3rd May

All England Squid Open - Take 1........

Matt and Starfish - First creature caught

Well this was an interesting day. Having already postpned the 2nd All England Squid Open once, we were quite determined to push ahead and make it happen it the conditions were at all fishable. Walking out on the West arm at 07:00 it was immediately apparent that there would be no squid caught there, as a thick line of silt and may weed sediment hung along it, up to aboput casting distance, where tantalisingly clearer water lurked. Walking the East arm, it was apparent that there was a few feet of visibility. We decided to push on, and fish the end of the East arm.

My PB Smelt. Silver clouds etc.......

The fishing was, as really expected, kind of hard. The best squidding conditions are crystal clear waters, and we had about three feet of visibility. I almost messed up when I finally saw my float bury, but managed to tighten up quickly enough to hook the culprit responsible. Unfortunately, not the cephalod we were fishing for but a big sand smelt, my first of the year and probably the biggest one I have caught!

Matt with the only Cephalod caught, a stunning Cuttle Fish

ALl of the Cephalod action came within five minutes. First Vic Fisher missed a take, again as hours of no action had lulled him into slow reactions. Then exactly the same thing happened to me, as I was messing about with a livebait rig for the Smelt. Then a shout came up from Matt. He was attached to something big with tentacles. I rushed over with the drop net, and netted a fine Cuttle Fish. Competition on!!

Matt's Cuttlefish with the TRONIX jig it fell for

This put a new spring in our step, although a few of the chaps did leave at this point. I think the cold wind and not too much sunshine had made things ubearable, as they were dressed for a summers day. I would say to anyone visiting the marina at this time of year "It gets very cold down there!!" I ended up walking back to my car for my Fladden Jacket, as I had also under-estimated how chilly it would become.

Vic with Masked Spider Crab

Conditions continued improving. THe cuttle had been caught at the bottom of the tide, and with the flood the wind finally pushed around to the NW, and life became good again. Out of the wind it felt a lot warmer, and as a bonus, the seas began clearing. But no more Cephalods were to be caught. Vic did manage a crustecean in the form of the Masked Spider Crab pictured above, but at the alloted finishing time, 1500, just the cuttle had been caught.

M.D. of TRONIX UK LTD presents Matt with the prizes

We headed back to the "Tackle Box" to do the prizes. But this result left us with an unforseen situation. George had got made up four stunning glass trophies. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and biggest. With just one creature landed, Matt was perfectly entitled to take the 1st and biggest trophies. However, in the interests of seeing the squid competition with even some squid caught in it, he very generously agreed to not take the trophies, but to see the squid competition run again. He did recieve the prizes though, a tackle hamper from TRONIX and a Mitchell fixed spool very generously donated by "The Tackle Box", and he was over the moon to have caught the cuttle fish, as it was his first one, and he was very keen to get back to Oxfordshire to devour the wee beasty! I would like to say a huge thankyou to Matt for this act of generosity. Hopefully, it will mean that the re-scheduled Squid competition (Sat 16th May - Meeting 13:00 at the "Tackle Box") will get to run in crystal clear seas and not be a damp squib!!

Well done to all that attended. The offer of a refund of the £5 to the RNLI was made to the guys still fishing at the end, but they very generously refused, so that money will get passed on as soon as we have contacted those that left early to see what they want to do with their entrance fees. It was very tough, and to be honest, very boring, up until Matt had his cuttle. But thats fishing. As I walked off the arm, I noticed that inshore had become very clear indeed, perfect for squidding. I thnk we missed the optimum conditions by about one tide, and I would expect to hear of quite a few squid coming off today (Monday). Typical!!