of the Crane Basin – (No complaints there then). Chris managed to keep catching all day on caster to put 10lb 14oz on the scales for 1st place this week.

Three pegs away Mike Dossena had quality fish from the start with several good skimmers but he was struggling for bites in the last hour and ended up with 10lb 2oz for 2nd place.

Mark Charlwood was on peg 2 this week and caught small fish steadily through the first 3.5 hours and then came in on the inside line and had a late run of better skimmers and perch to finish the match with 9lb 4oz for 3rd.

So yet again the Crane Basin was the place to draw but with over 8lb needed to win the other 3 sections there are fish to be caught everywhere.

Unfortunately the government has chosen to enforce a second lockdown starting from the 5th November 2020 (some may say Guy Fawkes might have had the right idea) and so to conform to the rules and for the greater good the club has suspended all its matches at the boatyards until the restrictions are lifted. We will announce resumption of matches as soon as possible, when allowed, via the website and facebook page.

Hope you all continue to keep safe and sane during this difficult period and look forward to seeing you there at the yards in the near future………….

Sunday 25th October 2020

Another good turnout for this Sundays match at the boatyards with 21 members lining up for the draw. Mark Harmer dominated the field from peg 20 up on goose green on the Gate basin. Mark fished long pole and double red maggot all day to put a level 12lb on the scales for his first win of the winter and his first trophy!!!

Meanwhile over on the Crane Basin, Ian Holmes was busy catching on peg 6 ending up with 10lb 11oz for second place and regretting losing 2 large perch during the match! Still, a bit of an improvement on last weeks 3lb. Just a few pegs away, also in the Crane Basin on peg 1, was Alex Watson who had 9lb 7oz for 3rd this week.

With another good turnout 21 anglers queued up to be allocated their pegs for this weeks match at the boatyards. Hardly a breath of wind disturbed the glassy surface of the water as we set up the gear but that soon changed into a steady breeze and rain showers sweeping through the boat basins along with the innumerable boat movements at least on the Crane basin. (anyone would think it was a boatyard or something!) Anyway – to the fishing……… Trevor Dodson managed to somehow draw peg 10 at the top of the Crane Basin and proceeded to catch steadily all match with some quality skimmers and roach being netted on the way to a winning weight of 13lb 7oz.

Meanwhile at the other end of the Crane, Chris Tims also caught steadily most of the match on peg 6 and put 11lb 12oz on the scales for 2nd place. He was followed by Mark Charlwood, (in the frame for the 3rd week running) up on peg 1 at the top of the Crane coming in 3rd this week with 8lb 8oz.

There were no blanks again this week and lets hope the fishing continues to improve although this may be hampered a bit by the extended boating season this year – with the yard staying open until the end of November, we can only wait and see.

I am off on a post office match next week at the suffolk water park so ………….won’t see you there! (Colin has promised to send me all the info so there will be a match report next week)

Wind and rain became the main features of this competition with a strengthening north-westerly wind bringing a series of sharp showers throughout the match and making bait presentation extremely difficult at times. With a field of 21 it was all down to the “covid secure” draw to see where you would be sitting for the next 5 hours.

Ian Jones got peg 1 at the top of the Crane and took top spot with 12lb which included one good skimmer. All the other double figure weights came off the “Goose Green” area on the river with Mark Charlwood in 2nd place again this week with 10lb 9oz off peg 18, and then Mark Harmer (peg 20) and Denny Hammond (peg 22) coming equal 3rd with a level 10lb.

Overall and despite the wind and rain, the yards fished better than last week with signs that there are plenty of fish coming in this year. But we will have to wait and see what happens over the next few weeks, it would be nice to be able to fish without having to hold on to the brolly one week!!

Next week will hopefully continue the good form and who knows the toilets might even be open again!!!!!…………………………………..See you there

So, the winter series of matches at the boatyards had a very damp start but I am pleased to say there were no dry nets recorded by any of the 15 competitors. The Crane basin was the place to be with all the top weights coming from there and it was “Mr Maver” Jon Burton who took the top spot with 16lb 3oz of skimmers and roach from peg 5. Jon had 192 fish with “quite a few” hand sized skimmers in his catch. That’s 3 wins in a row – can he make it 4 next week?

Mark Charlwood was on peg 3 on the Crane and he took 2nd place with the only other double figure weight of 10lb 11oz. Dave Edgerton took 3rd place with 8lb 11oz from peg 1.

The Gate Basin was a bit harder than the Crane with an absence of skimmers (or anything else over 4oz) and the boat movements and wind made conditions less than ideal on both basins, but at least there were fish in every peg which is a great improvement on the way it was last winter. Let’s hope it continues to improve and they stick around this year.

Next week it is the David King Bowl – see you there………….

Today’s venue was Martham pit B.

So the final summer match of 2020 was here. With the weather more like a boat yard match the numbers were a bit lower than normal.

With all the rain in the last 2 days everyone was expecting a hard days fishing and for some that’s just how it was.

For a second week running Jon Burton ran out the winner this week. Jon was fishing peg 19 and caught some nice bream for a total weight of 37lb 7oz well done Jon.

Tony Wilkinson fishing peg 12 was second this week also catching some nice bream for a weight of 18lb 14 oz well done Tony.

Third place goes to Dave Edgerton. Dave was fishing peg 17 and had bream and carp for a weight of 16lb 14oz well done Dave.

Most others struggled for bites and had a very hard days fishing.

1st Jon Burton 37lb 7oz

2nd Tony Wilkinson 18lb 14oz

3rd Dave Edgerton 16lb 14oz

4th Dave Cholerton 16lb 1oz

5th Trevor Dodson 14lb 11oz

6th Dave Gipson 14lb 1oz

7th Mark Charlwood 12lb

8th Mark Seaman 9lb 15oz

9th Mark Harmer 7lb 2oz

10th John Higgingson 6lb 1oz

11th Dave Paynter 5lb 15oz

And one D’N’W today

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in this summers matches even if it was a little shorter than normal.

Next week it’s back to the yards for this years winter league. Don’t forget the draw times – book in by 7.45am at the yard.

So now I will hand you back to Chris for the reports.

See you all there

Stay safe.

Reepham Fishery was venue for the penultimate summer match this week

Only 14 members turning out this week which was a bit low. Jon Burton was drawn the flyer which is peg 27 and made no mistake in taking the top spot. Jon finished with a winning weight of 135lb 5oz well done Jon.

Second place this week was Kevin Lawson. Kevin was on peg ten and weighed 81lb 12oz well done.

Third place was Mark Charlwood. Mark was on peg 53 and weighed a very good weight of 76lb 3oz well done Mark.

1st Jon Burton 135lb 5oz

2nd Kevin Lawson 81lb 12oz

3rd Mark Charlwood 76lb 3oz

4th Alex Watson 74lb 15oz

5th Mike Dossena 73lb 8oz

6th Trevor Dodson 69lb 7oz

7th Mark Harmer 67lb 7oz

8th Dave Gipson 63lb 3oz

9th Mark Seaman 62lb 8oz

10th Dave Paytner 42lb 11oz

11th Tony Wilkinson 24lb 15oz

12th Martin Littlefield 5lb 13oz

And 2 D’N’W’s this week.

Next week it’s Martham pit B.

Would just like to take the opportunity to send our condolences to Dave Agass’s family and friends from everybody at Stalham AC. R.I.P Dave.

(Apologies for the delay in getting this post published – been away with no WiFi and no 4G – Sorry!! – Chris)

Toad Hall Fishery was the venue for this Sundays Match

Only 13 turn out this week which was a little low but still a good match was had. The weather was bright and sunny and very warm.

Trevor Dodson ran out the winner again. Trevor was on peg 9 and caught fish down his edge for a total weight of 22lb 6oz well done Trevor.2nd place this week was Mike Dossena. Mike was on peg 19 and weighed 17lb 8oz well done Mike. And Mark Charlwood was 3rd. Mark was fishing peg 4 and he also caught down his edge and weighed 16lb 2oz and he only fished for 4 hours. Well done Mark. There was only one more double figure weight. So for most it was a struggle.

1st Trevor Dodson 22lb 6oz

2nd Mike Dossena 17lb 8oz

3rd Mark Charlwood 16lb 2oz

4th Tony Wilkinson 12lb

5th John Higgingson 7lb 12oz

6th Mark Harmer 7lb 10oz

7th Dave Gipson 7lb 3oz

8th Jon Burton 4lb 9oz

9th Dave Edgerton 4lb 8oz

10th Dave Paynter 3lb 8oz

11th Terry Smith 3lb 4oz

12th Martin Littlefield 2lb 12oz

13th Dave Cholerton 2lb 6oz

Next week it’s back to Reepham Fishery. See you all there.

Would just like to mention from everyone at the club a speedy recovery to Dave Agass and Dave Dearman.