Here are the results for Tuesday boat match out from West Mersea.  

1^st Barrie Senior 131 points – 5 dogfish, 9 thornbacks, 6 whiting

2^nd Alan Porter 63 points – 3 dogfish, 3 thornbacks, 3 whiting

3^rd Chris Leonard 61 points – 1 dab, 1 dogfish, 3 thornbacks, 1 whiting

4^th Chris Bull 59 points – 4 dogfish, 2 thornbacks, 4 whiting

5^th Robin Joy 53 points – 4 dogfish, 2 thornbacks, 1 whiting

6^th Colin Crocker 43 points – 1 dogfish, 2 thornbacks, 2 whiting

7^th Brian Grundy 42 points – 3 thornbacks, 2 whiting

8^th Paul Hart DNF

Alan “the smoothie” Porter – Nice 7lb hound from Chesil Beach/Abbotsbury.

Alan “the Smoothie” Porter

Four members travelled to Birkenhead to fish the annual EFSA Wales Cod Championships in the Mersey estuary.  On the first day although very windy the boats were able to get out but unable to fish their preferred marks.  With  a lot of freshwater coming into the estuary prospects were not good and the fishing would be hard.  However, at the end of the day with quite a few anglers catching no cod it was Braintree’s Colin Crocker who took the lead with five cod.  The second day saw the wind dropping but with some showers and more of the river was accessible.   With most anglers catching cod it was going to be close.  Colin managed to find another small cod but it was not enough fellow Braintree angler Alan Porter caught five good size cod the largest a fish of 8lb to pip him with 255 point to Colin’s 237.  So Alan took the gold pin and Colin the silver. Barrie Senior was in 9^th place and Peter Costin 10^th.

as just the two of us Dungeness was given the cold shoulder and we went for a change to the Isle of Fernando, better known as the sluice at Aldeburgh, however the best laid plans of mice and men were soon in a tiz waz as no parking spaces in our usual place. Not to be beaten we parked on the verge further up directly opposite the black post, it is then you realise just how fast Robin is, it is  like watching a mountain goat race up a mountain side to get the last nanny goat on heat.

The skyline was already littered with beach buddies, a bit like a Sioux encampment waiting for the US army led by Custer to come over the horizon, or was the it the expected spring tide they were worried about. Robin set up on top and spent the rest of the day confirming his mountain goat credentials by scrambling up and down the shingle with every cast and ending up with sore calves by the end of the day. Young Drako set up further down the scree and ended up with a wet foot for his troubles when an unexpected wave caught him broadside.

Fishing started off very slow, slowed down further then just about fizzled out all together. We fished 3 up 3 down (9 – 3pm) with a few fish as tide started to ebb, nothing to report really, nothing for the pot, not even any totty on the beach.

1st Paul 78 points (9 fish) (codling, whiting, rockling)

2nd Robin 48 points (4 fish) (ditto)

Report to Follow

Members of Braintree sea Angling Club and their families met a the White Hart Hotel, Witham for their annual presentation evening.  Following a meal the cups were presented to the worthy winners.  The season had seen some matches cancelled or rescheduled due to the weather conditions but all bar two cups were won.  At the end of the season the coveted Challenge Senior Cup Points which is won by the most consistent angler went to Paul Drake in what proved to be a closely fought competition between him and Robin Joy.  Paul amassed 127 match points to Robin’s 126 which gave him the Senior Points Runner Up Cup.  However, Robin had the satisfaction of taking the Summer League Cup with 48 match points.  Other trophy winners  were: Braintree & Witham Times Cup: Barrie Senior 555 fish points; Jimmy Turner Shield: Chris Leonard 359 fish points; Alf Huit Cup: Barrie Senior 58 fish points; Bert Finch Cup: Barrie Senior 305 fish points; Alf Reed Cup: Paul Drake 268 fish points; Solly Brewer Cup: Chris Leonard 202 fish points; Barnard Flatfish Cup Chris Leonard 28cm dab; Cod Cup: Chris Leonard 60cm fish; Whiting Cup: Barrie Senior 47cm fish; Bass Cup: Chris Leonard 46cm fish; Mick Allen Shield fished for over two evenings: Paul Drake who won both legs.  The trophies were presented by Club Chairman Les Fitch.

Meet at Orford Quay 12.45 – 1300 launch fishing 1400 to 20.00

Contact Chris if you can fish.

Meet at 15:00

Fishing 15:30 to 20:30

Please let Chris know if you are planning to fish and also if you require bait.