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The last two occasions though, another boat was
nearing on us with each anchor drop – by this third day of the
current spell of settled weather it was out before us and was slam
bang on top of the mark we tend to fish in this area. Now I do
accept that no –one owns any particular spot, but funny how your
exact marks attract so much attention at times!
The previous day had only seen 5 small hounds
come to the boat despite some very experienced smoothie anglers
aboard. So fortunately we had already decided on a slight move to
hopefully encourage a better catch. Moving only 1/4 mile, with the
tides as they were for the match we had more depth and also slightly
more flow compared to the Sunday. |
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15 fresh peelers were supplied as part of the
entry fee to our fun challenge, but some of the anglers had also
come prepared with a selection of peelers, softies, crinklies,
velvet peelers and hardbacks. It was going to be an interesting time
for the next 6hrs.
Pegged on the stern, Shaun Hughes
was first off the mark. Inside an hour of the anchor going down
Shaun was soon fighting his very first Smoothie. Weighing quickly in
our purpose made shark sling, Shaun’s hound came in just shy of
double figures at 9lb 12oz. Maybe it was something in the name,
spelt differently though, next up was Sion landing a nice hound,
this time into doubles at 11lb 15oz, photo left.
Having had his hands on the rod & reel prize so early in the
match, Shaun was keen to regain his position as top dog. This
perseverance saw Shaun land the 3rd hound of the day and
this time raise the bar significantly higher to a great 17lb 2oz,
photo below left.. |
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As the day went on smoothies came to
the boat at a steady pace, we never had a double hook up or
pack frenzy, most of the hounds came individually, Gareth P
secured a new PB and also first double figure smoothhound
with a nice 15lb 8oz specimen, photo below right.
Watching his brother
catch 2 smoothhound and take a commanding lead with his 17lb
shark had Gareth Hughes a little green with envy.
Despite other hounds
coming to the boat, none matched the size of Shaun’s catch
and this was starting to eat at Gareth who decided to do
something about it. |
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| Around lunch time Gareth Hughes hooked into what looked to be a
good size Smoothie. After struggling to control the hound for 20
mins, Gareth finally broke the surface – it looked big ….. it
looked close! |
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I weighed the hound a couple times to be
sure of the reading, brotherly love never came into this as both
eagerly awaited the decision. Mark Cain adjudicated on the
weight having accepted that his hounds of around 6 and 10lb
would not equal Gareth’s combined! This hound went 18lb 4oz,
photo above, a smoothie first, a stonker of a PB, but more
importantly a hound that took first position.
The family smiles moved from Shaun to
Gareth. |
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| Sadly no other hound was to come near Gareth’s 18lb starry. As I
called time to days fishing, a few anglers had sadly blanked on
the smoothies, with a couple having only the odd dog or small
codling to show. Congratulations though still went to Gareth who
posed with his new rod and reel and vowed to defend his win in
2012, when the My Way Smoothhound Challenge returns for its
second year. |
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More
smoothhounds from 2011
Gallery 71
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Gallery
72 |
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Boat Availability |
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Individual spaces |
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Join our Group |
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correct at 31st May 2011 |
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GO Angling - My Way Sea Fishing Trips
Promote your Page too |
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June |
6,
13, 14, 15, 20, 21 |
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July |
4, 5, 19, 20 |
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Aug |
1, 2, 3,
12, 16, 17, 23, |
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Related articles |
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Smoothhound |
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May report 1 |
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May report 2 |
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