The club has started off a very busy period with plenty of matches to report on this week. It's interesting to see that the catch rates seem to have slowed down since Christmas and this might well be related to the mild weather. It seems likely that some of the winter species may have moved off early, so let's hope the summer species arrive similarly early to replace them. Even though things have been relatively quieter, a number of club trophies already have qualifying fish recorded against them.

Results of the first batch of 2012 matches are as follows:

January 8, Vice President's Trophy, Coppet Hall. This was a flat fish preference match and was fished in balmy conditions. The lack of movement in the tide rather encouraged small shrimps and fish to inhabit the margins and this made keeping an effective bait in the water quite challenging. In the event, flounders and dabs were brought to the scales and both were in really good condition.

Results were - 1. Julian Davies, flounder 0.537kg (wins the Vice President's Trophy); 2. John Nicholas, bag 0.933kg; 3. Chrissie Hodges, flounder 0.349kg.

Well done to Chrissie for showing most of the boys how to do it and baiting up herself (albeit with her eyes shut and holding her worm at arm's length!).

January 12, Mid Week match. The 2012 Mid Week series kicked off on yet another unseasonably mild night and this encouraged some of the anglers to be adventurous in their venue choices. At this point it seems as if the dogfish have vacated the usual venues and have to be tracked down with a little detective work. Whiting and a few dogs were brought back to the scales, with both this match and the previous one being quieter than expected for the time of year.

Results were - 1. Barry Taylor, LSD 0.760kg; 2. Nev Andrews, bag 1.600kg; 3. Roy Edge, whiting 0.203kg.

January 15, Roach Memorial Trophy Coppet Hall. The great man Norman, from his perch up above on a cloud, was clearly having some sport at our expense for his memorial trophy competition, with a howling easterly greeting the hardy few who entered the match. It was really quite unpleasant, but the amount of surf gave us some hope of fish. Coppet threw up a nice flounder for Bob Willing, but otherwise it was Julian and John who showed us how to do it under difficult circumstances. The flounders that were caught were in outstanding condition.

Results were - 1. John Nicholas, flounder 0.659kg (winning the Roach Memorial Trophy); 2. Julian Davies, bag 0.906kg; 3. Bob (Unlucky Son) Willing, flounder 0.645kg

January 18, Mid Week match. The usual crew pitched up for the next Mid Week match and unusually it was wet! Venues around Tenby Harbour and Freshwater East were visited, but there was further evidence that the fish are slowing down in the limited catch return. Just a couple of dogs and dabs were weighed in, but thanks to GPT for returning the unwanted fish alive.

Results were - 1. Barry Taylor, LSD 0.728kg; 2. Roy Edge, bag, 0.773kg; 3. Mike Dixon, dab 0.136kg.

January 22, Llanstephan beach match and Howells' Junior Trophy. Again we were blessed with comfortable and mild weather after a quite stiff north-westerly had puffed for a couple of days previously. It was a complete contrast to last year's Llanstephan trip when there were ice slabs the size of dining tables floating up and down the estuary!

Many anglers reported catching plenty of flats, but the day was characterised by struggling to land fish in size, except Nev, who made an art form out of landing nothing! In the end, whilst the fish caught were again in lovely fit condition, we returned far more to the sea immediately than were presented at the scales. Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant session.

Results were - 1. Barry Taylor, flounder 0.525kg; 2. Julian Davies, bag 2.277kg; 3. John Nicholas, flounder 0.456kg.

Kieran Allen weighed in a nice flounder of 0.339kg which won him a junior voucher and the Howells' Junior Trophy. Well done Kieran!

On January 29, the next match is a beach rover, one rod only, booking in at the Information Centre, Kilgetty. Leave the Information Centre at 2.30 and be back by 7.30 pm. We had hoped to use Pendine, but the beach is not open for access and so this match remains as shown on the fixture list. After that, the Mid Week series continues on February 1 and the full Roving series kicks-off on February 5. Book in at the multi-storey, leaving at midday and be back by 7 pm.

A couple of further events to note are the annual prize-giving and supper, which will be held at the Ex-Servicemen's Club on February 18, our annual trip to Clevedon Pier which will take place on March 4 and the following week we have permission to use Fishguard Breakwater for a club match, just to ring the changes.

Further information available at any time from Nev on 07500 417737, on the club's website or Facebook page.Tgenby