ALTHOUGH Tim Morley won the top UK angler award and Jersey’s Danny Le Merrer took the top CI prize, Guernsey and Alderney competitors enjoyed a high level of success in the Open Alderney Angling Festival. In the ballan wrasse category Guernsey brothers Colin and Alan Patch won the top two awards of £150 and £125. Colin landed a 6-8-10 fish while Alan was a close second with one of 6-8-4.
Jersey’s John Bree won the £100 third prize with one of 6-6-10, while UK angler Brian Williams was fourth on 6-3-10.
Surprisingly only four fish were entered in this category.
Bailiwick anglers took the top three awards in the black bream category. Alderney’s Dick Smith won with a magnificent fish of 4-14-2. Rob Blondin, also from the northern isle, was second with a 3-9-12 fish while third place was filled by Alan Patch with a 3-9-0 specimen.
Trevor Chubb (UK) was fourth on 3-8-8 and Bill Scott (UK) fifth on 3-7-10.
Alderney anglers filled the top two places in the grey mullet section. Alan Eastwood won with a 6-2-6 fish, while Ben Barnes was second on 5-2-4.
The remaining three prizes all went to Jersey anglers, Steve Mullins 4-15-8, Sid Reynolds 4-15-6 and Le Merrer 4-14-6.
Bass were disappointing as only three were caught. Alderney anglers filled the first and third positions. John Maurice won with an 8-14-6 specimen while Martin Hodder was third on 6-15-14.
UK angler Derek Spears filled second spot with a 7-8-2 specimen.
All five of the winning positions in the Couch’s sea bream category were filled, with the top three places going to UK anglers.
Winner was Steven Bunn 1-15-14, second Ben Keedwell 1-13-8 and third Morley 1-13-0.
Alderney’s Rick Ball was fourth on 1-11-6 and Steve Mullins (J) fifth on 1-5-10.
Only the top two places were filled in the sole/plaice category. Andrew ‘Robbo’ Robinson won with a 3-9-12 sole while Guernsey’s David Vaudin had a 2-10-12 sole to finish runner-up.
All five places in the conger section was filled, with Jersey anglers taking the top two spots. Paul Bisson won with a 35-8-0 eel while Le Merrer was second on 34-0-0.
Two UK anglers had identical fish of 32-8-0, Pete Walker and Steve Harder. Graham Hazell (also UK) was fifth on 31-12-0.
There was a surprise in the other species under 5-0-0 category. It was won by the best fish of the festival, Morley picking up the award for his 2-10-10 golden grey mullet.
Andy Hedger (UK) took second with a 1-14-14 lesser-spotted dogfish, but it was third to fifth places that raised eyebrows.
Almost certainly for the first time ever, scad were entered and won festival prizes. Derek Spears had one of 1-1-0, Tim Froome 1-0-12 and Gary Whitmore (UK) 1-0-2.
Only four entries were made in the over 5-0-0 section.
Two bull huss topped the group. Nigel Bowditch (UK) won with a 10-12-0 specimen, while Alderney’s Jamie Sugden was second on 9-12-8. Two pollack were the other entries. Rick Ball was third with a 7-0-12 fish while Colin Patch finished fourth on 5-1-10.
Only one prize is given in the garfish/mackerel category and this was won by Guernsey’s Andy Loveridge with a 1-6-0 garfish.
The Andy James Trophy for cartilaginous fish went to Bowditch for his 10-12-0 bull huss.
The Veterans’ award went to Jersey angler Dave Turner.
The four-man team award went to the Rock Rats from Jersey: Mullins, Jack Gavey, Bisson and Le Merrer.
The pairs prize went to UK anglers Morley and Sid Reynolds.
There is no doubt that it was yet another successful festival although entries were slightly down at 101.
There were few outstanding specimens and no records were broken.
There was certainly no excitment as experienced in 2004 when huge catches of big tope were made.
Nevertheless, plans are already afoot for next year’s event, which will be held from 25 October to 1 November.
STUART TOSTEVIN has won the Guernsey Sea Anglers Club Clark Trophy, which is fished over two legs, one boat and one shore.
Tostevin did it in style, for he won the boat leg by a clear margin of 65 points and repeated the feat in the shore leg, his lead over second placed Peter Frise being 100.75.
Frise must have thought he had done enough to win the shore match, for he returned with two black bream, one mackerel, one red mullet and 43 garfish for 26-3-0 and 224.15 points.
However Tostevin came to the weigh-in with 18 ballan wrasse for 49-6-0 and 325.5. His catch included a 4-14-11 wrasse, which gave him the competition kitty for the heaviest fish of the day.
The six-hour roving shore event attracted 14 members, who caught 27 ballan wrasse, three grey mullet, eight black bream, four mackerel, one scad, two trigger fish, one red mullet and 166 garfish.
It’s becoming quite a battle for top place. Tostevin won all the club’s boat matches and established a massive lead of 533.25 points over Frise. This lead was dramatically cut to 299, mainly due to Tostevin missing a club match in Herm.
However, Tostevin’s win in this match has pushed his lead back up to 399.75. Will it prove enough to take him through to victory in the overall championship? With three matches remaining, it could well be set for an exciting finish.
GLEN CORTEZ has won the West Coast’s Sea Angling Club’s latest all-day-in-Herm match.
He landed three grey mullet, seven garfish and one ballan wrasse for 12-0-0 and 127.75 points.
The event attracted seven anglers and five found fish, catching a total of five grey mullet, eight garfish, three ballan wrasse and two black bream.
The competition kitty went to Cortez for the heaviest bag excluding wrasse and Shane Huxster who had the heaviest black bream, a 1-10-0 fish.
Cortez’s victory has consolidated his lead at the top of the Herm championship. He is 106 points clear of second-placed Lee Gillot and bearing in mind just one more all night match remains to be fished there, he must be odds-on for the title.
It’s much tighter in the overall championship. Lee Gillot leads but only by 5.5 points clear of Huxster. In fact just 56.25 points cover the top four. There are two matches remaining, that Herm all-nighter and an evening harbour shore.
Article posted on 17th October, 2007 - 12.00am
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