Boat League
Boat Section Organiser
Dan Davies - DANFISH79@hotmail.com
NOTICE TO ALL BOAT MEMBERS
Boat owning members should apply to the Harbour Master's Office for an application form for a launch permit. When applying state that they are a member of CBVSAC. Completed form to be sent back to Harbour Office along with a photocopy of club membership ( must be current for 2009 ) and a photocopy of boat insurance.
As from 2010, all members will have to pay a registration fee, currently £20, but this will be detailed on the form, members living in Conwy County no longer receive this free of charge. Once registered the boat is also registered within Gwynedd and Denbighshire as they have a reciprocal agreement.
Boat launch permit then permits boat owners to launch at any slipway in Conwy County free of charge ( a list of slipways is given with the application form).
This permit can only be used by boats going to sea with the purpose of fishing. Boats attempting to launch that are obviously not going fishing will be charged or turned away at the slipway.
For launching in either Gwynedd or Denbighshire the boat owner will still have to pay the appropriate fee but will not have to register.
Address for forms: The Harbour Master's Office, Conwy Quay, Conwy. Tel 01492 596253.
2012 League
The
boat section will be holding a meeting at the clubhouse on Friday 10th February
2012 at 8pm to pick dates and venues for their 2012 league.
The meeting will also be a chance to discuss any rule changes for the 2012
league.
If you are a new or prospective member, interested in fishing the boat league
this year, you are more than welcome to come along and find out more
information and meet a few of the salty old seadogs who fish regularly.
Match Results 2011
Match 9 Straits - 13/11/11
5
boats fished the ninth and final leg of the 2011 boat league in the Straits
yesterday, with Bass Hunter missing. Get well soon Bob!
With this in mind, most of us opted to go all out for a decent fish from the
start, meaning the species hunting wasnt given the same amount of effort as
usual.
With this in mind, Lady M cemented their league championship with another win.
A bag of 10 species for a weight of 13.01.12lbs gave them 50 points.
O2B@C finished second with 7 species for 06.09.04lbs and 40 points.
Hannah Lou were third with 6 species for 04.13.08lbs and 35 points.
Jo-Amm caught 4 species with 1 specimen, for a weight of 06.01.04lbs and 33
points with Goldilocks in fifth with 5 species for 04.04.00lbs and 31 points.
This gives Lady M the league title for this year with 405 points from the 9 matches.
Congratulations to Roger, Mike and Jay!
O2B@C finish in second position with 352 points and Bass Hunter were third
overall with 333.
Jo-Amm finished fourth with 208 points, Goldilocks fifth with 180 and Hannah
Lou sixth with 109.
The £10 a man species sweep was won by Lady M with a total of 28 species from
the 9 matches. O2B@C again in second with 23 species.
Bass hunter 22 species
Jo amm 17 species
Goldilocks 9 species
Hannah lou 9 species
Onto the individual results for the fur and feather.
1st Mike Robinson 07.08.00 Huss
2nd Andy Lee 02.13.08 Ballan
3rd Jason Phillips 02.13.04 Huss
4th Rog Edwards 02.07.08 Huss
5th Simon 2.07.00 Huss
6th Malcom Nield 02.00.04
7th Kev Jones 02.00.00 Wrasse
7th Dan Davies 02.00.00 Codling
9th Andy Wallis 01.11.08
10th Ritchard Brownson 01.09.08
11th Adam Davies 01.07.08
12th John Wallis 01.06.04
13th Pete Roberts 01.01.08
14th Lewis Brownson (j) 01.01.04
The date for the fur and feather presentation and a few pints is pencilled in
for Saturday 17th December in the clubhouse, but i will confirm this date and
the time once we have spoken to Steve at the clubhouse.
Thanks to everyone who fished this year from Dan. Hope to see you all again for
the boat section meeting sometime in March next year and back on the water for
the 2012 boat league.
Match 8 - Straits - 16/10/11
5 boats fished match number 8 in the straits last Sunday.
The fishing was
hard for most of the boats but Lady M found it a bit easier and took the honours
with a creditable 15 species.
1st
Lady M 15 species, 11.12.00lb, 67 points
2nd 02b@c 9 species, 1 specimen
14.03.08lb, 50 points
3rd Jo Am 10 species, 07.03.08lb, 47 points
4th Bass
hunter 9 species and 1 specimen 06.10.08lb 46 points
5th Goldilocks 4 species
07.04.08lb, 30 points
Heaviest round fish went to o2b@c with a Huss of
09.02.00lb and heaviest flat fish went to Jo Am with a plaice of 13oz.
Aswell as the usual species hunt by boat format, each angler should keep their heaviest round fish and flatfish for weighing to give the fur and feather result.
The prize giving for the fur and feather and obligatory few drinks will take place at the clubhouse in December.
Match 7 - Straits - 7/8/11
The forecast didn't look good again so it was back to the straits yet again!
4 boats fished the match.
O2b@c had there 1st win of the year with 13 species and 1 specimen for
16.09.04lbs, 61 points.
Lady M took 2nd, just missing out on weight points with 13 species and 1 specimen
for 13.04.00lbs, 60 points.
Bass Hunter came 3rd with 11 species for 05.06.08lbs, 50 points
Goldilocks came 4th with 9 species for 18.01.08lbs, 47 points
Goldilocks cleaned up on the fish pools taking the heaviest round fish prize
with a conger of 11.12.00lbs, and a Dab of 6oz won them the roll over flatfish
prize.
Match 6 - Straits - 24/7/11
5 Boats fished this one, again in the straits due to the wind.
Lady M took the honours again with 13 species and 1 specimen for 19.14.4lbs, 62
points.
Bass Hunter were 2nd with 10 species and 1 specimen for 17.14.00lbs, 52 points.
O2ba@c were 3rd with 10 species and 1 specimen for 7.14.00lbs, 51 points.
Jo-Amm were 4th with 5 species and 1 specimin for 4.3.12lbs, 35 points.
Goldilocks were 5th with 2 species for 2.12.00lbs, 22 points.
The heaviest round fish went to Bass Hunter with a Conger of 10.12.04lbs.
No flatfish were caught so the prize gets rolled over to the next match.
Match 5 - Colwyn Bay - 10/7/11
4 boats fished match number 5 out of Colwyn Bay.
The 2 boats that went out that extra bit further to the Dublin wreck finished 1st and 2nd with the extra bits they picked up out there which included some nice ling,pollack,huss etc.
Top boat on the day was Basshunter with 13 species and 2 specimens for 65 points (24.12.08lb).
2nd was Lady M with 13 species for 58 points (12.15.08lb)
3rd was o2b@c with 12 species for 54 points (08.12.00lb)
4th was Jo-Amm with 8 species and 1 specimen for 44 points (06.07.04lb)
Heaviest round fish went to Basshunter with a huss of 09.15.04lb and the rollover heaviest flat fish prize went to Jo-amm with a Dab of 8oz.
Match 4 - Straits - 19/6/11
The fishing had improved from the last match we had here and the winners on the day were Lady M with 10 species and 1 specimin for 52 points (07.13.00lb).
o2ba@c were a close 2nd with 9 species and 1 specimen for 50 points (15.10.00lb).
Basshunter were 3rd with 6 species and 1 specimen for 39 points (05.13.08lb) and Goldilocks were 4th with 5 species for 32 points (04.03.08lb)
Jo-Amm were unlucky, they didnt weigh in because of engine trouble so they went home early.
Heaviest round fish prize went to o2b@c with a huss of 08.00.00lb and the flatty prize got rolled over to the next match.
Match 3 - Trearddur Bay - 5/6/11
Finally
a we got a half decent forecast for match number 3, with a North Easterly
forecast 6 boats fished Trearddur Bay, the offshore wind was fresh in the
morning but it turned out to be a nice summers day by dinner time with the wind
dropping and the sun breaking through, I think we all went home with burnt
faces at the end of the day!
There were a good variety of fish around if you could find were they were.
Hannah Lou managed to find some nice cod around the 5lb mark, there were a few
nice Huss, Pollack, ling, smoothhound, ballans, and plenty of minis.
Lady m won for the 2nd match on the bounce with a creditable 12 species and 1
specimen for 13.9.0lb
Bass hunter came 2nd with 7 species and 3 specimens for 16.9.0lb
02b@c were 3rd with 8 species and 1 specimen for 14.3.0lb
Hannah lou were 4th with 9 species for 13.15.12lb
Jo- Am were 5th with 4 species for 4.5.8lb and were unlucky with a few other
species they had but were just undersize.
And Goldilocks was 6th with 1 specices for 1.5.4lb
3 of the boats found smoothhounds and these were quickly photographed and
returned to the water without them having to come in to the scales.
Heaviest fish of the match was a Huss of 8lb 9oz which was caught on o2b@c
The heaviest flatfish went to Bass Hunter with a Dab of 7oz and that won them
nearly £50 because of 4 rollovers! Jammy gits they are!! The lads on Jo-Am also
had a dab but a little bit smaller at 5 and a halve oz’s, unlucky lads.
Lady m 59 points
Bass Hunter 50 points
O2b@c 46 points
Hannah lou 45 points
Jo-Am 28 points
Goldilocks
18 points
Match 2 - Straits - 22/5/11
Boat
match number 2 was fished in the straits due to high winds for the 2nd match in
a row!
Only 2 boats turned up due to 1 reason or another (Bass hunter and Lady m)
Bass Hunter brought 4 species back to the scales (Ballan,Dog,Tompot,Goldsinney)
Hopefully we'll have better weather for the next match.
Match 1 - Straits - 1/5/11
5 boats fished the first match of 2011 which was held in the Straits due to the
strong easterly wind which had been blowing all weekend.
We fished mainly
on the ebb, and all boats really struggled to find species big enough to bring
to the scales.
Hannah Lou took top honours with a Dog and a specimen
Ballan ( the only wrasse to be weighed! ) Bass Hunter were second with a
Dog, a Pout and a Sea Scorpion. Lady M took third with a Dog and a
Pout. The new boat Jo Am took fourth with a decent sized Dog and O2B@C were
fifth with a little Dog.
There were loads of Dogs and small Codling
around, but very little in the way of anything else. Even the minis were still
on there summer holidays.
Match Results 2010
Match 7 - Straits - 14/11/10
Hopes weren’t high for the seventh and final leg of the boat league in the
Straits.
Fresh water coming into the straits at both ends and
the colder weather meant the fishing wouldn’t be up to its usual
standard.
Due to the reduced daylight, we met at Moel Y Don and were on
the water for 8am with a finish time of 3.30pm.
Everyone set off for
their marks and soon realised that there were plenty of Dogs and small Codling,
but finding other species would be a struggle.
Back at the weigh in, Bass Hunter were victorious with their 9 species and 1
specimen for 50 points. The specimen Ballan of 4lb taking the roundfish pool
too.
We were second with 9 species for 46 points with Lady M finishing in
third place.
Congratulations to Bass Hunter who win this years boat league, with O2B@C in
second. Full results will be published soon!
That’s it for this year
apart from the Fur and Feather which will take place on Sunday 19th December and
is heaviest round and flatfish combined.
The boat league meeting to pick
next years match dates will be held early next year and will be publicised once
arranged.
Match 6 - Straits - 17/10/10
We
saw four regulars and the return of Goldilocks, albeit with a new skipper and
crew for the sixth match of this years boat league, which was fished in the
Menai Straits.
The crew of Goldilocks were there to get the feel of the matches and suss out a
few marks so didn’t take part in the match, but knew there were plenty of us on
hand with advice if they needed it.
We were all on the water and away before 9am and were back at the slip for 5pm.
After weighing and counting the fish, O2B@C were the winners with 12 species
and 1 specimen for 59 points.
Bass Hunter were second with 11 and 1 for 55 points, with Lady M third with 9
and 1 for 48 points and Hannah Lou fourth with 38 points from 6 species and 1
specimen.
The heaviest fish was my Conger of 10-04-04lbs.
Lewis Brownson took the junior prize. His catch included this specimen Wrasse
of nearly 3lb!
Match 5 - Straits - 5/9/10
Just 3 boats fished the fifth match of CBVSACs boat league which was the fourth to be held in the Straits due to the poor weather conditions this summer.
The
rain held off all day but the wind was fresh in the morning and strengthened as
forecast in the afternoon.
We launched just before high water and the 3 boats all sped off to their chosen
marks.
The fishing was best on the start of the ebb with things quietening off towards low water.
Bass
Hunter won with 11 species and 1 specimen for 55 points. We managed second on
O2B@C with 53 points and Hannah Lou were third with 9 and 2 for 51 points and
Lewis Brownson was top junior.
Dans Conger of 11-8-0lbs won the roundfish pool and Hannah Lou won the flatfish pool with a
Dab.
Richie, skipper of Hannah Lou with his Trigger Fish which was returned alive.
According
to the grapevine, just over 60 anglers fished the Brynsiencyn Open while we
were there with only 25 weighing in but there was a small Tope and a couple of
Smoothies caught and released.
Match 4 - Straits - 8/8/10
Four boats fished the fourth leg of this years boat league in the Straits.
We had hoped to launch from Colwyn Bay but with a bit of a surf on
the flooding tide and the high risk of losing a vehicle or worse if conditions
were no better at the end of the match it was decided to head for Moel Y Don and
the comfort of the Menai Strait.
Everyone has their own favourite marks
in the Straits but with todays flatfish pool being a triple roll over of £37 it
would be worth trying for a flattie for half an hour so this was on everyones agenda.

The point scores were-
Bass Hunter - 59 pts for 1st place
O2B@C - 49 pts for 2nd place
Rosea - 45 pts for 3rd place
Lady M - 35 pts for 4th place
Heaviest roundfish pool - Bass Hunter with a ballan of 2-11-08
Heaviest flatfish pool - O2B@C with a flounder of 1-08-00 (triple rollover)
The league after 4 matches is;
Bass Hunter - 206 pts
O2B@C - 187 pts
Lady M - 177 pts
Rosea - 123 pts
Hanna Lou - 63 pts
Lazy Days - 28 pts
Match 3 - Straits - 11/7/10
Five
boats fished the third leg of Colwyn Bay Victoria Sea Angling Clubs boat league
in the Menai Straits earlier today.
The fresh breeze kept the temperature down and the fact that we were mainly
fishing the ebb meant the fishing could be challenging to say the least!

Once again no
flatties were caught so there will be a double rollover on the flatty pool at the
next match.
Match 2 - Straits - 6/6/10
Meeting at the little chef Llandegai near Bangor for 0800hrs, five boats made the trip and after a brief discussion a bit of banter and a cup of overpriced coffee we decided to launch at Moel y Don, this is a beach launch, access is fairly restricted with limited parking on the top end of the beach. The launch itself is pretty easy with compacted shingle and a fairly gentle slope, 15 minutes or so saw all five boats on the water, a quick radio check and we were all off to our chosen marks.
Back on shore,
the calculations were done and Bass Hunter won their first match of 2010 with 11
species and top weight giving Bob and Frank a winning 53 match points, second spot
was taken by Lady M with 9 species and 2 specimen fish 18 weight points for a
total of 51 points, third place was O2B@C with 9 species and 1 specimen 19
weight points for a total of 49 all pretty close in the end for the top three,
top junior was once again Lewis Brownson fishing with his dad on Hanna Lou, The
heaviest fish pool was split 50/50 between O2B@C and Bass Hunter and the
Heaviest flatty pool will be carried over to the next match.
Thanks to all who took part.
The next match on the 20th June has been postponed because we have the
presention awards at the clubhouse on the previous evening the 19th.
Match 1 - Colwyn Bay - 23/5/10
Great forecast for the first match of the 2010 boat league but we still could only attract 12 anglers fishing off four boats, meeting at the slip next to Colwyn Bay pier for 8-00am the boats were promptly launched and we were on our way to our chosen marks for 8-30, the sea inshore was like a mirror, the only fly in the ointment was the only to obvious algae bloom, a lot worse than i had imagined.

Back at the slipway Lady M had a fairly good day catching twelve species which included a bass taken out of the murky waters off Llandulas which took the heaviest fish pool, their twelve species and 56 points was enough to win them the day, Bass Hunter was a close second with ten species and one specimen giving the crew 52 points, O2B@C took third with eight species giving them 42 points and Hanna Lou was fourth with five species and 32 points, young Lewis Brownson won the junior prize so well done Lewis.
Thanks to all who took part, i'm sure the fishing will improve and maybe we will have a few more boats at the next match in a fortnight.
Match Results 2009
Boat Match 10 - Menai Straits - 8/11/09
XC/Weather
were predicting fresh northerly winds early with conditions improving later in
the day so once again we are off to the Menai Straits.
It became apparent that a few of the crews had struggled to raise their species count today, this was a crucial match for the two leading boats in the league, O2B@C and Bass Hunter were within a few points of each other going into this final match and with Dan and Adam having good form at this venue on the two previous matches the league title looked well within their grasp but even with the help of guest crew Wayne McGill they just couldn’t manage to hang on to their form.
Bob and Frank off Bass Hunter brought 10 species and 1 specimen to the scales to win the match and take the league title with their 52 points on the day, Ian and Gary off Rosea took second spot with 9 species and 1 specimen for 50 points, they also took the heaviest roundfish pool with that conger of 9-09-04, Lady M took third with 8 species and 1 specimen giving them 44 points, Lady M also took the rollover flatty pool with a very rare dab of 0-08-00, young Lewis Brownson took the junior prize fishing off his dad’s boat Hanna Lou. Lewis also caught a specimen Ballan of 2-05-06.
All in all a very pleasant day and even a bit of autumn sunshine for the last
couple of hours, thanks to all who have fished the matches this year,
congratulations to Bob and Frank on taking the league and hard luck to Dan and
Adam but I think you managed to cling onto 2nd spot in the league.
Boat Match 9 - Menai Straits - 11/10/09.
With
a fresh west north westerly forecast for Sunday is was back to the Menai
Straits for match no 9.
Rumour's
of some quality cod showing at this venue had us keen to bag our share,
although all the boats caught codling to size the best of these fish would only
have made two pounds on the scales, loads of small plump codling in the 6-8oz
bracket were taking the baits sometimes three at a time, some quality fish were
taken with a few bass being caught, the best of these was a fish of 6-02-08
caught by Dan Davies on O2B@C.
Boat Match 8 - Menai Straits - 16/08/09
Another iffy forecast for this match so were off to the Menai Straits once again. Launching at Moel y Don conditions were not too bad once you were on the water and the rain held off so all in all not too bad at least we were fishing.
Once again we found the fishing very patchy struggling to get our species count up to a respectable figure.
At the weigh-in one boat stood head and shoulders above the
rest, Dan and Adam on O2B@C had managed an impressive 15 speciesfor 65 points,
six species more than Rosea in second placed with 9 and 1 specimen giving them
48 points. Bass Hunter was third with 9 species and 46 points and Hanna Lou
fourth with 8 species and 44 points.
Bass Hunter took the roundfish pool with a Huss of 4-06-08
and O2B@C took the triple rollover flatty pool with a Flounder of 1-01-04 just
to prove that there is something flat to catch in the Straits. Last but not
least young Lewis Brownson took the junior prize. Thanks to all who attended.
Boat Match 7 - Menai Straits - 02/08/09
Weather conditions sent us off to the Menai Straits
to fish the seventh match of the league, with three boats fishing we were soon
launched and away to start the hunt. The fishing was similar to the last match
here, very slow with only the odd fish to size being taken and at the weigh-in
yet again no flats caught, Bass Hunter did well in the conditions bringing 12
species to the scales to give Bob and Frank 54 pts and the match, Rosea took
second spot with 8 species and 1 specimen a ballan of 3-06-08 giving them a
total of 46 pts, O2B@C also landed 8 species and the top weight to give them 44
pts and third place, Dan also took the heaviest fish pool with a Huss of 7-02-12.
Boat Match 6 - Menai Straits - 19/07/09
Forecasts were all over the place leading up to the
match so we really couldn't predict were we would be fishing until late
Saturday then it was not great news as it looked highly likely to be the
Straits, with all the rain we had had over the previous few days and the
swollen rivers spewing fresh water into the venue it did not bode well for the
fishing but it's the same for all and it's great having a day on the water.
Bass Hunter took second with ten species a specimen
ballan and second best weight.
Lady M took third spot and O2B@C fourth.
Rosea took the heaviest roundfish pool with a ballan of
2-13-08.
The flatty pool has once again been carried over fishing
from this venue, bit of a concern really when you consider this area was once
paved with quality flatfish and now it seems there are very few!
Boat Match 5 - Colwyn Bay - 05/07/09
With UK windmap giving 8-10mph southerlies
throughout the day for Sunday conditions looked near perfect to fish our home
waters off Colwyn Bay so a few phone calls on Saturday night to the boat
skippers would save the trek down to Llandegai our usual meeting point,
Five boats and crews met up at the pier slipway at Colwyn
Bay for 8-0am on a bright but fairly breezy Sunday morning, the wind was a tad
more than the forecast i had seen but it was blowing offshore and the venue was
definately fishable, so with the boats all on the water and trailers and
vehicles neatly parked up for just after 8-0am the boats scattered all heading
for their different marks.
Five boats fished the match today which is the best
turnout of the year to date but i am hoping that the boats fishing are on the
up with a fair bit of interest being shown, in my opinion you nead 6+ boats
fishing on a regular basis to create a competetive league and interesting
matches.
Enjoyed the day and the company, thanks to all who fished.
Boat Match 4 - Menai Straits - 21/06/09
The fourth match of the league was held in the
Menai Straits, the results were as follows;
1st Lady M with 8 species for 43 pts
2nd Rosea with 7 species for 41 pts
3rd O2B@C with 4 species and 1 specimen for 33 pts
4th Bass Hunter 4 species for 29 pts
Lady M took the rollover flatty pool with an 8oz dab
Bass Hunter took the heaviest roundfish pool with a
Bullhuss of 4-01-00.
Boat Match 3 - Colwyn Bay -07/06/09
It was decided this match would be void for the league due to the poor turnout of 5 anglers on 2 boats.
Boat Match 2 - Colwyn Bay - 24/05/09
With the forecasters promising very favourable
conditions for Sunday we opted to fish
the local patch and meet at Colwyn Bay slipway at 08-00hrs, they were not wrong
with not a breath of wind and blue skies to welcome our arrival, the only
downside is where are the boats?
Perfect conditions and only two boats, Dan & Adam on O2B@C and Ian, Roger
and Gary on Rosea, it seamed pretty pointless having a competion with just the
two but we went through the motions even though the match was void.
Boat Match 1 - Menai Straits - 03/05/2009
A very poor turnout for the first match of
2009 with only four boats making the effort, the worst attendance for the first
match of the year since I have been a member of the club which doesn't bode
well for the future.
With fresh north westerly winds
forecast for Sunday the only choice was to fish the Menai Straits and early May
would not produce the best from this venue but there should be a few species
knocking about, Launching at Moel y Don opposite side to Port Dinorwic we soon
had the boats launched and the trailers parked up at the top of the beach ready for a hard days fishing.
Back on the beach,
Bob & Frank on Bass Hunter had continued into 2009 with their good run
taking a match winning eight species and 44 points, Roger and Jason aboard Lady
M took second place with seven species giving them 40 points, Rosea took third
spot with seven species and 39 points, Dan & Adam on O2B @ C took fourth
place with five species and the only
Closed Fur and Feather - Menai Straits - Sunday 21st December 2008
The event was
in doubt at one stage with strong to gale force southwesterly winds forecast
and with low water around 11-00am this meant we would have at least two hours
of wind against tide conditions in the Straits, not pleasant at all. But we
decided to take a look and proceed with the match.
Thanks to all
the 18 anglers who fished, we decided to fish a four hour match finishing at 1pm, which was plenty in these conditions.
Right now down to the fishing or the lack of it, the format for the
F&F comp is you bring in your best round and flatfish and the combined
weight gives you your position in the match, it is done on an individual basis
not as a team event like the league so basically it’s heaviest weight wins the match.
To complete
the hat trick James Singleton on Sea Pigeon took the junior prize.
2008 Boat League Results
The results of the 2008 boat league are
as follows, these results are based on 9 matches with the best 7 scores
counting.
| 1st | Bass Hunter | 393 pts |
| 2nd | Goldilocks | 370 pts |
| 3rd | Rosea | 345 pts |
| 4th | O2B@C | 329 pts |
| 5th | Garramma | 165 pts |
| 6th | Mr Fish | 98 pts |
| 7th | Hannah Lou | 81 pts |
| 8th | Sea Pigeon | 47 pts |
| 9th | Genesis | 34 pts |
| 10th | Lady M | 24pts |
Congratulations to Bob & Frank on Bass Hunters well
deserved success
Boat Match 8 - Menai Straits - 07/09/2008.
With a week of non stop
rain and strong northerly winds prospects for Sunday were looking bleak but you
have to give it a go don’t you, a very disappointing turnout again with only
four boats turning up the only option was to fish the Straits. Launching at
Moel y Don into the flat calm Menai Straits was a doddle, and all four boats were
on the water before 9-0am. After all that fresh water flowing into the Straits
the water was a murky brown in colour and the fishing was very poor as a result
of this, normally September I find is the most productive time for this venue
with codling starting to show plus the usual summer species knocking about but
today fish were few and far between excluding the dogs and huss which didn’t
seem to bothered with the water quality.
Right down to the results, Bass Hunter continue their good form to take
the match with ten species and two specimens for 54points, let’s hope they can
keep it up for the Cork small boat’s festival to be held in a couple of weeks
time, to say we are looking forward to that is a bit of an understatement, Bass
Hunter also took the flatty pool with the only flat of the match a plaice of
just over minimum size,
Rosea took second spot with eight species and two specimens not
including the smoothhound, which was photographed and returned and awarded
three points, Rosea also took the heaviest roundfish pool with a conger of
9-04-00.
Goldilocks was third with five species and Garramma 11 was fourth.
It turned out a very pleasant day in the end, thanks to all who fished.
Not such a good forecast for match no7, strong south-westerly winds making the venue selections a bit awkward, force 5-6 making it a bit too uncomfortable out in Colwyn Bay so we opted for the Menai Straits, even this venue can be a bit lumpy on the ebb but with low around 11-0am it would flatten with the flood to give us some comfortable fishing. Launching at Moel y Don wasn’t an option with this forecast so we had no option but to launch at Menai Bridge, this once very convenient slipway is now best avoided with parking very limited since the developers moved in building flats with restricted parking to the front and with the local council putting signs up banning the parking of trailers on the top of the beach.
Down to the fishing, not brilliant
with most of the boats not staying on any of the mark to long and a lot of
moving around trying to find the fish, at the end of the day Bob and Frank on
Bass Hunter maintained their run of good form to win the match with eleven
species, one specimen and top weight to give them 56 points followed by Gwyn
and Fishy on Goldilocks with ten species and one specimen giving them 52
points, Dan and Adam on O2B@C where a close third with ten species and one
specimen and 51 points, they also took the heaviest roundfish pool with a nice
Ballan wrasse of 3-05-08, Mr Fish took the heaviest flatty pool with a dab of
00-08-12 the only flatty of the match.
Thanks to all who took part!
A cracking forecast for match no 6 of the boat league, Sunday came without a breath of wind so we decided to fish our home waters out from Colwyn Bay, the only downside was that we only had four boats turn up to fish the match.
Nice easy launch straight off the slip into a flat calm sea, all boats
launched and ready to go before 0800hrs that must be the earliest we have ever
started a match, three of the boats headed towards Llandudno bay and then on to
the Orme while Gwyn and Fester decided to bite the bullet and steam out to the
wreck of the Dublin (I think) which is situated fairly close to the gas rig
around fifteen miles off Colwyn Bay, this was the day for travelling them sort
of distances, probably only about thirty minutes steaming in Goldilocks, they
were joined on the wreck a bit later in the day by Bob and Frank on Basshunter,
the journey out to the wreck paying dividends with both boats catching good
numbers and variety of fish there.
All the boats
headed east to the area’s around the wind farms later in the afternoon, it
fished fairly well around the area with plenty of fish but we were struggling
to catch the variety of species there so we decided to finish the day close in
to Rhyl
At the weigh
in Bob and Frank had done the business bagging sixteen species and one specimen
to give them a match winning 71 points, Gwyn and Fester on Goldilocks came a
close second with fifteen species and two specimens for 69 points, Dan and Adam
were third with thirteen species and 2 specimens for 64 points. They also
lifted the heaviest fish pool with a cracking huss of 13-09-04 Lbs,
Ian, Roger
and Gary on Rosea were in fourth ( last ) place with twelve species for 53
points, but they did have the consolation of winning the rollover flatty pool
with a flounder of 1-3-4.
Well done to
Bob and Frank on a good win, i've just had a quick tally of the species caught
and would you believe 25 species over minimum size, who says there's no variety
out from the Bay. A cracking day lets hope it’s the same again in a fortnight.
Thanks to all who supported the match.
Boat match no5 was fished in warm calm conditions with blue skies, so we decided once again to launch the boats at Moel y Don in the Straits, for those who don’t know it’s the slipway across from Port Dinorwic.
It looks like this slipway and access point is now secure for public use after
a campaign by local’s and other’s against it’s sale to a private buyer so a big
thanks to all who were involved in that successful campaign.
No limits were put on the boats today so after launching they could go out of
the Straits on either side.
With the forecast of north-westerly for Sunday we decided to give the Menai Straits a crack for the fourth match of the league, we were guaranteed near flat calm conditions with any wind blowing over the top, launching off the beach at Moel y Don the five boats were on the water in no time, handy little slip this but there are plans to sell it to a private enterprise then it would be lost to the members of the public who use it, there is a petition being organised to object to the sale of this facility, petition forms are in local tackle shops so if you come across one please sign it.
Bob and Frank on Bass Hunter were the match winners. They caught 10
species with 2 over specimen size plus they had the top weight to give them 56
points, Rosea was second with 9 species and 1 over specimen weight and O2B@C
was third with 10 species, the heaviest flatty pool went to Dan and Adam on
O2B@C with a flounder of 1-02-0, the heaviest round fish pool went to Bob and
Frank off Bass Hunter with a fine Huss of 8-10-0.
Boat match no3 was held on
Sunday 1st June out of
Six boats entered the comp and once again all boats were on the water before
9am, the fish were not prolific and once again the majority of anglers were
finding it difficult to catch the fish they were targeting.
At the start we went
drifting on the sand just off Porth Dafarch hoping to pick up a plaice, dab,
grey gurnard and possibly an insize whiting but the problem was the fish hadn’t
read the script and we were still there two hours later, eventually we managed
a couple of the species that we were after but this was the story for most of
the day for us, spending too much time in areas were we have caught certain
species but not catching them or spending too much time catching, but that’s
the way it goes sometimes anyway that’s enough of the excuses all the boat’s
didn’t fare as badly as us. Gwyn, Fishy and Steve on Goldilocks managed to find
twelve species and one specimen to take the honours which was a good result on
a day when species were hard to find, there was a points tie for second place
between Owie, Elwyn and Dewi on Garramma II and Dan and Adam on O2B@C , Dan and
Adam took the second position because even though the two boats had equal
points Dan and Adam had caught more species, so well done to them for bouncing
back from the poor show at the last match. O2B@C also took the pool for the
heaviest fish with a Huss of just under ten pounds. The pool for the heaviest
flat was taken by Rosea with a plaice of just over a pound. There were some
quality wrasse caught, with the best of the bunch a fish of 3-14-08 taken by
Elwyn bach on Garramma II.
With a far from perfect
forecast of easterly 3-4 occasionally 5 the best venue for match no 2 was
Six boats turned up at Llandegai to sign in so we set off for
Conditions were not perfect but fishable nevertheless, with reports of
Smoothhounds in excess of 20lb being taken in recent days and most anglers
fishing with crab baits for most of the day no smuts showed on the inshore
marks, I think Holyhead deeps would have thrown a few up but it would have been
a pretty lumpy ride out there today and a small window to fish for them around
slack water.
The fishing was fairly slow on marks which have been very productive
around this time in previous years, put it down to that cold easterly.
Listening to the vhf most of the boats seamed to be struggling and just picking
up the odd species here and there, normally you would expect to catch thirteen
or fourteen species and two or three over specimen size to win a match at this
venue but Rosea was the top boat today winning the match with ten species and
one specimen for 53 points, runner up was Goldilocks with ten species and one
specimen giving them 52 points, in third spot was Basshunter with nine species
and two specimens for 51 points, the heaviest flat pool was won by sea pigeon
with a plaice of just under a pound and the heaviest roundfish pool was taken
by Rosea with a huss just short of 10 pound.Well Done to James Singleton on Sea
Pigeon for taking the junior prize.
Boat match 1 - Colwyn Bay - 27/04/2008.
Richy Brownson and Roger who fished on Hannah Lou second with six species (whiting, dab, dog, pouting, poor cod, grey gurnard).
Bob, Frank & Gary on Bass Hunter were third with six species ( whiting, dab, dog, pouting, poor cod, sea scorpion).
Heaviest roundfish pool was taken by Elwyn Bach (Selby) on Garamma
with a dog of 2-12-04. Heaviest flatty pool was won by Josh Andrews (junior)
with a flounder of 1-06-08, Josh who fished on his grandads (Gwynnie) boat
Goldilocks, Josh also took the junior prize by catching four species.
Dates for the 2008 boat league are as follows
- April
27th .
- May 18th.
- June 1st.
- June 15th.
- July 13th.
- July 27th.
- August 10th.
- September 7th.
- September 21st.
- October 12th.
The meeting place for this years matches is the little
chef car park at Llandegai near Bangor, the days venue will be chosen taking
account of up to date forecasts and the boats will be leaving at 0800 hrs at the
latest so if you want a breakfast give yourselves plenty of time, if the weather
is settled telephone Gwyn on 01745 823861 or 07912 420085 or Gary on 01745
826253 or 07748 841528 before 2100hrs as a decision could be made to launch the
boats at Colwyn Bay but only in periods of very settled weather can such a
decision be made the night before a match.
All boats will be checked at the first match to make
sure that they are seaworthy and are carrying all the recommended safety
equipment,(a list of this equipment is printed in the clubs
handbook).
There may be an opportunity to have your boat checked
by the R.N.L.I. at the first match if this can be arranged, so make sure your
flares are in date, spare anchor and warp etc etc .
The club recommends that lifejackets be worn while
taking part in club organised events.
This year any new boats fishing the league will be
paired up with one of the more experienced boats giving them a chance to fish
proven marks and hopefully the methods to fish these different marks
successfully, they could also then save these marks on their chart plotters for
future reference, boat names will be drawn out of a hat for pairing
up.
Please Note for your safety and to avoid disappointment:
All boat members be prepared to have your boats checked by the RNLI for safety prior to the first match.
There will be a date organised for you, probably in the Colwyn Bay area, so please keep up to date by checking this page regularly.
Also please note the useful links under Boat news & Safety in the blue section on the right of this page
The safety Committee will be posting a list of essential equipement in the near future.