Smutt meet 2007

Greenheart · #1 07-15-2007, 07:55 PM

Well the big day dawned & Geejayy, his son Ashly, Banana Steve & myself set off for Selsey. After a couple of stops en-route to stock up on the important stuff like Bait & Beer we duly arrived at the Selsey Bill pub about twenty minutes late

to find quite a crowd of Forumites busy sampling the local refreshments. Thankfully we were not the last to arrive, which gave us all an excuse to have another drink or two. Then it was time to decide where to fish. The plan was to fish the Selsey West Beach, which was about 30m from the pub, with the East beach as a backup if it was too rough. So we all took a stroll down to the beach to check on the conditions & were greeted with a stiff breeze in our faces, a large swell & a fair amount of weed. After a short discussion, we decided to believe the man from the Met office, who assured us that the wind would drop & the temperature rise & brave the elements on the West Beach.
So we set off in Convoy, through Selsey & the West Sands Caravan park to our chosen spot & were all soon set up & fishing.

First blood I believe went to a friend of muzzers, with a cute little Smutt puppy closely followed by Pingu with this little fellow...

Then Pingu raised the stakes with this fine 89cm Specimen Starry Smoothound....

Yes Dave, that's the end that bites...

Things were looking good... Then, although the wind had dropped as promised & the weather was improving, the fish sadly slowed down too. I had a visit from Howie (Nice to meet you mate) who was fishing with some friends further along towards Selsey. And he reported that they were catching some good fish. I was also hearing that Maghouse was quietly catching the odd good fish, also at the Selsey end of our little group. For the rest of us though, all that was to be had was a few schoolie Bass & the odd Pout. However this was more than made up for by the good company, Nice surroundings & Beer, Whisky, port & the famous Pingu Pies etc that were passed around. A few members even found time to light up a Barbecue. As always it was great meeting new members & putting names to faces. Welcome to Muzzer, Howie, Spahill & his good lady. I'm not totally sure how many members turned out as people came & went throughout the Day & night (Sorry I missed you Ben) But I believe it was in the region of sixteen members. A great turnout & thank you all for comming.
A few of us had intended spending the whole night on the beach & a glorious sunset lulled us into a false sense of security....

However, about 4.30 this morning, a large black cloud & some ominous rumbles of thunder & flashes of lightning heading our way made us beat a hasty retreat.
As for the trophy, I believe it was eventually won by Maghouse, with four Smutts. one at 97cm & weighing about 7lb. One at 75cm & weighing in about 4lb & two 25cm pups. (I think Banana Steve has the pics) Howie also did very well but (Correct me if i'm wrong) as he was fishing away from the rest of us, his fish were not measured or witnessed by another member as stated in the rules. A big well done to both of you & If you PM me your address Rob, I will put your trophy in the post.

Once again, thanks to all who turned up & made this such a great event & hopefully see you all next year...

fishypaul · #2 07-15-2007, 08:10 PM

great report ian, good that so many turned up,

very well done to maghouse the 2007 champ

mithrandir · #3 07-15-2007, 09:08 PM

great report and thanks for organising the meet.

BaggieRich · #4 07-15-2007, 09:29 PM

Nice report mate. Top meet, and a blinding laugh.

Here's to next year.

Can't wait.

geejayy · #5 07-15-2007, 09:31 PM

well it was another successful meet with old friends met, new ones made, beer and various other beverages drunk

and the famous pingu pies sampled
with dry weather and the wind dieing down conditions looked promiseing for the target specie.
congratulations to those that caught and respect to those who actually managed to get a smut.

especially maghouse who lifted the trophy.
it would seem that yet again i'm due for a years worth of ribbing from Ash seeing as he managed to hook a schoolie despite spending most of his time asleep while i blanked again

.
though i had 3 takes on the flood i managed to miss them all, kipped through the worst of the weed, woke, then got bitten off by something about 02.30.

we quit the beach at about 04.30 after a quick beach tidy..