Something going on right round the coast through the last week, mackerel on the shingle, some nice soles below Lowestoft, and bass, eels and flatfish around the area and the rivers. Holt SAC fished the river at Bollard Quay in Yarmouth, England youth star Henry Randell leading the way with 4lb 6oz, Paul Tovell was second with 2lb 13oz with Keith Morley third with 1lb 15oz, the club are back on the river at Lynn this weekend for round three of the west Norfolk challenge, promises to be another eel and flattie fest.
The look ahead has a change in the weather with temperatures set to ease back and even some more sustained rain into August, light south and west winds should hopefully hold the sole and mackerel for a few more tides.
EDP report 23/07/14
As predicted Holt SAC found the going tougher this week. After the good weights from the river last week, this match at Salthouse was a totally different kettle of fish. Top spot on the day was Ivan Allison with 2lb 3oz of flat ties, John Neave was second with 1lb 3oz and Pete Morse third with 15oz, all fish caught were flatfish.
There has been some variety on the eastern beaches, mixed bags of small fish, including a few nice soles, were reported from several beaches between Sheringham and Yarmouth. A few Smoothound pups showed around Yarmouth and in Pakefield bay, though bass and soles are the main targets from Lowestoft down now. There have been some nice soles showing at the usual marks around, Dunwich, Thorpeness, Southwold etc and a calm spell with a coloured sea should see more in catches, if we lose the north and east from the wind I think it could be quite good in the week ahead.
EDP report 16/07/14
Some crazy weather over the last week really mixed things up on the regions beaches. I saw seas that looked like they should be in October rather than mid summer, and them flatten off again within the week. The bass responded in the surf with some nice fish to 5lb recorded from Cley down to Cart Gap. The river at Yarmouth fished well too, Holt SAC fished on the bend at Gorleston, Alan Doy took top spot with an ounce shy of 5lb, Paul Tovell a pound further back in second with Keith Morley in third with 3lb 6oz. It was good to see a dozen or so codling caught in the match, some of which were sizeable, the club are on the shingle at Salthouse on Sunday, they won't be expecting any there I don't think. Some nice soles and some hound pups showed below Lowestoft, I think there should be better conditions for the sole this week. The weather is warming through the week, and despite the tides falling I think there will be more soles and maybe even a return of some better hounds in the settled conditions.
EDP report 09/07/14
An upturn this week, the settled weather brought some hounds back within casting range and some nice fish were caught, while its flat they could show up pretty much anywhere, best bets would be any of the east Norfolk beaches from Cromer down to Yarmouth. The match anglers have returned to the rivers to find some consistent fishing. Norfolk Angling Club hosted the Sutton Bridge Open over last weekend, points for fish over both days with daily winners and an overall winner with the highest points tally over the two days. Day one saw Andy Dawkins slaughter the field with an impressive 13lb 11oz, Simon Drayton was second with 9lb 6oz and Dene Conway third with 8lb 6oz. The weights were not so big on day two, Drayton and Dawkins reversing the result from the day before with 9lb 13oz and 8lb 10oz respectively, Simon “Stelios” Roberts in third with 8lb 5oz. The second day framers completing he results from overall with Andy Dawkins on 1071, Simon on 923 and Stelios with 689. A cracking match fiercely contested. Holt SAC fished the second round of the West Norfolk challenge at Kings Lynn, Richard Burt topped the field by half an ounce from Tony Thomas in second with 6lb 15oz. Pete Loke ran in third with 6lb 2oz, the rivers and estuaries fishing well for flats and eels.
There have been a occasional hounds below Yarmouth too but not the reports of sole that I’d expected. The conditions look good at the time of writing, but the forecast looks to pick up northerly midweek though those winds hopefully won’t put the sole off, they are forecast to be light by the weekend, with any luck we could see sole below Yarmouth and bass above it, we live in hope!
EDP report 02/07/14
They’ve definitely had the better of the sport in the south of the region this week, whether this has had anything to do with the breezy north wind we’ve had above Yarmouth I don’t know, but the better fish seem to be Yarmouth and southwards. Some hounds are still showing at the usual spots with fish to around 6 or 7lb. There have been bass and a few soles at Southwold, and the usual mixed bags from off the island. More Suffolk rays in the last week, my old mate Paul Turrell having three in a tidy session, the biggest over 7lb, great to see a few off the open beaches. Holt Sac had a couple of decent matches, the first at Breydon for round 4 of their Evening league. Tony Thomas took top spot with 2lb 13oz, Richard Ellis was second with 2lb 11oz and Jeff Stannard third with 2lb 5oz, all eels. They then went up the coast and fished Bacton last Sunday, finding some flounders, dabs, and school bass, even a couple of soles, this time Mike Watts pushed Tony into second with an impressive 6lb 9oz, 2lb ahead of Mr Thomas with Richard Ellis a spot behind Tony again with 4lb 3oz.
I’m a week behind with Norfolk AC results as they fish their matches on deadline day, last week’s match was a struggle. The club fished Bacton again with Steve Smith needing only 1lb 5oz to win it. Simon bone was second with 1lb 4oz and Shane Brown third with 13 oz, I’m sure it’ll be better this weeks as they look to have caught the sea right and fining down. Neap tides running into the weekend and a warming weather front on the back of south-westerly winds should give the right conditions for the hounds again, maybe even a return of the mackerel. The wash beaches will be worth a chuck though I should think most of the action will be Suffolk way with sole and rays on the agenda.