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Category: SMAC (Page 3 of 7)

SMAC Meeting May 2023

Lots to tell you about this time so grab a drink and settle in for a read. Our May meeting was held a week later than usual on the 10th May to accommodate the Bank Holidays. We had a good turnout as usual in the Marina Bar.

First up was the Competition Standings, which if I had recorded properly I would have reproduced them here. What I can remember is that Steve Tambling is on there as the Best Placed SMAC Member on the recent Open Bream Competition.

Next was the regular Fish Of The Month vote. Members were reminded that fish don’t swim onto the entry book by themselves. Qualifying fish have to be written in the book in the Marina Office, even if they have been weighed and recorded in a SMAC competition. Once that was out of the way we voted Mark Banks the winner for a bream of 3lb 13oz. If Mark had timed that better he would have won the SMAC Open Bream Competition last Sunday, but that’s fishing. We had a little chat about how well that event went, you can read about it here.

Our next event will be the annual SMAC BBQ on Saturday 3rd June. We will provide free food for members and partners, just bring your own drinks. It will be held in the Marina BBQ area which is located on top of the toilet and laundry block. It isn’t nearly as bad as that sounds. The event starts at 2pm, with a raffle at 4pm. Food will be served when the cook decides it’s safe to eat, and the event ends when we have had enough. This is always a fun occasion so do come along. We’ll confirm during the week before just in case the weather forecast is terrible although unlike fishing competitions, wind doesn’t matter.

Save the date for the annual Open Species Competition, which will be held on Sunday 13th August. It will be fished from 8am to 4pm; last weigh-in 5pm and prize-giving in the Marina Bar at 6pm. The format will be the same as in previous years: photograph the fish and the entry card showing all distinguishing features before returning the fish to the sea. The photographs will be needed to verify the species claims for the winners.

We will have a group night fishing trip for stingray and sole some time in the summer, so watch out for details. We’ll anchor or moor up in shallow water targeting stingray in the evening and sole at night. This will be a great opportunity for those of us (myself included) who feel a lot more confident fishing at night when you know there are other boats close by.

We also have plans for a weekend trip to Brighton Marina which is being organised by Dave Newnham and John Evans. The plan is to fish on the way to Brighton, overnight at Premier Brighton Marina either on board or in a hotel, have a slap-up meal and a few beers in the evening then on the Sunday, fish on the way back to Southsea. Dates will be dependent on numbers interested and berth availability in Brighton Marina so please contact Dave if you want to be included.

We will be ordering a batch of SMAC Anniversary T-Shirts soon, when prices are confirmed. I’ll circulate order details as soon as they are known. We expect the first batch order to be cheaper than ordering later individually, so grab the opportunity when it comes. Standard SMAC logo polo shirts and hoodies can still be ordered online from the Club Shop.

That’s it for now. Next meeting will be Tuesday 6th June at 7pm in the Marina Bar.

Neville Merritt

SMAC 2023 Annual Bream Competition Results

We set the date of 7th May for our 2023 Annual Bream Open Competition long before His Majesty decided on the same weekend for his Coronation, but no matter – it added to the festival atmosphere! This has become a hugely popular event and all those planning to compete had been anxiously watching the weather forecast all week. As it turned out it was the best day of the weekend and despite the early fog, 77 competitors in 33 boats set off to look for that big, prize-winning bream.

Although there are plenty of good bream marks in the Eastern Solent Approaches, for some reason the larger fish seem to prefer areas to the east of Selsey or West of the Solent so it was a gamble. Take a run through the fog to find a big one, or stay local with more fishing time and chance a big bream among the shoals of smaller fish?

Most competitors were having a quiet time in the early part of the day but as the sun broke through, spirits rose and bigger bream started coming to the baits. By the end of the day we had plenty of fish to weigh in and the placings were decided by the smallest of margins.

By 7pm the results had been decided. Most competitors had settled themselves outside in the glorious evening sunshine with a drink from the Marina Bar, so we decided to hold the presentation ceremony right there (with apologies to the few berth holders that found themselves in the crowd!)

First and second place prizes were a cash percentage of the entry fees, and other prizes to make up 18 places plus bonus prizes for top Junior and top Lady were donated by local businesses. We are very grateful to Sea Angling Classic and Lowrance; Andy’s Baits; Cosham Angling; Marina Bar; Normark UK; Victory Gas & Heating; Premier Marinas; Fish-On Tackle; British Big Game Charters; Prestige Builders; SMDAC; Newnham Builders; Brian van Daal; Sportsman’s Knight and Anglers Edge.

And now for the results. Prizes were presented by last year’s winner Jim Atkins:

First Place and overall Winner was Roger Cummings with a fish of 3.3lbs who wins 60% of the prize pool plus an entry to SAC.

Ladies winner was Eleanor Atkins with a bream of 2.06lb

Junior winner was Ronnie Roberts with a bream of 0.9lb

The prize table was allocated as follows:

2nd place Dave Belcher 3.18lb

3rd place Steve Tambling 3.08lb (and best-placed SMAC member cup)

4th place Tim Ward 2.86lb

5th place Dan Lumsden 2.82lb

6th place Bill Arnold 2.8lb

7th place Mark Jackson 2.74lb

8th place tie Kev Johnson and Mark Banks 2.70lb

10th place Mark Argyle 2.6lb

11th place tie Tony Allen and Dick Prosser 2.56lb

13th place Wayne Comben 2.52lb

14th place Dick Stubbs 2.42lb

15th place Mark Oldfield 2.4lb

16th place Dan Shippen 2.34lb

17th place Dave Newnham 2.32lb

18th place Jim Atkins 2.28lb

We would like to thank Steve Kelly for his monumental efforts in organising our club events; our many behind-the-scenes helpers; the Premier Marina staff who helped with the boats and all the competitors for helping to make this another successful and very enjoyable event.

Until the next one – tight lines!

Neville Merritt

 

SMAC Open Bream Competition 2023

The annual SMAC Open Bream Competition will be held at Southsea Marina on Sunday 7th May 2023.

Entry £10 per angler. Sign in at the marina office, or pay online (booking fee applies)  before 8am on the day of the competition.

Fishing from 8am to 6pm.

Last weigh-in at the Marina by 6:30pm.

Presentations in the Marina Bar from 7pm.

Prizes awarded for the single heaviest bream caught.

First prize: Cash of 60% of entry pool plus entry to the Sea Angling Classic (worth £250)

Second Prize: Cash of 30% of entry pool

Plus many runner-up prizes. Bonus prizes for best placed Lady and best placed Junior (under 16 years old)

Rules:

Maximum two rods per angler.

Maximum three hooks in total.

Fish must be weighed at the SMAC scales at Southsea Marina.

Only bream larger than the MLS of 23cm may be entered.

SMAC Meeting April 2023

My thanks to Steve Andrews for the notes to this meeting as I’m currently on the other side of the globe.
We had a great turnout for the regular monthly meeting (future meetings 7pm on the first Tuesday of every month in the Marina Bar) with 22 members present. It’s a great opportunity to catch up on fishing news, chat with mates and meet new anglers. All members welcome of course!

Fish Of The Month was awarded to Darren Price for a Pollack of 15lb 14oz which deserved the prize, even if it was the only fish entered.

The next event will be the Bream Open Competition on 7th May. Fishing 8am to 6pm, last weigh-in 6.30pm and presentation of prizes in the Marina Bar at 7pm. You can sign in at the Marina office in person on the day, or online which has a small booking fee.

Our annual SMAC BBQ has been pencilled in for Saturday 3rd June so save the date! Partners and families welcome, free food and bring your own drink.

At the next meeting in May we will be discussing a proposal for a club outing. This could be an overnighter fishing for sole, or maybe a weekender to Brighton. Other ideas welcome!

NOTE DATE CHANGE FOR MAY MEETING: The next meeting will be at 7pm on Wednesday 10th May in the Marina Bar.

SMAC Meeting March 2023

This being the first meeting of the new 2023 season and only three days after our Presentation Night, it was a nice surprise to see so many members attending. We were also able to welcome new member Keith Dundee who is moving to Southsea Marina with Team Anstey in preparation for the Sea Angling Classic competition in June.

Fish Of The Month was a tough one. Out of the two fish entered, would it be a pollock caught by Mark Banks or a pollack caught by Mark Banks? Rules being rules, we decided by a vote of hands to award the FOTM prize to Mark Banks for a fine specimen pollack of 15lb 5oz. This also puts Mark in first place for the Pollack Cup, Specimen Cup and club points. When the rest of the club actually starts fishing in earnest that may change of course.

We agreed to renew our membership of the Angling Trust as this gives us the specimen certificates and also insurance cover for events. Club funds are in a healthy position so far following the superb fundraising by Bill Arnold and Eleanor Atkins at the Presentation Night which brought in £910. A typical years’ expenses will be around £1,500. Currently we have 53 members confirmed for 2023 and 14+ likely to re-join. With some successful open competitions and another raffle or two we will be in good shape financially.

Our next Open Competition will be the Bream Open on 7th May. Ross Honey and Lowrance will donate an entry ticket for the Sea Angling Classic worth £250 to the competition winner, in addition to the cash prize.

We have a special 10-year anniversary logo picture above, which we can have printed on tee shirts. Unlike our hoodies and polo shirts which are embroidered to order, tee shirts have to be ordered in bulk. To give us an idea of likely interest and shirt sizes required, please could members fill in this mini questionnaire? SMAC T-Shirt Survey

Next meeting will be 4th April in the Marina Bar at 6:30pm unless otherwise advised.

SMAC Annual Presentation Night 2023

Our annual Awards Night celebrates the achievements of our prize-winners, and is also our most popular social gathering where we include SMDAC, members, partners and families. This year was no exception and by the start time of 7:30 it was standing room only so raiding parties had to be despatched to the front bar to secure more seating.

Steve Kelly, our amazing and dedicated Chairman not only organised venue, food, free drink, raffle prizes, trophy engraving and a microphone, he also expertly hosted a very enjoyable evening. Steve had invited local (well, the marina anyway) celebrity Rupert Bremer who, never knowingly under-dressed, was resplendent in a stunning fish-themed ensemble in honour of the occasion.

Steve opened the ceremony by reminding us that 2023 is our 10-year anniversary! How time passes. Like the tide, membership ebbs and flows as people join or leave the marina but there are some rocks that remain steadfast – if that’s not getting too poetic. We are all massively grateful to Steve and other long-serving committee members and helpers who make our club so successful, and a great community to be a part of. Bill Arnold, king of the raffle sales (Treasurer); Steve Andrews (Social Secretary) and Tim Andrews (Commodore) have all supported the club for many years and of course, we are also very grateful for the patronage of Premier themselves.

The full prize lists and photographs are below but there are some that are worthy of a special mention. The annual club Species Hunt was highly competitive and hard fought to the last day. Peter Churchill not only won the cup, he won the SMAC one-day Species Competition proving that it isn’t just luck. He knows where to find them.

Jim Atkins deserves a special mention for the most awards won for a single fish, although to be fair it was a very impressive bream weighing 4lb 7oz. This fish won the Bream Cup, Open Bream Competition, Best Specimen; Best Placed Bream Cup Member and of course an Angling Trust species medallion.

Tim Andrews won the Mandela Cup which is a one-day competition for the largest cod, and if no cod are caught, the largest whiting. No cod were caught and most competitors assumed that the prize would be won by a whiting at least north of a pound and a half so threw back anything smaller. Tim deserves the prize for his highly developed sense of optimism, weighing in a whiting of only 12oz. This fish almost certainly wasn’t the largest caught, but it was the largest that reached the weigh-in which is the bit that counts.

Finally, Dave Newnham proved that you can win a cup without winning a cup. Our Club Champion Cup is awarded to the member who wins the most points across the other competitions, and Dave accumulated enough second place points to become Club Champion overall. Congratulations Dave.

After a hearty buffet, we then moved on to the raffle. With Bill Arnold providing the force and Eleanor Atkins providing the glamour, this sales team netted over £900 for the club funds. There was a great array of prizes carefully curated by Steve but without the generosity of members both present and through on-line pledges we wouldn’t have raised so much. We are very grateful for all the support. Club membership is only a nominal £20 so these fund-raising activities are essential to help us pay for our competitions and social events.

The 2022 Season is over. The counters are reset. Now there is all to play for in the 2023 season. Species tallies are already coming in so it looks like another fun year ahead. Good luck everyone!

Neville Merritt

SMDAC Results:

  • Largest Fish From Lakes Cup: John Wearn
  • Pier and Beach Cup: Chris Satow
  • Mixed Lakes Cup: Frank Chatfield
  • Best Cod Caught From Lady Elsa: Frank Chatfield (Whiting 1lb 11oz)
  • Best Specimen Caught From Lady Elsa: Chris Satow (Undulate Ray 16lb)
  • Specaies Hunt On Lady Elsa: Frank Chatfield (12 species)
  • Combination Cup: Frank Chatfield
  • Champions Runner-Up Cup: Chris Satow
  • Champions Cup SMDAC: Frank Chatfield

SMAC Results:

SMAC AGM February 2023

Our Annual General Meeting was very well attended, probably more due to everyone being starved of fishing conversations than actually wanting to debate rule changes! This meeting is sandwiched between the end of one season and the start of another, so we marked the occasion by reminding ourselves who won what in 2022 (competition list below). We’ll make a bigger thing of this at Presentation Night on 4th March. We will be borrowing the ECA disco equipment so if anyone has a suitable music playlist please let Steve know. We’ll make a donation to RNLI/GAFIRS in appreciation.

Still in 2022 Season – Peter Churchill picked up his prize for 19th place in the Open Cod Competition. He was extremely pleased with his mackerel feathers, which was nice.  We also voted on Fish Of The Month for January, which was won by Neil Glazier for a very decent undulate ray of 17lb. SMAC sent 20 Specimen Forms to the Angling Trust in 2022 which shows some of us can catch some decent fish. That sounded like it included me, but it didn’t.

The Species Hunt competition was fiercely fought to the end and is probably our most popular competition. It certainly gets a lot of airtime on the WhatsApp Group. Only days into February, the 2023 hunt is already under way!

Subs are now due for 2023 – please can all members pay their £20 to Steve Kelly. This must be done before any catches are recorded, and definitely before you get a free drink at Awards Night. With renewals we are expecting 68 members and 39 boats which puts the club funds in a very healthy position to pay for our annual events, prizes and competitions.

We then moved on to the AGM agenda. First up was to vote in a new Committee. If anyone was hoping for some drama here they were disappointed because we all voted the same committee back in again. A warning to others, once in there is no escape.

  • Chairman – Steve Kelly
  • Deputy Chairman, Competition Assistant, Writer of Things and BBQ Cook – Neville Merritt
  • Commodore – Tim Andrews
  • Treasurer – Bill Arnold
  • Social Secretary – Steve Andrews

There was a minor rule change voted in – all competition entries (species hunt, catch and release, species cups etc) have to be claimed and recorded within 48 hours of capture. We also have a new competition and prize. Thanks to a cup donated by Dave Newnham, we now have a Brill and Turbot Competition. Following a vote, the rules were agreed that qualifying fish for this annual cup must be a minimum of 2lb for a brill and 3lb for a turbot, and weighed on the club scales. The cup is awarded for the best specimen of either species.

The meeting closed with Any Other Business. John Evans reminded us of the sad news that a local angler was drowned this week off White Cliff Bay. Lifejackets save lives, and now is a good time to do annual checks (see here for a how-to). Bill Arnold also reminded us we were planning to invite the RNLI in for a safety talk at one of our monthly meetings, so that needs to be organised.

The next event is Presentation Night on Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar, from 7:30pm. A free drink for members, snacks and a raffle – partners and families welcome. We will be awarding the cups and prizes listed below. The next regular monthly meeting will be on Tuesday 7th March at 6:30pm and we’ll decide at that meeting whether to swich to our summer meeting times in future.

 

Neville Merritt
February 2023

SMAC 2022 Season Winners

31st January came to a close and the SMAC winners for the 2022 Season can be announced! No last-minute changes so the positions over the weekend remain in place. Club champion is Dave Newnham, and well-deserved too. It also shows that points mean prizes, because the  competition he won outright was the Pairs Cup with Clive Newnham, but he came second in enough other competitions to secure the Club Champion place.

The other hotly-contested competition worthy of special celebration was the Species Hunt Cup, won by Peter Churchill with an amazing 45 species. He was chased all the way to the finish line by Dan Lumsden but don’t feel too sorry for Dan, he won the Cod Pool and Cod Cup!

Congratulations to all the winners and all the placings. We have many highly skilled anglers in the club and no top spot is safe for long, which makes it all the more interesting and fun. The full results are listed below. The Awards Night for presentation of these prizes will be Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar.

Well done all!

 

SMAC Mandela Cup January 2023

The last one-day competition of the 2022/3 season, the Mandela Cup was finally fished on Saturday 28th January. We usually try and fish this Club competition during the Christmas break but, perhaps predictably, the weather wasn’t cooperating. However, Saturday was a huge improvement with almost no wind initially and calm, clear conditions. A northerly wind kept it chilly but it is January after all.

The Mandela Cup is a simple, winner-takes-all competition for the largest single cod, and if no cod, the largest whiting. There were 16 entries fishing from 7 boats, giving a prize pool of £40. Usually at this time of year we would expect the last run of sizeable whiting before the much smaller fish stay around to raid our baits. However, this was not to be. Despite the rod tips nodding to conger, dogfish, small whiting and even plaice, the large whiting were scarce and the cod scarcer still. Most anglers assumed other boats were landing larger whiting and small whiting were being thrown back. In the end, the largest whiting actually weighed in was 12oz making Tim Andrews the Mandela Cup Winner.

Although winning is one thing, the social aspect of our club competitions is another. Helped by an early finish time for this competition there was plenty of time for celebration and reflection in the Marina Bar afterwards. Our thanks to all competitors who took part, Michelle Plomer for handing out the cup at the prize ceremony and Steve Kelly for his immaculate organisational skills, as usual.

Until next season!

Next SMAC Event is the AGM on Tuesday 7th February at 6.30pm in the Marina Bar.

SMAC January 2023 Meeting and Curry Night

This was meant to be a quick meeting in the Marina Bar followed by a curry upstairs in the Bombay Brasserie, but unfortunately due to the unpleasant weather causing accidents and traffic jams we delayed the start to give those travelling towards us a bit more time.

First up was a review of the current competition and points standings. We only have until the end of January to put more scores on the board, so we need a few more fishable days in January please! The current positions are on the sheet at the bottom of this report.

The next regular item on the agenda was Fish Of The Month. We actually had several cod to choose from and an impressive pollack, but as cod are such rare catches these days the best cod won. It weighed 13lb 10oz and was caught by Dan Lumsden.

We all agreed that the Open Cod Competition had been a great success, and the option to allow online payments for entry fees will be continued for future Open competitions to encourage participation (and a bigger prize pool!) from further afield.

Promotion for our next Open Competition, the annual Boat Bream Competition on Sunday 7th May will be starting soon, so save the date! There were some really good fish caught in 2022 so hopefully we’ll see a good turnout for the 2023 event.

Some more dates for the diaries: the Mandela Cup will be fished either on 28th or 29th January, and in the sea, harbour, marina or bar depending on the severity of the weather. It has to be done, the SMAC season ends 31st January!

The annual Awards Night will be held on Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar. There will be drinks (a free one for each member), snacks, music and prizes so all members are invited, and families too. We will all be on our best behaviour so we don’t embarrass anyone in front of their partners. We save that for the WhatsApp Group.

Our next monthly meeting will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 7th February where we decide on the committee members, rule changes and any other business of global significance for the 2023 season. It will be held at 6:30pm in the Marina Bar so please come along because your vote is important. SMAC is an amazing community and it will always be as long as it is run by us all, for us all. Some of us have more time to devote to club activities than others but don’t worry about that, every member counts.

Finally, we retired upstairs to enjoy a curry, a drink and some great banter. It was a pleasure to include the stalwarts from SMDAC too! I’d also like to thank Luke Scott for his extraordinary generosity, it was much appreciated by all.

Neville Merritt

 

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