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WEST BAY SEA ANGLING CLUB JURASSIC OPEN BOAT FESTIVAL - SPONSORED BY ATLANTIC FISHERS  Saturday 14th October 2006 saw the start of the two day Jurassic open boat festival at West Bay sponsored by Atlantic Fishers. This match was rescheduled from the 30th September 2006, as due to the weather it was cancelled for safety reasons, but Saturday 14th October dawned with a force 3-4 wind coming from the east, the sky was overcast with the sun breaking through later in the day. On the Saturday we had thirty five competitors fishing from fourteen different boats. The mayor of Bridport set the boats off at 10.00am for the start of the match, it was a wonderful site seeing all the boats steaming out through the magnificent harbour of West Bay as they headed out to their chosen fishing spots to try and bag a prize from the array of prizes up for grabs. Daily the competitors could win a prize for the best two different species % of specimen 1st, 2nd & 3rd, also they could win a prize for the most species 1st, 2nd & 3rd, there was also a prize for the best Lady & Junior and as only one Lady & Junior entered they were guaranteed a prize as long as they caught a fish. Our sponsor Mr Richard Allen from Atlantic Fisher decided to do a spot of pleasure fishing whilst at West Bay promoting the Atlantic Fisher 550. He did manage to catch a few Mackerel.
The boats returned to the harbour at 3.00pm for the weigh in and presentation which was held at the George Hotel. Out of the thirty five competitors twenty weighed fish in. two notable fish on the day were a conger eel of 90% caught by Jamie Robinson & a tub gurnard of 92% caught by Graham Stephenson the chairman of West bay Sea Angling Club. The daily winners for Saturday were 1st Graham Stephenson, tub gurnard 92% & dogfish 63% for a total of 155% 2nd Tony Webb, cuckoo wrasse 50% & pouting 75% for a total of 132% 3rd Ray Teague pouting 60% & black bream 65% for a total of 125% Best Lady: Carol Smith total of 99% Best Junior: Paul Grinter total of 41% Pools: Best flatfish: none caught so the prize money went to the heaviest round fish Best round fish: Graham Stephenson Tub Gurnard 92% Most Species: 6 competitors tied with four species each so it was decided by heaviest weight. 1st Rod Barr 6 species 2nd Richard Crocker 4 species 3rd Carol Smith 4 species Sunday dawned with a stronger east to north-easterly wind blowing but luckily it was not strong enough to call the second day of the match off. Thirty two competitors entered the second day fishing from eleven different boats. Once again the sun poked its head out later in the day. Our club President Fred Bowditch sent the boats on their way at 9.00am for a six hour match with all the boats returning at 3.00pm for the weigh in and prize giving once again at the George Hotel. Today some Plaice finally came to the scales along with many other fish, including dogfish, pouting, wrasse, black bream, gurnard & bull huss amongst them. Over the weekend one small codling was also caught but no skate or rays were caught, so the prize for the best skate or ray went unclaimed. The daily winners for Sunday were 1st PJ Wheeler, dogfish 90% & garfish 56 for a total of 146% 2nd Steve Marley, red gurnard 78% & Garfish 50% for a total of 128% 3rd Carol Smith, red gurnard 74% & dogfish 53% for a total of 127% Best Lady: Carol Smith 127% Best Junior: Paul Grinter 24% Pools: Best flat fish: Steve Harwood Plaice 35% Best round fish: PJ Wheeler Dogfish 90% Most Species, four competitors tied with 5 species each so it was decided by heaviest weight. 1st Chris Quick 5 species 2nd Cliff Rooney 5 species 3rd Carol Smith 5 species The overall prizes for the weekend, with the overall winner taking away an Atlantic Fisher 260 including engine & trailer, which was given by our sponsors Atlantic Fishers. Overall Winner: Graham Stephenson (West Bay) 167% Prize for the best Bass: 39% Peter Grinter Conger: 90% Jamie Robinson Bull Huss: 44% Richard Crocker Wrasse: 91% Steve Harwood Skate or Ray: Unclaimed Flatfish: Plaice 35% Steve Harwood Cod: 14% A. Nation Pollack: 16% Chris Quick Other Species Under 5lb: 92% tub gurnard Graham Stephenson Other Species 5lb: Unclaimed. The prizes were presented by Mr Richard Allen from Atlantic Fishers & the mayor of Bridport Mr Geoff Ackerman. In all forty competitors fished the competition over the weekend, some who had booked to fish the original date were unable to fish this weekend as they were unable to get on a charter boat, we could have easily filled another two charter boats if they had been available. Eighteen different species of fish were weighed in over the two days. West Bay S.A.C would like to thank the following for supporting & donating prizes for the day Atlantic Fishers for sponsoring the event, George Hotel, Samways, Edward Sports, Anyfish Anywhere, Potters Tackle Shop, West Bay Water Sports, River Cottage, Boat Fishing Monthly, Total Sea Fishing, Imray Charts, John Gundry, Icom, Sue Walsh, Highlands End, Longs Fish & Chips, we would also like to thank all the individuals who have donated prizes & all the competitors & those that worked so hard to make this event a success. West Bay Sea Angling Club have decided to make this competition an annual event at West Bay so hope to see you all next year.
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