Thank you to everyone who came along to the meeting which was the best attended – and longest – of any of the SMAC meetings I can remember. Was it to hear the results of the nail-biting competition finale? Was it because a fight was anticipated over proposed rule changes? Was it because it wasn’t worth going fishing? Who can tell. Anyway, Steve Kelly opened the meeting and asked if anyone wanted to propose themselves to take on any of the Club Officer roles. Everyone was smart enough to keep very quiet and the current incumbents will continue their positions through 2022.

  • Chairman – Steve Kelly
  • Deputy Chairman and Competition Officer – Chris Evans
  • Commodore – Tim Andrews
  • Treasurer – Bill Arnold
  • Social Secretary – Steve Andrews
  • Publicity, Cook, strategic negotiator etc. – Neville Merritt

I can’t actually remember crossing the line between being coerced into writing Catch Reports for a now-defunct mag and having my name up there but hey, it’s all fun.

Next up was a reminder that fees are due for 2022, and you can’t enter any fish into competitions until you are a paid-up member. £20 each to Steve Kelly please, or more accurately, the cashbox.

The AGM marks the end of one club year and the start of the next, so the winners of the club cups were announced. The final tally is listed on the sheet below and the winners include:

  • Kevin Johnson – Champions Cup; Bass Cup; Pollack Cup; Catch-and-Release Cup
  • Tim Andrews – Bream Cup; Best Specimen Cup; Pairs Cup; Nelson Mandela Cup
  • Mark Banks – Plaice Cup; Pairs Cup
  • Brian Van Daal – Cod Cup; Cod Pool
  • Pete Churchill – Species Hunt (27); Open Cod Comp Best Placed Member
  • Bill Arnold – Species Hunt Day Competition
  • Eleanor Atkins – Ladies Cup; Ladies Species Hunt (7)
  • Ben Lumsden – Junior Cup;
  • Jake Kelly – Junior Species Hunt (7)

January Fish of the Month: out of nine entries, John Jones won with a conger of 70lb (feature photo) on the basis that a) it was  a good fish and b) he bravely risked losing his ear to it.

It was decided to roll the annual Presentation Night, usually held in February, forward to later in the Spring when hopefully COVID risks will reduce and members and families will be more confident about going to socials.

Chris Ellis proposed a Summer Open Competition to be held in August. Ross Honey from SAC is keen to promote the event and feature the SAC winning boat. Two options were discussed; a mini-SAC five-species competition, or a full species competition as organised by Chris last year. A members’ vote opted for the full species competition.

An Open Bream Competition will be held on 1st May. Club funds will be boosted by retaining 10% of the entry fee, the balance to be distributed as prizes.

Proposed Rule Changes: after much discussion it was agreed that Rule 9 restricting anglers to fish SMAC competitions from an annual berth holder’s boat could be waived in individual circumstances on the agreement of the Club Officers. The club Rule Sheet will be updated. In the interests of keeping things simple, other rule changes discussed were not adopted.

Finally, Neville Merritt showed the SMAC Hoodies from Fairtrade brand SU-stainable, with sample sizes to try on. Due to the high level of interest from members, the company will set up a dedicated ordering page accessible from the SMAC website page. Delivery will be to home addresses for a fixed delivery fee, or for the first batch of orders delivery to the marina for collection will be free of charge. More details will be circulated when the ordering page is live.

Next Meeting: Tuesday 1st March, 7:30pm in the Marina Bar.

Neville Merritt