Guildford contingent show how to do it

SUPERB catches of flatties have been made by anglers fishing at the Banc de la Schole. Members of the Guildford Sea Angling Club enjoyed three days of successful fishing with Richard Seager on Out the Blue.

They landed a total of 27 turbot, one brill, two bass and three tope with no fewer than 15 of the flatties being caught on one day.

The tope's individual weights were estimated to be 25-0-0, 18-0-0 and 15-0-0, with all three being returned alive.

Michael Doody caught the heaviest turbot, his legered garfish strip being taken by a 16-15-12 specimen.

It has become the first visitor's entry to be made in the Fish of the Month competition, where it will be judged against the 27-7-0 Bailiwick boat record.

In addition, one member of the party boated a 28-0-0 blonde ray, but it could not be considered for a FOM entry for it was foul-hooked.

The visitors also tried other marks, which resulted in good catches of pollack.

Incredibly, the flattie catches got even better when Out the Blue took eight local anglers to the same mark, as they boated no fewer than 28 turbot up to 10-0-0 and one brill in a one-day session.

As from tomorrow, entries will be welcomed for the May Fish of the Month competition.

Prizes at stake are the Shakespeare Monthly Angling Award for the best overall fish, the Royal Fathomers AC Tankard for the top boat-caught fish and the J. Meerveld and Sons Tankard for the best shore-caught specimen.

There are also the two runner-up prizes of Bucktrout's Bass beers.

The best fish by a visitor will win the Mallard Tankard.

Anglers are reminded that the Phoenix Fish Bass competition is up and running, and is still waiting for its first entry of the year.

n*SUE LE CRAS has beaten all her male colleagues to win the Guernsey Shore Anglers Premier Pursuers championship title.

She was presented with her award at the club's annual dinner and presentation night held at the Wayside Cheer.

The club had a good year, for members weighed in 70 qualifying fish compared with 38 in the previous year.

A further indication of the club's success in their 2002/2003 season was the fact that six club records were broken.

The awards were presented to the winners by Pat Strachan.

n*FIVE grey mullet for a total weight of 17-8-0 gave Craig McGrath victory in the West Coast Sea Angling Club's nine-hour Guernsey roving shore match.

The event attracted 13 members but only six found fish.

The total catch consisted of 12 grey mullet, one ballan wrasse and one shore rockling.

Nine of the 14 fish caught fell to just two anglers.

McGrath's five mullet gave him the winning score of 170 points, his catch including the heaviest fish of the day, a 5-4-0 specimen.

Paul McLaren in second place had four mullet for 12-4-0 and 129 points, while Sam Robins achieved third place with a mullet and a ballan wrasse for 51fi points.

Anglers with just one fish were Geoff Le Page, a 3-13-0 mullet for 35/ points, Paul Carre, a 2-8-0 mullet for 30 and Andy Fallaize, a 0-10-0 shore rockling for 10fi.

The competition kitty was shared between Robins, who had the most species and McGrath, who had the heaviest bag.

As a result of the match Robins is in top position in the club's overall and Guernsey shore championships with 280fi points. McLaren is second with 214fl and McGrath third with 207.

The match result is a good indication of the current shore fishing potential. Mullet, if you can locate them, are providing some good sport, but bottom fishing seems almost a waste of effort.

n*THE Bailiwick Bass Club's Spring Cup has been won by Shane Branquet.

The weekend-long event attracted 18 members and they managed to find five bass over the qualifying weight.

Branquet's winning fish weighed 7-6-2 and he also found one of 4-0-0.

Other catches were a 5-12-4 fish by Paul Clark, 5-11-0 by Colin Patch and 4-9-2 by Mick Damarell.

n*SARK AC's inaugural competition was a disappointment. In spite of a membership of nearly 30, only six anglers turned out for the afternoon roving shore event.

Only four fish were brought to the scales. The winner was Eddie Giaba who had a 2-15-8 pollack for 14fl points, while Glyn Williams was second with a 2-14-0 pollack for 14fi.

Roseanne Guille grabbed third spot with a 1-14-0 ballan wrasse worth 9 fi and Kevin McMullen had a ballan wrasse of 1-10-4 for 8fi for fourth spot.