Horrendous weather greeted the organisers of the fifth Wales Air Ambulance Open as they arrived at Amroth on Sunday, January 7.

So much so, that it was decided that, for safety sake, with junior anglers expected, and in order to give those intrepid competitors supporting this charity match, a bit of respite from the gales and at times torrential rain, to switch the match to the beach at Saundersfoot, with only a little whingeing from a few of those competitors present. It was a lower turnout than usual this year, hardly surprising, considering the conditions, although, once again there were some non-supporting club anglers, disappointingly, fishing Saundersfoot adjacent to the match stretch.

Anyway, in the end, the organisers owe a big thank you to all 62 anglers, including two ladies and six juniors, who supported this annual event and fished, with 16 of them managing to weigh-in 22 flounders. Unfortunately, no junior or lady weighed-in. First with the heaviest bag of four flounders for 1.570Kg was Craig Thompson from Haverfordwest. Second was Shaun Tucker from Swansea with three flounders for 1.410Kg, while third was Tony Newton with three for 1.270Kg. Heaviest fish pool winner was Malcolm Greenish from Milford Haven, with a flounder of 800 gms. The pairs pool winners were father and son combination, Steve and Shaun Tucker with four flounders for 1.765Kg.

All in all, it was a successful day, with £700 being raised for the Wales Air Ambulance, making a total over the five years of the event in excess of £5,700. This could not have been achieved without the help of the sponsors and a big thank you must go to them, namely: Pembroke Angling, Roger Harries (Amroth Arms), Peter Kraus, Pembroke and District Angling Club, Osprey Sea Angling Club, West Wales Match Anglers, Pembroke Haven Motor Boat Angling Club, Bill Brunton, of Pembroke Angling, Shane Tucker, Malcolm Greenish, Leigh Rogers, Oaktree Sea Angling Club, Sports Fishing International, Andrew Skeels, Steve Tucker, Haydn Cole, Norman Johnson, Sandra and Martin Thompson, who run a tackle shop in Milford Haven, John O'Connor, Andrew Jamieson, Alex Nicholas, Denis Nicholas, Trevor from the electrical store in Milford Haven and Gareth from the cobblers in Haverfordwest.