Pegged Match – Seaton Sluice Beach 28th Jan 2023

Introduction

25 Club Members were booked on the pegged match on Seaton Sluice Beach 28/01/2023 . This was going to be a 4 hour match, being fished 2 and a half hours up to high tide and 1 and a half hours of the ebb. This is the first time Longbenton & Seaton Burn Sea Angling Club have ran a pegged beach match to my knowledge. The club does run straight length, pegged summer matches in the River Tyne. This was a trial match to see how members found a different style of match to what most are accustomed to. The club has taken on a good few new members and was a chance to meet some anglers they had not met. The scoring would be length to points conversation using SAMF points system. A small seas had been running for 36 hours before the match but was forecast to drop off the day of the match.

Seaton Sluice Beach

The beach is situated at the north end of Blyth Beach, with Seaton Burn flowing onto the southern end of the beach. Sluice beach can vary depending on the sea conditions and the way it forms the beach. The beach after a big north eastly sea can be very steep or flatten out after prolonged periods of settled weather. It is usually clean sand, made up of small sand bars, stretching out beyond the mean low tide line. Having seen the beach at low water the day before the match, whole beach was fairly flat, no big gulley’s, hopefully making it a pretty fair match. Not giving any peg an advantage.

Species

In rough conditions the beach can fish well for codling at either high or low water. It can also throw out the occasional Bass, although Summer/Autumn are the best time here in the North East. Given the conditions on the day, with a small swell still rolling in there was a chance of Codling or an outside chance of a Bass. Flounders, Small Codling, Coalfish Whiting and Dabs were a better bet and the expected species on the day.

Pre-Match

Most anglers arriving early to have a chat and get prepared for the oncoming match. There seemed to be a bit of a buzz and everyone having a crack, at something different to a roving match or a pier match. David Connor who could talk for England, keeping the conversation going. Money paid, peg draw and explaining the format, everyone was eager to get to their pegs. Bar Marty Pygall cursing me for him having the long walk to Peg 1. Who doesn’t want an end Peg?

Match

Match started with the odd fish coming in to my right, little to my left. Difficult to tell with being dark, so you do not get a real picture of what is happening. Tom Sawyer on the peg next to me right, was off to a good start with dab and a couple of flounders landed in the first half hour of the match. Spoke to someone walking past, going to have a chat to a friend and he was blanking but lad next to him was catching up to 3 at a time. Get a text from Marty Pygall after an hour and a half of the match, stating its hard going, he was on 42 points. He was beating me and Tom Sawyer was on 90 odd points with 5 fish. I myself had had one coalfish 18cm worth only 5 points. Tom kept catching steadily throughout the match, lads to the left of me blanking. I managed to find a couple of fish at distance, after trying just about everything. Different snood lengths, snood strengths, different baits (Lug, Rag, Yellow Tails, Crab, Mackerel). I decided for the last hour of the match to see if I could get a codling, for heaviest fish but wasn’t to be. From what I had heard, at least 3 people were well ahead of me. What I should of done, is fished my own match and kept plugging away. If Tom next to me was not so far ahead, I think I would of fished a different match and not tried to push it. Lesson leant. Tom pulls in a double shot last cast including a nice Flounder 32cm and is in contention as I mark up his card for the last time.

Result

End of the match was called and everyone makes there way back to the car park. It is evident it has been an indifferent night. Some doing well and the majority not so well. Well done Tom Sawyer and all the winners.

Overall Result Top 10

1st Tom Sawyer Peg 17 – 10 fish (9 Flounders and a Dab) 207 points. £75

2nd Marty Pygall Peg 1 – 10 fish (8 Flounders, 1 Coalfish, 1 Codling) 111 points £50

3rd Alf Hurst Peg 7 – 5 fish (3 Flounder, 2 Codling) 101 points £25

4th Tony Cowie Peg 3 – 2 fish (Flounder & Coalfish) 77 points

5th Neil Carter Peg 14 – 10 Fish (4 Flounders & 6 Whiting) 59 points

6th Craig Irvine Peg 15 – 6 fish (4 Flounder, 2 Whiting) 45 points

7th Lee Corry Peg 4 – 4 Fish (2 Flounder, 2 Coalfish) 43 Points.

8th Mark Igo Peg 18 – 3 Fish (Flounder, Whiting, Dab) 41 Points

9th Micky Bell Peg 2 – 1 Fish (Flounder) 40 points

10th Colin Atkinson Peg 12 – 3 fish (Flounder, Whiting, Dab) 37 points

11th Adrian Millard Peg 22 4 Fish (3 Flounder, 1 Whiting) 31 Points

12th Gary Davison Peg 10 2 Fish (Whiting, Flounder) 29 Points

13th Gavin Parker Peg 13 (3 Flounders) 20 Points

14th Vernon Finnie Peg 24 (2 Flounder, 1 Coalfish) 20 Points

15th Gordon Mason Peg 23 (1 Flounder) 18 Points

16th Conrad Millard Peg 21 (Flounder, Whiting) 12 Points

17th Steve Cramman Peg 11 (Flounder) 10 Points

18th Graeme Armstrong Peg 9 (1 Flounder) 8 Points

19th Ryan Parker Peg 25 (Coalfish) 1 Point

All other anglers either failed to hand cards in or blanked.

Heaviest Fish (points) – Tony Cowie – Peg 3 – Flounder 35cm – 52 points £37.50

2nd Heaviest Fish (points) – Tom Sawyer (Peg 17) and Michael Bell (Peg 2) – Flounders 32cm 40 points – £12.50

Heaviest Flat (points) – Tony Cowie – Peg 3- Flounder 35cm 52 points £25

Lucky Peg. Drawn out the Bag. Marty Pygall – Peg 1 £25

Feedback

Feedback from everyone pretty much, it was a really enjoyable match. Something different and all would like to fish some more of these. To that end the next match will be on the 18th February, left of the Glaxo Pipe Cambois. Same timings, meet 17:00. Fishing 18:00 – 22:00 over low water.