Four juniors fished the third leg of the Junior Summer league at Llandudno Pier. Many thanks to Ray and Sarah, who provided excellent prizes again, and reserved an area of the pier so the kids had somewhere to fish. That was brilliant, thank you very much to you and your staff.
The landing stage was heaving on arrival, but the 3 juniors and their accompanying adults, took up most of the cordoned off area.
The adults did not fish, but were there to assist the juniors in any way possible.
The match started at 12-00 and the kids were into the fish straight away.
Sara was first to catch, with a small but perfectly formed Pouting.
We fish measure and release in these matches, i made the decision at the start of the league, that all fish count, apart from Mackeral. This meant the adults were in for a busy day, unhooking, measuring and returning fish, as well as baiting up for those who didnt want to, and sorting out tangles and snags.
Tom was next up with a double header, but the Corkwing fell of as the rig came out of the water, and the Poor Cod fell off after banging on the railings. Not to be deterred, he promptly went and caught another double header on the next cast, and managed to get these to the measure.
All 3 were well into the fish by now, Elliot with a Pouting
We were joined a little late by a new member, who Ray had told about the match, and he tackled up as his mum filled in his membership form. Welcome Evan, nice to have you with us.
It didnt take long for him to catch his first fish, a Corkwing, soon followed by a bonus Pollack.
It was non stop action now, with the fish coming thick and fast.
I was really pleased as the kids had all blanked in the last match at Deganwy, and i had promised them they would catch fish on the pier. Everyone carried on steadily catching small Pouting, Poor Cod and Corkwings, with a few Pollack each for Evan and Sara. They were even catching on the Gulp artificial bait, that Ray had given us to try, and i have to admit that it was this that accounted for most of the Pollack.
Elliot had a Tompot, to add to the species tally, but as the tide flow increased in strength, the fishing quietened off a bit and people started losing tackle. I had been given a bucket of leads for the kids to use, and even though all were using them, i still had to carry most of them all the way back up the hill to the car!
There was a bit of a commotion as one of the people fishing off the front, tried to handline a decent Smoothie up, only to see it fall off as it reached the railings, gutted, then someone else got a Seagull tangled in their line, but it was promptly released unharmed, to a round of applause from the spectators on the top level.
Finally, three o clock arrived, with Elliot and Sara, having caught steadily throughout. Tom had started well, but had to move as he was losing rigs in the last hour, and Evan had missed most of the first hour but caught up well with the help of a couple of Pollack.
A quick stop at the shop on the way back to the cars to once again convey our thanks, and then it was time to total up the fish cards and give out the prizes.
The match winner was Elliot Roberts with 10 Pouting, 5 Poor Cod, 4 Corkwings and a Tompot for a total length of 268cms. He won a rod and reel kindly donated by Victoria Pier angling, cheers Ray.
Second was Sara Ellis, with 10 Pouting, 3 Pollack, 2 Corkwings and a Poor Cod for 234cms. She won a rig wallet, and some terminal tackle. Tom Jones was third with 6 Pouting, 5 Corkwings and 3 Poor Cod, for 182cms, earning him a bits box and some rig making equipment, and Evan Adams was fourth with 4 Pouting, 2 Pollack, 2 Poor Cod and a Corkwing for 143cms. He also recieved some terminal tackle.
In total, the 4 kids measured 59 fish, and dropped some more off on the way up, in three hours.
The only other fish we saw all the time we were there were a couple of Dogs, a small Pollack and the Smoothie.
Some more photos from the day.
A nicely coloured male Corkwing for Tom.
One of Toms double headers.
A Pollack for Sara, and one of the many Starfish caught during the day.
Elliot refused to hold his Corkwing, because theyve got spines. You wouldnt think hes a rugby player would you?
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