Our final report on what has been a very successful year for Tenby and District Angling Club. We hope the reports have informed and entertained in equal measure and on the Sunday after New Year, the 'nonsense' starts all over again!

December 12, Mid Week Match: The final Mid Week of 2013 took place on December 12... anyone would have thought fishing mattered... well it did on the 'Glorious 12th'! A rising southerly wind and forecast wetness dampened the pre-match enthusiasm a little, as did rather frequent reports from a number of venues around the county regarding slow fishing in the run up to the match.

Never mind, 11 anglers registered for the match and these included the three protagonists for the Mid Week championship, Pugs, Stuart and Nev. Barring a disaster of tsunami proportions, Stuart had already sewn up the Mid Week aggregate before this match with a string of highly consistent results.

Stackpole (for the gruesome twosome of course), Freshwater East and Amroth were the venues visited. Intermittent rain fell 'on and off' (gettit?) and the seas were a tad high at Amroth. Returning to the weigh-in, it soon became apparent it had been a very quiet night fish-wise. Just two anglers weighed in, Nev and Stuart. Nev had two dogs and a three-bearded rockling and Stuart winkled out the only dog from Fresh East.

With Pugs having a very rare off night, the final results were: 1. Nev Andrews, LSD, 0.505kg; 2. Stuart Allen, LSD, 0.447kg.

For the Mid Week points championship, this meant the outcome was as follows: 1. Nev Andrews, 117 pts; 2. Stuart Allen, 116; 3. Pugs Protheroe, 114.

For the Mid Week aggregate, the overall result was: 1st Stuart Allen, 16.826kg; 2. Nev Andrews, 13.776kg; 3. Joe Protheroe, 13.133kg.

Take note Formula 1, we don't need last match 'double points' to make our sport interesting!

December 15, Roving Match: In keeping with almost all the other 2013 club championships, the Roving title was also decided in the last match after a ding-dong battle all year between Totter, Barry, Joe and Nev, with the last two stretching their legs a little towards the end of the season.

Weather on the 15th was typical December, wet and windy, and this helped frame the venue choices for most. Saundersfoot, Amroth, Hobbs Point, 'Under the Bridge', Kilpaison and Angle were the targets for the 10 competitors.

It was always going to be a hard one, but perhaps it turned out like that just to remind us to enjoy our fishing when we catch... blank days are always just around the corner.

The wet weigh-in saw LSD (of course), whiting and rock gobies slapped with resounding thuds (not!) on to the scales. A four-point lead for Nev over Joe at the start of the day was a 'bridge too far' for JP in the end, but but he nailed a rock goby to draw level on 15 species for the Species in Comp Trophy.

Results were: 1. Barry Taylor and Nev Andrews, 3.816kg; 2. Lewis Brann and Joe Protheroe, 2.023kg; 3. Mark Bennett and Chris Callen, 0.858kg.

The club aggregate lead has also now changed hands with one match to go, with Nev having overhauled Ben Cook's lead which was 12kg at one point.... (As Ben so rightly points out, he didn't fish much since then... he would, wouldn't he!).

The Roving Trophy top five ended as follows: 1. Nev Andrews 66 pts; 2. Joe Protheroe 58; 3. Barry Taylor 54; 4. Peter Taylor 52; 5. Gareth Protheroe 48.

During the month, two notable fish were caught by members outside of competitions. John Nic set a late standard for the best club flounder for the year with a cracking specimen of 1.158kg. Barry Taylor also nicked the Bull Huss Trophy very late in the year from Garfield Thomas, with a North Pembs specimen of 4.985kg. Well done both.

December 22, Fur 'n' Feather: For the club 2013 finale, the Fur 'n' Feather, 18 anglers booked in for the bun fight and all left the Salterns Car Park prompt at 2 pm, full of enthusiasm and possibly other 'emotions' and 'substances', but it was Christmas! Even 'Ol Humbug' himself was regaled with a Father Christmas hat to set the tone for the afternoon's frivolities.

The weather stayed manageable apart from one spell when the Arctic descended in wet lumps for 20 minutes and with no mobile updates to the match secretary during the match, it was difficult to read what the weigh-in was going to be like.

As it happened, it was quite good (for a Fur 'n' Feather which can be notorious for a lack of fish) with dogs, flounders, five-bearded rockling and a solitary dab (well done Ollie!) presented to 'His Holiness' for recording. Of the 18 entrants, 12 weighed in. As all who weigh in receive a prize, all the complete results are listed:

1. Peter 'Giltar' Taylor LSD 0.905kg, winning the Ex Servicemen's Cup; 2. Joseph 'Giuseppe' Protheroe, bag 1.012kg; 3. Chris 'Make My Day Punk' Callen, LSD 0.604kg; 4. Barry 'Pope' Taylor, Flounder 0.476kg; 5. Steve 'Monster' Cook, Flounder 0.439kg; 6. Lewis 'All' Brann, Flounder 0.424kg; 7. Ben 'Beaut' Cook, Flounder 0.414kg; 8. John 'Razor' Nicholas, Flounder 0.386kg; 9. Garfield 'Pick Axe' Thomas, Flounder 0.364kg; 10. Kieran 'Giant Slayer' Allen, Flounder 0.339kg; 11. Gareth 'Double Time' Protheroe, 0.255kg; 12. Ollie 'Another Fine Mess' Gibson, Dab 0.120kg.

After the prize-giving, the lads and lasses pounded into the raffle tickets for the fine selection of raffle goodies available to all, after the first prize (£50 voucher) had been won by Joseph to go with his second prize for the fishing. A successful day indeed for Joe! The prizes, as usual, were a splendid array accumulated by Barry and Louvain Taylor, and their efforts were appropriately acknowledged by the membership at the close of the day. We're very grateful as ever!

The final club championships were, of course, resolved, with the Beach Championship going to Barry Taylor, Joe Pro and Nev shared the Species Trophy with 15 apiece and Nev assumed the main 'Club Champion' mantle.

With an outstanding 2013 under our belts and 400kg of fish weighed in during competitions, season 2014 starts again with the Norman Roach Memorial Match at Coppet Hall this Sunday, January 5. Fishing is between 2 and 6 pm and all subscriptions are now due. After that, the club AGM takes place at the Ex-Servicemen's Club, Tenby, on January 8, 8 pm sharp. And the following Sunday, January 12, sees our first visit of the new season to Pendine. Fishing will be between 10 am and 2 pm. The gate will be opened at 9.30 am for beach access, so don't be late!!

A healthy and happy New Year to all readers and all club members.

N.A.