It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of our SMDAC friend George Dominy aged 87. George was a great angler and held in much affection by our community. Pictured above is George in 2019 sharing the Mandela Cup with Mikey Primett.  The weather was awful and no fish were caught at all. The cup was shared between the oldest and youngest competitor! That was typical of George, he so loved his fishing even at 85 years old.

We opened the meeting with a few words of remembrance from Bill Arnold, then we drank a toast to George.

Then John Wearn said a few words on behalf of the SMDAC and we drank another toast to George.

Then Steve Kelly said a few words on behalf of SDAC and we drank another toast to George.

Then Bill wanted to say a few more words so we drank another toast to George.

By which time we all needed refills and decided we ought to get on with the meeting.

Steve read out the latest club competition standings (see below). Mark Banks is in the lead for Club Champion with 7 points.

We haven’t had many good fish weighed in this month so Fish Of The Month was a contest between a decent mullet and a couple of tiddler cod. Although some of us would secretly have preferred to catch a cod of any size, we did the honourable thing and voted FOTM for a mullet of 3lb 5oz to Michelle Plomer. Congratulations Michelle.

On Sunday 16th July there will be an Eastney Beach Clean organised by Sea Shepherd UK. Meet at 10am at the Ferry Road Car Park PO4 9LY.

The Open Species Competition will be on 13th August with a reserve date of 27th August. Details here.

Our Sole and Stingray Night Trip is likely to be 4th or 5th August. This will be confirmed at at the monthly meeting on 1st August.

The Brighton Commodore Rally has been converted to a pathfinder mission this year, with the full rally planned for 2024 based on information gathered during the informal trial run this autumn.

There was some Marina News based on responses to our questions to Peter Pring:

  • Additional tap on the Holding Pontoon – there are no resources available to do this so he will be getting quotes
  • Dredging the marina – not in the Capital Projects list at the moment
  • Health and Safety issues in the BBQ area – he will investigate

Two further questions will be passed to Peter:

  • Request to control the nettle infestation around the sheds
  • Is the marina channel a Premier responsibility as far as the spit, because there remains a concrete block and pipe in the channel at that location which is a danger at low water.

The long-awaited quotes for our anniversary tee-shirts has finally been secured from a different supplier, and an order form will be circulated. There will be an option for cotton tee shirts, polo shirts and polo shirts with pocket in sizes Small to 5XL. (Post meeting note: we will order a few extra in the popular sizes to allow for people who want to try for size).

Club funds are healthy, and a wreath will be bought for George’s funeral if that is allowed.

Next Meeting: Tuesday 1st August, 7pm in the Marina Bar as usual.