Despite excellent conditions last Sunday, only a disappointingly low total of 14 members  entered their Conger Eel catch & release competition.

Club chairman Ross Staplehurst had a particularly successful day putting his crew on a Conger laden wreck well offshore resulting in all the top places being won by them having caught a high proportion of the overall total of 63 fish reported.

In the interest of conservation, the basis of the competition was the most Congers returned.

Matt Porter took first place with 13 conger returned.

Ross Staplehurst took second place with 12 conger returned.

Dave Peach & Mark Jones took equal third place with 11 conger returned.

Ross’s crew had some added excitement on the day when a large Thresher Shark decided to take the bottom gear of crew member Colin Hicks. Unfortunately the fight did not last long when the fish decided to head for the horizon & the line broke but not before it had leapt clear of the water a couple of times, as they often do.

Having been previously forced to cancel a number of boat competitions due to forecasts of strong winds, members of Bembridge Angling Club were very fortunate that their most recent competition coincided with the only day of perfect conditions in a week of unsettled weather.

Despite the good weather & ideal tide, only a disappointing 17 members entered.

In the interests of conservation, the competition was catch & release with varying numbers of points being allocated to each fish caught according to the rarity of the species. Boats were able to fish over a large area with those going well offshore reporting Conger to 60 lbs whilst those closer in caught a good variety including Tope, rays, Conger, Bass & dogfish.

Matt Porter amassed 50 points to come out on top, closely followed in second place by Ian Mann with 47 points. Liam Smith was third with 33 points.

Martin Dye won the optional sweep for the best single Bass with a fish of 5 lbs 3 ½ ozs

Having been forced to cancel their first scheduled competition of the year due to delays in annual boat maintenance, Bembridge Angling Club was hoping for a good turnout for its boat competition last Sunday.

Unfortunately the local weather forecasts, although indicating dry & sunny, also indicated south west winds progressively increasing to strong through the day & only 21 competitors eventually signed on. The strong winds materialised sooner than anticipated & most boats opted to find what shelter they could close in within Sandown Bay with some moving back to more sheltered waters off Bembridge as the day progressed.

In the interests of conservation, no fish were to be returned to the scales & instead a variety of numbers of points were allocated according to what species of fish was caught with a limit of 5 specimens of any one species applying.

Black Bream were a favourite target species on the day but they proved very localised with some competitors struggling to catch them in numbers. In order to amass a good number of points, other species were also needed but proved somewhat elusive for a lot of competitors.

Club chairman Ross Staplehurst was the eventual winner with 30 points.

Alan Deeming came a close second with 29 points

Third spot with 27 points was shared by Phil Lewis & Ian Mann.