As I arrived in Withernsea on the Saturday the forecasters had been spot on and conditions looked perfect for the crowd of juniors assembled for the draw in the Northfield Country Club. The atmosphere was a magic mix of excitement, anticipation and friendly rivalry with lots of tactical discussions and banter between both the junior competitors and their supporters. The draw was made and the room emptied rapidly as everyone set off for their peg with the start time of 11am rapidly approaching.
This was the second year I’ve attended the Junior Open event on behalf of Daiwa and I have to say how impressed I am with the effort, concentration and skill levels of the juniors taking part. I spent my day wandering up and down the beach taking pictures and watching the match unfold.
All the predictions were for lots of whiting, a reasonable number of flatties, and maybe, just maybe, the odd cod but by the end of the first hour it was obvious the fish had not been shown the script as bites were very hard to come by. That didn’t seem to put anyone off and gradually the fishing improved with a mix of whiting and small flatties being recorded. As a spectator, in many ways, this made the match much more exciting and you could sense the growing tension amongst the competitors. As I walked the match stretch of beach I was regularly being asked who was catching, what they’d had and who I thought was in the lead. This might have been the junior event but it was being taken very seriously!
By 3pm it was the end of the match and once again the Northfield Club filled as everyone waited for the results, which were as follows…
1st Tom Everett 6 fish for 103cm
2nd Fynnley Marshall 4 fish for 84cm
3rd William Ineson 2 fish for 48cm
4th Mathew Winn 2 fish for 47cm
Under 11Winner: Fynnley Marshall
Biggest fish: (Two equal winners) Emma Standley and Damien Megson both with a 34cm Whiting
It had been a superb event. The weather had been kind and the atmosphere brilliant despite the tricky fishing. You just had to see the big beaming smiles as the winners came up to get their prizes to appreciate how much everyone had enjoyed it.
Once again a big thank you to Paul Jefferson, Rob Neale and the rest of their helpers for all their hard work, a great job, well done!
And so on to the Sunday…
The nicer weather had gone, and overnight the gales and heavy rain had returned … conditions had got a lot tougher! Winning the Daiwa Open £2500 top prize was not going to be easy. With registration from 7am and anglers fishing from the North Beach Bridlington to Paull Lighthouse this would be a test of skill and stamina as organiser Paul Jefferson explained,
“Conditions could not have been a greater contrast from the Saturday Junior event, as with the rest of the country. The torrential rain and gale force winds were the order of the day for the competitors. Fortunately they were a hardy bunch and 650 anglers, including Juniors and Ladies, made the effort and braved the extreme conditions. In the circumstances this was a tremendous turnout.”
The events of the day unfolded slowly, very slowly, with reports being hard to obtain, that could mean that few fish are being caught or that anglers are keeping their cards close to their chest with regard to what they had caught. It was in fact a little bit of both.
As 4pm arrived, it was time to set up the weighing station to await the returning catches. We were not to be disappointed, as some really good fish were brought to the scales. The best fish of the day turned out to be a Thornback Ray of 4.62kg caught by a local angler at Hilston, which for the time of year was a fantastic catch. This was followed by Cod of 4.35kg.
It cannot be stressed how extreme the conditions on this day were, and the fish returned to the scales were of a very good size. All competitors are to be congratulated on their skill and determination. Roll on next year which will be the weekend of 30th November and 1st December 2013.
The Results…
1st A Hill Thornback Ray 4.62kg £2500
2nd M Rendall Cod 4.35kg £1250
3rd P Riley Cod 3.70kg £700
4th I Laverack Cod 3.235kg £400
5th J Power Thornback Ray 3.22kg £300
6th P Goldthorpe Cod 2.865kg £200
1st Lady K Blackburn Whiting 0.565kg
1st Junior M Johnston 0.484kg Whiting
2nd Junior J Anderson 0.475kg Whiting
3rd Junior B Porter 0.390kg Whiting
Biggest whiting: C Holdstock 0.975kg
Biggest Flat fish: W Stephenson 0.57kg
Finally could I just say a big “Well Done” to all the competitors and an equally big “Thank you” to all the helpers and stewards.
Two days, two matches, with contrasting conditions from flat calm to severe gale, from sunshine to torrential rain. Tough fishing at times, but plenty of skill, enthusiasm and excitement. The Daiwa Open and the Daiwa British Junior Championship were over for another year. Paul and his team had done a great job of organising both events, I’d certainly enjoyed myself, with a bit of luck I’ll be invited again next year.
