“Good things come to those who wait” is a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln who obviously wasn’t a cod angler. We have waiting since the end of November for a good forecast and actual good weather together which would allow us to run the SMAC Open Cod Competition and finally we did – on Sunday 1st February. The problem with waiting that long is that the few cod that were here are mostly heading off by now, so it takes a very good or very lucky angler to find one. That didn’t deter 22 anglers taking 14 boats out of Premier Southsea Marina on a damp and chilly Sunday to try and find one.
Being realistic, we don’t expect too many cod so whiting are an allowed substitute if there aren’t enough cod to fill the prize table. There aren’t too many whiting either these days so we may have to re-think this competition if the present trend continues. Anyway, as the day came to a close and the boats returned, we were pleased and not a little relieved to see both cod and whiting being weighed in, so at least it actually was a Cod Competition!
Here are the results. First prize went to Dan Lumsden of SMAC, with the only cod. The Ladies Bonus prize went to Kelly Drain for staying the pace. We had no Junior entries so that prize gets carried forward. The full results are as follows:
- Dan Lumsden – Cod 3lb 9oz
- Peter Churchill – Whiting 0.60lb
- Steve Andrews – Whiting 0.46lb
- Dave Newnham – Whiting 0.42lb
- Richard Pack – Whiting 0.40lb
- Steve Tambling – Whiting 0.36lb
- Jim Atkins – Whiting 0.30lb
Ladies Bonus: Kelly Drain
We would like to once again thank our regular prize sponsors for this and other competitions: Premiers Marinas; Baits R Us; Steve Kelly; British Big Game Fishing; Newnham Builders; Prestige Builders; Portsmouth Distillery; SMDAC; Marina Bar; Cosham Angling and Fishon Bait & Tackle.