Our second Open Bass Competition was held as planned on 18th July, an achievement in itself following a week of blustery winds. As it turned out, it wasn’t as calm as the forecast (so what’s new) but the sun shone and we were fishing so life was good. 34 anglers registered from 15 boats which assembled at the Roway marker for a shotgun start (horn actually) at 7:30am. The target was bass, optional catch and release so the criteria was length rather than weight. Bigger bass are more consistently caught on offshore marks so the boats were quickly away, heading for the horizon.
It was a tough day because the bass were not particularly cooperative, and the un-forecast southerly breeze created a lot more movement than some stomachs were happy with. Nevertheless, the competitors were undaunted and fished to the end, determined to give a big bass every chance to have a moment of fame.
At 6pm, all the claims were registered and we assembled outside the Marina Bar in the sunshine for the prizes. Rapala have been very generous sponsors of this event so we invited Mark Wright, their representative, to hand out the prizes. Here is the full list of results, including length and sponsors:
- Dan Lumsden, 76cm wins £408 cash (60% of entry pool)
- David Miller, 73cm wins £204 cash (30% of entry pool)
- Kev Johnson, 72cm wins a Lift & Scrub voucher donated by Premier Marinas
- Sam Cofie, 71cm wins a rod donated by Rapala
- Mark Wright, 70cm wins a rod donated by Rapala
- Ju-Jun Bertumen, 60cm wins a rod donated by Cosham Angling
- Dave Newnham, 59.5cm wins a £100 voucher from Baits’R’Us
- Clive Newnham, 59.1cm, wins a landing net donated by Decathlon
- Richard Pack, 59cm, wins a Tour Voucher from Portsmouth Distillery
- Steve Tambling, 58cm wins a Meal Voucher from the Marina Bar
- Neil Glazier, 55cm, wins a gift voucher from Fish-On Tackle
If you are wondering why Pete Churchill is receiving a prize in the photo gallery below, it’s because Mark won the same prize he donated, so he very generously gave it to his skipper for the day – Pete!
We always offer Junior and Ladies bonus prizes but this time, no Juniors entered and the two Lady competitors were not successful in tempting a bass.
A final bonus prize was a raffle of a £100 fuel voucher donated by Newnham Builders drawn by boat name and only given out if the skipper or crew were present. This was won by your Chairman Neville Merritt, who swears that he only put one ticket with his boat name in the bag.
As usual, huge thanks to all the above sponsors, all the organisers, Premier for their extra help on the day and all the competitors who supported the event. It was a great day and we look forward to seeing you all again at our next competition!
