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Conger
Festival 2011
Kim Bowden of Portsmouth with his BCC
Championship winning eel of 72lbs 7oz
CONGER CHAMPIONSHIPS – BEST IN
YEARS!
This year’s British Conger Club Championship
fished at wrecks in Lyme Bay was judged to be the most successful in recent
years, despite strong winds that raised a very rough sea on the first of the two
days and kept the fleet of boats within ten miles of the coast.
The Conger Club held its Annual General meeting
during the Championship weekend. It was well attended and one of the main topics
was the question of fish being brought ashore to qualify for the club’s major
trophies or for the rule to be replaced by a ‘weigh at sea’ concept.
Following discussion it was unanimously agreed that the club’s history is best
served by having no change in procedure. There was a general ‘feel good’
atmosphere throughout the whole event but concern was expressed on the fall away
of clubs and individuals reporting their catches to the Fish Recorder. There
were no changes to the management committee structure.
REPORT AND
PICTURES BY CLUB PRESIDENT MIKE MILLMAN.
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caught from the Paignton based boat
Becca Marie skipped by Dean Farrell
(Picture courtesy & copyright Mike Millman)
The only fish to
be brought ashore for weighing was caught by Paignton’s eel specialist Fred
Hayward who fished from Dean Farrell’s Becca Marie. It weighed 60 lbs 9
ozs so setting a substantial bench mark for others to follow on the second and
final day.
It dawned much calmer but a sea mist persisted until late
afternoon and never was radar more useful. Competitors who had drawn Becca
Marie found the wreck the skipper had chosen, lying a good twenty-five miles
out from the coast, to be full of quality eels eager to take advantage of the
baits sent down through forty fathoms in a moderate run of tide.
Back on the
dockside it was clear that several were in true heavyweight class one of them
caught by Steve Holyer 54, who is totally blind. His fish was first on the
scales and registered 71 lbs 7 ozs but the Championship Title was not to be
his. Kim Bowden of Portsmouth took it with an eel of 72 lbs 7 ozs 11 drams
which left the first day eel of 60 lbs 9 ozs by Hayward in third place. Others
of size on Day 2 included eels of 55 lbs 7 ozs and 50 lbs 3 ozs by Kevin Clark,
51 lbs 11 ozs 8 drams by Ken Johnson and another of identical weight by Joe
Connelly.
The 4-Man Team Championship was won by Scorpions who had 602
lbs-points against the Mix & Match squad’s 500.
The Reg Quest Memorial Trophy
which is a special competition within the event that has a separate entry fee
that benefits the RNLI was won by Jim Grant of Guildford and Brixham Lifeboat
Coxswain Mark Criddle was there to receive a cheque from BCC Chairman Bryn Lavis
for £316 that included the pool for the first day that was not won.
The
skipper’s prize went to Dean Farrell of Becca Marie. A total of 91 eels
were caught over the two days of the event but only those mentioned specifically
in the report were brought ashore.
Competitors travelled from as far afield as
Ft. Lauderdale in the States and the Island of Stornoway off the West coast of
Scotland. Brixham Sea Anglers Club provided the facilities for the Championship
week-end that included the BCC’s Annual General Meeting, at their fine
club-house in Castor Road and their weighing station at the Brixham Breakwater
was used for the Championship weigh-in and awards presentation.
Next year the
Conger Club celebrates its Golden Jubilee and the Championship will be based on
Plymouth.
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