WCASC Herm Championship winner Shane Huxster. (0478189)

HOME angler Dick Smith had a highly successful Open Alderney Angling Festival. He won £150 for being the top Channel Island angler, won the pairs competition partnered by his son Matt, won the garfish/mackerel category and won the Ray Trophy for a 7-6-6 small-eyed ray.

He has an incredible history in this highly competitive event, as he has won the CI title six times. Strangely he has never won it in consecutive years, winning in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Without doubt the real winner of the week was the atrocious weather, the strong north-easterly winds, heavy rain and hail showers making fishing almost impossible. In fact there was so much hail on one occasion that anglers made a snowman on the rocks.

It is to their credit and perseverance that the competitors managed to find some worthwhile specimens.

However, in spite of all their efforts, the catches were the worst ever recorded in the event’s 23-year history.

Only three of the 10 categories saw the top five prize-winning places filled.

The worst categories were the black bream and plaice/sole sections. No catches were recorded in either, which meant that for the first time ever, categories completely blanked.