Junior angler Sam Teed with his 13-14-11 prize-winning pollack. (0590727)
TIM FROOME has won the top prizes in the May Fish of the Month competition.
His 13-1-9 boat-caught bull huss scored 80.29% and gave him the Shakespeare Monthly Angling Award for the best overall fish and the Boat Exchange tankard for the top boat-caught specimen.
It was a very poor month for the competition as only three entries were received, almost certainly the lowest ever for the May contest.
Although there are signs that fishing results are starting to improve, generally catches during the month were well below par and this could be one reason for the lack of entries. Sadly, it is not the only reason, as the other is anglers’ apathy.
All three entries were for boat-caught specimens, but fish were caught off the shore as the many entries in club competitions will confirm.
True, there were no great specimens, but many fish were well worth an FOM entry, it is just that no one bothered.
When questioned about their lack of support, some anglers considered that their catches were too modest and their fish would produce only a low percentage score.
They completely missed the point.
In times of poor fishing, the standard of entries drops and as a consequence lower-percentage fish have a good chance of success. Low-scoring catches have won prizes in the past and will do so again in the future.
The FOM committee put in hours of work to make a success of this long-running competition and they are well supported by the generosity of many sponsors.
If anglers lose interest and fail to support the competition, it will close down, as the support by the volunteers and sponsors will come to an end, which would be a very sad day for Bailiwick angling.
In the May competition, second place was filled by Jez Vaudin, his 3-12-5 whiting scoring 71.80%, which gave him one of the Bucktrout’s Bass beers runner-up prizes.
Third was junior angler Sam Teed whose 13-14-11 pollack was worth 54.05%.
It gave him the Aval du Creux Hotel monthly junior award.
In view of the low number of entries, the Tackle Direct spot prize was not awarded and will be carried over to the June contest.
The second Bucktrout’s Bass beer prize was added to Froome’s list of prizes.
Alan Down has submitted the first entry in the June competition.
He float fished a sandeel bait on St Peter Port breakwater and caught a 1-3-10 garfish, which will be judged against the 2-11-11 Bailiwick shore record.
The second June entry, a boat-caught fish, was submitted by Neal Bewey.
He was out with Richard Seager on Out the Blue east of Sark when he caught a 2-6-0 pout on his legered sandeel.
It will be assessed against the 3-6-12 Bailiwick record that was caught by Pip Le Blancq way back in 1990.
CURRENT shore championship leader Brian Montgomery topped the catches in the Guernsey Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society in May.
He landed three weighing 4-2-0, 5-3-0 and 3-7-0 for a total of 12-12-0.
In all seven members landed a total of 12 fish.
The heaviest, a 7-12-0 specimen, was caught by Billy Forman and gave him the Mick’s Fishing Supplies award.
Other catches were: Dean Tulie 6-13-0, 5-7-0, Sam Teed 5-3-0 and 4-5-0, Paul Clark 4-5-0 and 4-14-0, Tom Brock 3-13-0 and 3-6-0 and Bryn Le Poidevin 4-9-0.
The results meant that Montgomery has increased his lead at the top of the championship list and now heads second-placed Clark by 9-14-8.
Clark has entered the first fish in the society’s boat championship. He landed four for a total weight of 26-5-0. His heaviest, an 8-4-0 specimen, gave him the Boatworks+ voucher.
The GBass Open Festival is not until 28 August to 1 September, but the society is delighted to confirm that, thanks to increased sponsorship, the prize list will be greatly improved.
Prizes will be awarded to the top 10 in both the boat and shore sections, starting with a top one of £600.
There will be fish-of-the-day awards and prizes for the top two catch-and-release fish, again in both sections.
There will be a new section with three prizes going to the best fish caught from a dinghy or kayak.
To top it all there will be a £5,000 prize for the captor of a new Bailiwick shore-record bass.
In the Bailiwick Bass Club it was Shane Bentley who had the top specimen, his 7-6-8 fish giving him the Collenette Jones bass-of-the-month award for May.
The fish was one of five caught by club members during the month.
The only angler to catch two was Jamie Gallienne who landed fish of 5-5-2 and 5-4-2.
Club president Daryl Butcher had one of 5-15-8, Ben Mahy one of 5-15-4 and Jon Collenette one of 4-5-5.
Bentley consolidated his lead at the top of the club’s shore championship list as a result of landing his 7-6-8 fish, but his lead over second placed Butcher is only 2-5-0.
Anglers are reminded that the next big open competition is less than four weeks away.
It is, of course, the Bailiwick Bass Challenge and is scheduled to run from Friday 4 to Monday 7 July.
Article posted on 11th June, 2008 - 2.29pm
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