April 10, Roving Match: An ESE gale, fishing doldrums, huge tide, all the ingredients for a cracking match for which the competitors would thank the esteemed match secretary after the event (perhaps not!).

Eleven booked in. The phrase ‘hardies’ is used frequently, but this match’s entrants really were braving some horrendous weather.

We departed from Hobbs Point and scattered to Dale, Under The Bridge and Cai Bach. Some competitors changed venues during the day due to the awful conditions and lack of fish and those who caught did very well. Just five anglers weighed in a motley collection of dogs, whiting and rockling.

The final results were: 1. Haydn and Mark, 4.380kg; 2. Paul and Adam, 1.750 kg; 3. Dan and Lewis, 0.505kg.

The rest of us went home grumbling and prayed for a better day the following Thursday......

April 14, Mid Week Match, Pendine: Thirteen anglers gathered for the ceremonial gate opening at 7 pm and were gently trundling up the welcoming sands (Lewis excepted of course). A steady stream of cars peeled off to the chosen spots on this largely featureless strand and chucked baits in the water as quick as possible to maximise ‘soak time’, a la Deadliest Catch.

As the match progressed, shadowy figures and then their headlights could be seen steadily striding purposefully between rod stands and shore line which promised a few fish for the weigh-in.

All bass of 42cm and over were to count and were to be photographed, weighed and returned immediately to comply with recently introduced EU regs. Lines were finally retrieved by 11 pm and the weigh-in/tally-up was rapidly concluded by the vice-chairman and match secretary.

It had been a tidy start to the Pendine ‘season’ with good quantities of bass to 5lb recorded and a good smattering of flounders. All bar one unfortunate soul weighed in and the club added a creditable 24kg to its 2016 aggregate. John Nic found a nice 5lber to take the win.

Results were: 1. John Nic, Bass 2.200kg 2. Ben McD, Bag 5.141kg 3. Stuart A, Bass 1,410kg.

Well done all

April 17, Beach Match, Pendine: An outstanding turnout of 21 members gathered on a chilly April morn for the chance to catch and release silver bars. Any flounders along the way would be welcome and five juniors within that number gave the committee a warm glow of satisfaction.

A north wind promised a hard scratchy match in parts and this proved to be the case for most competitors, but juniors found the only two bass! The north wind also meant the start was more a reflection of chilly January than April, but as the day progressed, so the warmth slowly filtered through.

Shortly after 2 pm, a happy bunch of campers gathered back on the slip and sidled off to the bottom car park away from the promenaders for the weigh-in. And very interesting it was too!

Haydn and Mark had found good bags of flats as had Kendo Badman. The rest of us mortal seniors and Ben McD had to be grateful for the ones and twos, but the juniors Seth and Kieran had found bass. Seth also nailed dogfish and flats for a terrific bag of 3.936kg, as well as the winning fish overall.

Results were: 1. Junior Super Seth Rowlands, Bass 2.240kg; 2. Haydn Cole, Bag, 4.743kg; 3. Junior Kieran Allen, Bass, 1.180kg; 4. Mark Bennett, Flounder, 0.628kg.

Thanks go to all the members who came and made it a cracking Spring Sunday. It bodes well for the club to see two juniors take two of the top four places.Well done all.

Next match isn’t until April 27, a Mid Week match based at Penally train station. Leave 7 pm and back by 11 pm. Two amendments to note on the match list as well. The next Pendine weekend match is shown on the schedule as taking place on May 29 between 12 and 4 pm. This is an error and the match will take place between 5 and 9 pm, always subject to MoD firing.

The September 18 match on the South Beach has been cancelled due to Ironman. The inter-club return leg with Neyland SAC will now take place the following Sunday September 25, fishing from 9 am to 1 pm.

Further information at any time from Nev on 07500 417737 or through the usual internet based sources.