Five of Braintree Sea Angling Club members made the annual pilgrimage north to fish the EFSA Wales Cod Championship in the river Mersey estuary.  On day one the anglers were plagued by whiting and only few cod were caught.  Barrie Senior managed a couple which put him into third place.  Day two unfortunately was cancelled due to bad weather so Barrie’s third place was not challenged and gave him the bronze pin.

Six members of Braintree Sea Angling Club braved the strong winds and travelled to Orfordness for their latest match fishing for the Braintree & Witham Times cup.  Conditions were better than expected with the wind coming just off the land and plenty of colour in the water.  The anglers were soon into fish with a steady stream of whiting being caught along with the occasional dogfish all through the match.

At the final count on this catch and return match it was Barrie Senior who secured victory with 1,485 points from his catch of 3 codling, 8 dogfish, 1 thornback ray, I dab, 1 pout and 61 whiting.  In second place was Paul Drake with 6 dogfish, 1 thornback, 2 pout and 55 whiting for 1,065 points.  Third spot went to Chris Bull with 866 points from a catch of 2 dogfish, 2 thornbacks, 3 pout, 1 dab and 39 whiting

Aldeburgh was the venue for Braintree Sea Angling Club’s last match in the Summer League and fishing for the Alf Reed Cup.  Conditions were good for the match but the fish thought otherwise with only a few small fish caught mainly pin whiting.  Paul Drake managed to find a couple of other species and consolidated his lead in the League with another win catching 4 whiting, 1 smoothhound and a dogfish for 72 fish points.  Barrie Senior took second place with 6 whiting for 62 points and Robin Joy was 3^rd with 50 points. Final results for the Summer League 1^st Paul Drake, 2^nd Barrie Senior 3^rd Robin Joy, 4^th Chris Leonard, 5^th Chris Bull.

Smooth Alan

Braintree Sea Angling club had two matches this week the first a mid-week charter boat trip out of West Mersea on Enterprise.  It was a grey and windy day but the eight anglers were soon anchored up to the west of the Gunfleet.  Fishing was slow with a few smoothhounds and thornback rays being caught several fish not making the size limit.  Paul Hart won the boat with 2 smoothhounds, 1 thornback and an eel.  Second place went to Alan Porter 3 smoothhounds and a 2lb 4oz tub gurnard. Third spot was taken by Barrie Senior with a smoothhound and a thornback ray.

Braintree Sea Angling Club members were at Holland-on-Sea for their latest Summer League match.  The heavy rain had cleared and the angling took place in calm seas with a very light breeze.  Fishing was very slow with a few whiting and eels caught by most.  The best fish was a 2 ½ lb bass caught by Barrie Senior which together with an eel and two whiting gave him a match winning score of 147 fish points.  Second place with 134 points from his catch of 2 whiting, 1 bass, 1 eel, 1 codling and a 35cm sole was Paul Drake.  Robin Joy took third spot with 6 whiting for 81 points.  With one match remaining in the Summer League  Paul Drake leads with 25 match points ahead of Chris Leonard with 21 points.

Summer League evening match on Walton beach.  The rain showers must have put off the fish as only two anglers caught sizeable fish although several very small bass were caught.  First place went to Barrie Senior with 2 eels, a sole and a bass for 75 fish points and Robin Joy was runner up with 2 dabs for 20 points.

Samphire Hoe made up of the spoil from the Chanel Tunnel excavations was the site for Braintree Sea Angling club members latest match.  Fishing from the sea wall in to a calm sea wrasse were soon being caught from the rocks most didn’t make the minimum size limit but over the day a number did make the grade. At the end of the match Barrie Senior had winkled out 17 sizeable wrasse and 2 pout for 222 fish points to take first place.  In second place was Chris Leonard who had 139 points from his catch of 10 wrasse.  Paul Drake had 9 wrasse for 103 points and third spot.

Seven Braintree Sea Angling Club members boarded the charter boat Enterprise at West Mersea for their first boat match of the year in misty conditions.  Skipper Chris Mole navigated through the mist and anchored at a mark somewhere near the wind farm.  The fish were feeding from the start with Paul Hart catching the first thornback ray within 10 minutes.  A gradual trickle of whiting, rays and dogfish were caught throughout the day, although a lot of the whiting failed to make the minimum size limit.  It was close match with Paul and Alan Porter vying for the lead for most of the day.  At the close of play it was Paul who took the honours with 6 thornbacks, 5 dogfish and 3 whiting. Alan came second with 6 thornbacks, 3 dogfish and 2 whiting.  Third spot went to Chris Bull with 6 thornbacks and 4 whiting.  Barrie Senior had the largest fish with his 59cm thornback.

Braintree Sea Angling Club members caught the ferry over to the island as it known to find calm seas and a hazy sun breaking through.  Using a variety of baits the anglers found small whiting and very small codling with some members also getting a few dogfish.  Paul Drake took first place with his catch of 8 dogfish, 2 codling and 11 whiting for 615 fish points.  Chris Leonard had 4 dogfish, 6 codling, 16 whiting and a rockling for 487 fish points for second place.  In third spot was Robin Joy with 407 points from his catch of 4 dogfish, 3 codling, 14 whiting and a pout.

Braintree Se angling Club’s match at Felixstowe was fished in a strong southerly wind making the fishing tough going. With most fish caught on the flood with lots of weed over high water. A lot of the fish were undersize but Paul Drake manged to find more of the bigger fish to take first place with 69 fish points from 9 whiting a small codling. Second spot went to Chris Leonard with 7 whiting for 60 fish points and third was Graham Nash with 6 whiting for 45 points.