We had a strong cold breeze, the Marina Bar kitchen was closed and so was the chippy but that did not deter 11 loyal members from attending our monthly meeting. Steve Kelly probably spent most of his night shift sorting out our competition standings now there are five categories each with five places. Thank you Steve! These are listed below. Mark Banks is currently leading the Club Champion points but there are a lot of ways in which that can change!

Next up was the Fish Of The Month competition. This was a stark contrast to the months where no fish were logged, because we had 23 entries (6 from the Bream Competition) of which 5 were specimens. However, there were two monsters among those: a John Dory of 7lb 7oz (247.9%) for Mark Banks and a Gilthead Bream of 5lb exactly (250%) for Andy Bird. As per Club Rules, we had to vote on the Best Fish which was extremely difficult because they were both exceptional. However the members voted for the largest specimen, Andy Bird’s Gilthead Bream so it was fair play whichever way you looked at it.

Eleanor presented the Treasurer’s Report which involved very little cash movement but the significant news for the club is that we are proceeding to open a bank account with Nat West. This will make subscription and competition entry fees for members much easier. We will stick with Eventbrite for visiting competitors who will also pay the transaction fees.

The SMAC Annual BBQ will be on Saturday 27th June with free food (bring your own drink) and an excellent cash raffle. It will be held in the Southsea BBQ area above the utilities block at the West end of the marina.

The Bass Competition will be held on 18th or 19th July, weather dependent. We have sponsorship agreed with Rapala, and others are under discussion.

There will be a SMDAC/SMAC Pier Competition in the summer, date to be confirmed by SMDAC.

A night sole trip is proposed, probably to coincide with the Cowes fireworks on Friday 7th August. This will be confirmed nearer the date.

In Any Other Business, Pete Churchill requested that entries into the Catch Register in the Marina Office to be made in pounds and ounces to avoid confusion with pounds decimal! Thank you.

Next meeting will be on Tuesday 7th July, 7pm in the Marina Bar.