I know that many of you will remember Tony Barnes, who sadly passed away a couple of years ago. Well since then, Tony’s four surviving brothers, with whom he was very close and fished with regularly, have got together with the Guildford City SAC, and for the last two years have competed for the Tony Barnes Memorial Trophy by holding a two day species competition on board Tiger Lily.
Tony and his brothers, Dave, Les, Dick and Colin were very keen on the catching and release of as many different species of fish as possible each year and all of them competed against each other to see who could record the most in any given 12 months.
Dave, Les, Dick and Colin still fish regularly from Weymouth with myself and Colin Penny (Flamer) and still continue their challenge with one another.
The trophy was donated and hand crafted by Guildford City member, Peter Thatcher, who specialises in wood carvings (and much more) and I must say what a smashing job he has done.
Last year the trophy was won by the Barnes brothers who whooped the Guildford team by boating fish after fish! This year Guildford were again well down on the completion of day one and were trailing by a massive 113 fish points! However, the City boys came out fighting on day two and with it all to do, managed to overpower the Barnes team by 897 points to 689!
The eventual winners of the 2011 event were indeed Guildford who won by a 95 point margin! That’s quite a lot when you consider that a Pouting is worth 2 points as is a Doggy and a Bream is worth 8 points. All credit where it’s due to Guildford who came back from a 113 point deficit to win by 95! Don’t count out the Barnes Boys next year though…they will want to get their hands back on that trophy for sure.
Roy Hebburn took top honours in the Individual angler competition and was presented with a Shimano Custom made rod.
Pictured from the top... All the Competitors
next down...Mick Doody with a Red Band Fish
next down... The Guildford City winning team
bottom...Dave Barnes Jnr with a smashing Plaice from the competition.
Results… Individual anglers... |
Roy Hebburn (G) 444 |
Dave Barnes Jnr (B) 346 |
Ricky (B) 341 |
Peter Thatcher (G) 331 |
Dick Barnes (B) 326 |
Mick Doody (G) 321 |
Colin Barnes (B) 316 |
Les Barnes (B) 310 |
Olly (G) 284 |
Dave Barnes (B) 278 |
Results… 24 different Species Caught...
Bass, Bream, Dogs, Garfish, John Dory, Ling, Mackerel, Plaice, Pollack, Poor Cod, Pouting, Red Gurnard, Streaked Gurnard, Red Band Fish, Scad, Smooth-hound, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, Gold Sinney Wrasse, Common Goby, Dragonet, Launce, Sandeel,
Results... Overall |
Guildford City SAC Total 1696 points |
Barnes Team 1601 points |
Above is the Ro-Ro Car Carrier 'Cougar Ace' which we spotted and photographed on the way to Alderney recently. The ship was drifting about 20 miles off Portland Bill! I seemed to remember that this ship was involved in some incident or another several years ago, so when I got back from the Islands I investigated on Google and found this...
A Full report can be found here...
www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-03/ff_seacowboys
You could be forgiven for thinking that Alderney Angling boss, Mark Harding, was living the dream! Here is is with his smashing new USA built Hydra-Sport making a splash in Alderney Harbour!
However, nothing could be further from the truth! Mark and Fieona have worked day and night building up their tackle business on Alderney which must have been pretty uphill work. Who in their right mind would have taken on such a struggle on an island with such a limited infrastructure and visitor base? They have also set up a great B&B facility within their own home!
The hard working pair have beaten the odds and are certainly on the 'up' and their Internet mail-order side of the business is going great guns now that they have a fantastic new web-site.
Mark is pictured here on one of his rare days away from the computer. He's off to catch that elusive 50th species this year. Follow his progress at... www.alderneyangling.com/species_hunt_2011.htm
We are very pleased to tell you that Celeb's, Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall and Nick Fisher have thrown their weight behind our Recycle Fish/Dorset Wildlife Trust initiative in supplying a 'Tackle Box Card' to anglers nationwide.
The leaflet is very informative and covers everything from handling fish to the all new minimum size matrix.
In a recent statement the fish-fond broadcasters said...
“Congratulations to the Dorset Wildlife Trust and the Recycle Fish Campaign for working together in the creation of this Anglers Code of Conduct Initiative,
This waterproof tackle box card will be very useful to recreational sea anglers and I hope everyone will not only embrace the principle of catch & release, buy also adopt the recommended methods of handling and caring for our sea fish and the marine environment in which they live.”
The heaviest storm since 1989 battered the Dorset coastline on 14th November 2009. Damage was been caused to roofs and other property and needless to say all fishing activity came to an abrupt halt! Winds reached 73 knots at around 13.30hrs... why not take a look at this short film called
November Storm which I shot from my house which overlooks Chesil Beach...surf's up or what!
At this time of year we seem to concentrate on the Bass fishing around the Portland Race. The ground is snaggy especially when the drift is under 3 knots and it's easy for the angler to loose gear on the bottom. This is often because we tend to let too much line go in an effort to 'feel' the bottom. A good tip is to use the lightest main line (say 15-20lb braid) and employ the lightest weight you can...it's all about feel!
A great rig thats cheap if you loose it and effective over the mussel beds is The Portland Rig. It was developed by the commercial Bass anglers in the race and is still used widely by the 'top rods'.
Above is an illustration so you can tie some on those wet and windy nights in front of the fire!
Last Updated: Mon Oct 10 2011