This Is Guernsey

By Len Le Page

KEVIN HANDLEY has won the Piriou Family open winter bass festival organised by the Bailiwick Bass Club.

His winning fish weighed 9-1-4 and gave him the top prize of £400 tackle vouchers.

The event was a re-run of the original festival held back in February when no bass were caught.

Catches were marginally better on this occasion, when four were landed. Second was Lynton Carre with a 7-6-7 fish which gave him £200 of tackle vouchers.

Handley would have been third with his 4-14-4 specimen, but he graciously didn’t accept the prize, which went to Mark Fletcher. He won £100 of tackle vouchers for his 4-12-1 specimen.

The remainder of the prizes that had been donated by various sponsors were not won and will be auctioned off for club funds at the forthcoming BBC Festival presentation night.

Ten more anglers entered for this rearranged event, which meant a total entry of 66 anglers.

The main aim of the festival was to raise money for charity and as a result of the competition, a donation will be going to Channel Islands Air Search.

ANDY LE LERRE is the first winner of the Bill Dowinton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the winner of the annual Mick’s Fishing Supplies Open Mullet Festival organised by the Guernsey Mullet Club.

The new trophy was introduced in memory of Bill, and it was fitting that his son Mick and grandson Steven presented the award to the festival winner.

Le Lerre had a highly successful festival, for besides the trophy he won a rod, reel, £30 tackle voucher and £33, all by virtue of catching the heaviest mullet, a 4-13-6 fish.

He also won the pairs competition along with his partner Louisa Richards.

With the exception of the Dowinton Trophy, all the awards were presented to the winners by Rob Houilbecq on behalf of the event’s sponsors Mick’s Fishing Supplies.

GMC secretary Mike Weysom welcomed everyone to the presentation night held at La Villette Hotel.

Thanks were expressed to the sponsors for their continuing support, all the anglers for entering the event and Paul Rowe who loaned space at the Brock Road Youth Centre for registration purposes.

Although catches were below expectations, the total of seven fish was not very far down on the 12 landed in the 2009 competition.

Ironically, mullet catches by the club members both before and after the event were excellent. Actual details will be announced next week when the club have released the catch list of the members’ fish.

MARK LE PAGE has won the West Coast Sea Angling Club’s latest all day on Herm competition. He landed five grey mullet for 11-14-0 and 147.5 points.

The event attracted 14 members but only four brought fish to the scales. Mullet dominated the catches. Paul Carre had three for 10-6-0 and 101.5 points to finish second, while Steve Huxster caught three mullet for 7-3-0 and 88.75 points to take third place.

Steve Greenway presented a complete mullet catch by landing a 2-7-0 pollack worth 18.75 points.

The competition kitty was shared between Mark Le Page who had the heaviest bag, and Paul Carre who had the heaviest fish, a 5-5-0 mullet.

As a result of the match, Paul Carre has taken a big lead in the Herm Championship. He has 231.25 points, well ahead of Mark Le Page who has 147.5 points in second place.

In the overall championship, Mark Le Page has taken over top spot with 258.75 points, while Carre is second on 231.25.

At the end of the first month in the club’s Summer League, Pierre Carrick is in the lead.

During April eight members boated a total of 16 fish. Carrick had a 2-3-12 whiting, a 20-10-0 turbot and a 5-14-6 brill, his three fish scoring 154.23%.

Second was Rob Jennings, a 2-7-11 lesser-spotted dogfish and a 2-1-0 whiting being worth 117.58%.

Third was Mark Le Page, 10-0-5 pollack, 2-10-9 pout, 113.83%; fourth Louisa Richards 8-13-10 pollack, 1-9-6 poat, 79.04%; fifth George Jennings 8-6-7 pollack, 6-1-0 brill, 77.33%; sixth Dave Vaudin 1-2-0 mackerel, 2-4-0 whiting, 69.87%; and seventh Andy Le Lerre 8-0-9 pollack, 1-2-0 pout, 62.89%.

The catches were completed by Sam Robins who had a 10-4-0 turbot worth 33.88%.

TWO entries in the Fish of the Month were received on the last day of April. Kevin Handley submitted the 9-1-4 bass he caught while fishing in the Piriou Open winter bass festival.

It was caught on the west coast on a legered peeler crab but at 11pm on the final day of the month. It will be judged against the 18-6-5 Bailiwick shore record. It has also become an entry in the Phoenix Fish Bass Competition. It was the only shore entry of the month.

Rob Jennings entered a lesser-spotted dogfish caught on the Great Bank. It had been tempted by a sandeel bait and weighed 2-7-11. It will be assessed against the 3-2-11 Bailiwick boat record.

At last catches are improving, both afloat and on shore. Flatfish are dominating boat catches with boats returning from the Banc de la Schole with more than 20 turbot for their day. Many are of modest size but specimens over 20-0-0 have been recorded.

Ashore mullet catches have been outstanding with big shoals being reported.

In spite of all the activity entries for the FOM remain at rock bottom. Anglers, if you don’t support the competition, you will lose it.

AFTER a number of blank months for both bass clubs, catches are finally improving.

Guernsey Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society members entered four fish in the club competitions in April.

Tom Brock had the heaviest, 6-13-0, Dan Norman had two in Herm, 4-9-0 and 3-6-0, while John Paul Wakeford had a 4-3-0 fish.

Bailiwick Bass club members had seven fish. Shane Bentley topped the catch list with three bass, 6-8-12, 5-13-8 and 4-3-8.

Kevin Handley had two, fish of 9-1-4 and 4-14-4, caught in the club’s open festival. The biggest gave him the Collenette Jones heaviest bass of the month award.

Daryl Butcher had a 7-9-7 specimen, while Colin Patch completed the catches with a 4-15-0 fish.

THE first leg in the three match series for the Guernsey Sea Anglers Club’s Willmott Cup was a damp squib.

Only four members turned out for the eight-hour roving shore event and just one found fish.

The total catch was six garfish by Peter Frise for a weight of 3-10-0 and 26.5 points.Piriou Family Open Winter Bass Festival: Rearranged charity fund-raiser

Article posted on 6th May, 2010 - 2.29pm