Boat League

Boat Section Organisers;
Gwyn Andrews - gwynie@aol.com  
Gary Jones - GaryJonescbvsac@aol.com

Boat Match 8 - Menai Straits - 07/09/2008.

With a week of non stop rain and strong northerly winds prospects for Sunday were looking bleak but you have to give it a go don’t you, a very disappointing turnout again with only four boats turning up the only option was to fish the Straits. Launching at Moel y Don into the flat calm Menai Straits was a doddle, and all four boats were on the water before 9-0am. After all that fresh water flowing into the Straits the water was a murky brown in colour and the fishing was very poor as a result of this, normally September I find is the most productive time for this venue with codling starting to show plus the usual summer species knocking about but today fish were few and far between excluding the dogs and huss which didn’t seem to bothered with the water quality.

Right down to the results, Bass Hunter continue their good form to take the match with ten species and two specimens for 54points, let’s hope they can keep it up for the Cork small boat’s festival to be held in a couple of weeks time, to say we are looking forward to that is a bit of an understatement, Bass Hunter also took the flatty pool with the only flat of the match a plaice of just over minimum size,
Rosea took second spot with eight species and two specimens not including the smoothhound, which was photographed and returned and awarded three points, Rosea also took the heaviest roundfish pool with a conger of 9-04-00.
Goldilocks was third with five species and Garramma 11 was fourth.

It turned out a very pleasant day in the end, thanks to all who fished.

Boat Match 7 - Menai Straits - 10/08/2008.

Not such a good forecast for match no7, strong south-westerly winds making the venue selections a bit awkward, force 5-6 making it a bit too uncomfortable out in Colwyn Bay so we opted for the Menai Straits, even this venue can be a bit lumpy on the ebb but with low around 11-0am it would flatten with the flood to give us some comfortable fishing. Launching at Moel y Don wasn’t an option with this forecast so we had no option but to launch at Menai Bridge, this once very convenient slipway is now best avoided with parking very limited since the developers moved in building flats with restricted parking to the front and with the local council putting signs up banning the parking of trailers on the top of the beach.

Down to the fishing, not brilliant with most of the boats not staying on any of the mark to long and a lot of moving around trying to find the fish, at the end of the day Bob and Frank on Bass Hunter maintained their run of good form to win the match with eleven species, one specimen and top weight to give them 56 points followed by Gwyn and Fishy on Goldilocks with ten species and one specimen giving them 52 points, Dan and Adam on O2B@C where a close third with ten species and one specimen and 51 points, they also took the heaviest roundfish pool with a nice Ballan wrasse of 3-05-08, Mr Fish took the heaviest flatty pool with a dab of 00-08-12 the only flatty of the match.
Thanks to all who took part!

Boat Match 6 - Colwyn Bay - 27/07/2008.

A cracking forecast for match no 6 of the boat league, Sunday came without a breath of wind so we decided to fish our home waters out from Colwyn Bay, the only downside was that we only had four boats turn up to fish the match.

Nice easy launch straight off the slip into a flat calm sea, all boats launched and ready to go before 0800hrs that must be the earliest we have ever started a match, three of the boats headed towards Llandudno bay and then on to the Orme while Gwyn and Fester decided to bite the bullet and steam out to the wreck of the Dublin (I think) which is situated fairly close to the gas rig around fifteen miles off Colwyn Bay, this was the day for travelling them sort of distances, probably only about thirty minutes steaming in Goldilocks, they were joined on the wreck a bit later in the day by Bob and Frank on Basshunter, the journey out to the wreck paying dividends with both boats catching good numbers and variety of fish there.

All the boats headed east to the area’s around the wind farms later in the afternoon, it fished fairly well around the area with plenty of fish but we were struggling to catch the variety of species there so we decided to finish the day close in to Rhyl

At the weigh in Bob and Frank had done the business bagging sixteen species and one specimen to give them a match winning 71 points, Gwyn and Fester on Goldilocks came a close second with fifteen species and two specimens for 69 points, Dan and Adam were third with thirteen species and 2 specimens for 64 points. They also lifted the heaviest fish pool with a cracking huss of 13-09-04 Lbs,

Ian, Roger and Gary on Rosea were in fourth ( last ) place with twelve species for 53 points, but they did have the consolation of winning the rollover flatty pool with a flounder of 1-3-4.

Well done to Bob and Frank on a good win, i've just had a quick tally of the species caught and would you believe 25 species over minimum size, who says there's no variety out from the Bay. A cracking day lets hope it’s the same again in a fortnight. Thanks to all who supported the match.

Boat Match 5 - Menai Straits - 13/07/2008.

Boat match no5 was fished in warm calm conditions with blue skies, so we decided once again to launch the boats at Moel y Don in the Straits, for those who don’t know it’s the slipway across from Port Dinorwic.

It looks like this slipway and access point is now secure for public use after a campaign by local’s and other’s against it’s sale to a private buyer so a big thanks to all who were involved in that successful campaign.
No limits were put on the boats today so after launching they could go out of the Straits on either side.

At the weigh-in Goldilocks had done the business catching thirteen species with one specimen and top weight for a total of 62 points so well done to Gwynnie, Fishy and Steve, Rosea were in second spot with 9 species and two over specimen size and second best weight giving them 52 points, Basshunter was third with 9 species, Goldilocks took the heaviest roundfish pool with a conger of just under twelve pounds, the heaviest flat pool will be carried over to the next match as there were no flats above minimum size caught.

At the end of the day it wasn’t brilliant fishing but it was a great day to be out on the water, enjoyed it.

The next match is on the 27th July.

Boat Match 4 - Menai Straits - 15/06/2008.

With the forecast of north-westerly for Sunday we decided to give the Menai Straits a crack for the fourth match of the league, we were guaranteed near flat calm conditions with any wind blowing over the top, launching off the beach at Moel y Don the five boats were on the water in no time, handy little slip this but there are plans to sell it to a private enterprise then it would be lost to the members of the public who use it, there is a petition being organised to object to the sale of this facility, petition forms are in local tackle shops so if you come across one please sign it.

Bob and Frank on Bass Hunter were the match winners. They caught 10 species with 2 over specimen size plus they had the top weight to give them 56 points, Rosea was second with 9 species and 1 over specimen weight and O2B@C was third with 10 species, the heaviest flatty pool went to Dan and Adam on O2B@C with a flounder of 1-02-0, the heaviest round fish pool went to Bob and Frank off Bass Hunter with a fine Huss of 8-10-0.

Boat match 3 - Trearddur Bay - 01/06/2008.      

Boat match no3 was held on Sunday 1st June out of Trearddur Bay, forecasts were once again giving north-easterlies 3-4 so it was decided to give this venue another chance after the poor show on the last match two weeks earlier.
Six boats entered the comp and once again all boats were on the water before 9am, the fish were not prolific and once again the majority of anglers were finding it difficult to catch the fish they were targeting.

At the start we went drifting on the sand just off Porth Dafarch hoping to pick up a plaice, dab, grey gurnard and possibly an insize whiting but the problem was the fish hadn’t read the script and we were still there two hours later, eventually we managed a couple of the species that we were after but this was the story for most of the day for us, spending too much time in areas were we have caught certain species but not catching them or spending too much time catching, but that’s the way it goes sometimes anyway that’s enough of the excuses all the boat’s didn’t fare as badly as us. Gwyn, Fishy and Steve on Goldilocks managed to find twelve species and one specimen to take the honours which was a good result on a day when species were hard to find, there was a points tie for second place between Owie, Elwyn and Dewi on Garramma II and Dan and Adam on O2B@C , Dan and Adam took the second position because even though the two boats had equal points Dan and Adam had caught more species, so well done to them for bouncing back from the poor show at the last match. O2B@C also took the pool for the heaviest fish with a Huss of just under ten pounds. The pool for the heaviest flat was taken by Rosea with a plaice of just over a pound. There were some quality wrasse caught, with the best of the bunch a fish of 3-14-08 taken by Elwyn bach on Garramma II.

Boat match 2 - Trearddur Bay - 18/05/2008.

With a far from perfect forecast of easterly 3-4 occasionally 5 the best venue for match no 2 was Trearddur Bay giving us offshore winds and a chance of some half decent fishing.
Six boats turned up at Llandegai to sign in so we set off for Trearddur Bay with all the boats launched and on their way to their marks before 9-0am.
Conditions were not perfect but fishable nevertheless, with reports of Smoothhounds in excess of 20lb being taken in recent days and most anglers fishing with crab baits for most of the day no smuts showed on the inshore marks, I think Holyhead deeps would have thrown a few up but it would have been a pretty lumpy ride out there today and a small window to fish for them around slack water.
The fishing was fairly slow on marks which have been very productive around this time in previous years, put it down to that cold easterly. Listening to the vhf most of the boats seamed to be struggling and just picking up the odd species here and there, normally you would expect to catch thirteen or fourteen species and two or three over specimen size to win a match at this venue but Rosea was the top boat today winning the match with ten species and one specimen for 53 points, runner up was Goldilocks with ten species and one specimen giving them 52 points, in third spot was Basshunter with nine species and two specimens for 51 points, the heaviest flat pool was won by sea pigeon with a plaice of just under a pound and the heaviest roundfish pool was taken by Rosea with a huss just short of 10 pound.Well Done to James Singleton on Sea Pigeon for taking the junior prize.

Boat match 1 - Colwyn Bay - 27/04/2008.

The first boat match of 2008 was fished out of Colwyn Bay, on what was a hard day to find the species excluding whiting, dabs and dogs that is.

Dan and Adam on 02B@C came 1st with 7 species (dog, whiting, dab, sea scorpion, coaly, p'cod, pout).

Richy Brownson and Roger who fished on Hannah Lou second with six species (whiting, dab, dog, pouting, poor cod, grey gurnard). 

Bob, Frank & Gary on Bass Hunter were third with six species ( whiting, dab, dog, pouting, poor cod, sea scorpion). 

Heaviest roundfish pool was taken by Elwyn Bach (Selby) on Garamma with a dog of 2-12-04. Heaviest flatty pool was won by Josh Andrews (junior) with a flounder of 1-06-08, Josh who fished on his grandads (Gwynnie) boat Goldilocks, Josh also took the junior prize by catching four species.

All in all the fishing was pretty poor but it was good to get out we saw a group of porpoise about half a mile off the orme and some dolphin about six miles off, plenty of gannetts flying around, more than i have noticed in previous years

Dates for the 2008 boat league are as follows

1. April 27^th .
2. May 18^th.
3. June 1^st.
4. June 15^th.
5. July 13^th.
6. July 27^th.
7. August 10^th.
8. September 7^th.
9. September 21^st.
10. October 12^th.

 Reserve match date October 26^th.

The league this year will consist of eight matches with the best six results counting, this will leave two dates left to be used for matches with a different format, basically mini opens with the results not counting for the league.

The meeting place for this years matches is the little chef car park at Llandegai near Bangor, the days venue will be chosen taking account of up to date forecasts and the boats will be leaving at 0800 hrs at the latest so if you want a breakfast give yourselves plenty of time, if the weather is settled telephone Gwyn on 01745 823861 or 07912 420085 or Gary on 01745 826253 or 07748 841528 before 2100hrs as a decision could be made to launch the boats at Colwyn Bay but only in periods of very settled weather can such a decision be made the night before a match.

All boats will be checked at the first match to make sure that they are seaworthy and are carrying all the recommended safety equipment,(a list of this equipment is printed in the clubs handbook).

There may be an opportunity to have your boat checked by the R.N.L.I. at the first match if this can be arranged, so make sure your flares are in date, spare anchor and warp etc etc .

The club recommends that lifejackets be worn while taking part in club organised events.

This year any new boats fishing the league will be paired up with one of the more experienced boats giving them a chance to fish proven marks and hopefully the methods to fish these different marks successfully, they could also then save these marks on their chart plotters for future reference, boat names will be drawn out of a hat for pairing up.

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Please Note for your safety and to avoid disappointment:
All boat members be prepared to have your boats checked by the RNLI  for safety prior to the first match.

There will be a date organised for you, probably in the Colwyn Bay area, so please keep up to date by checking this page regularly.  

Also please note the useful links under Boat news & Safety in the blue section on the right of this page

The safety Committee will be posting a list of essential equipement in the near future.


URGENT NOTICE TO ALL BOAT MEMBERS
Details are as follows:-
Boat owning members should apply to the Harbour Master's Office for an application form for a launch permit. When applying state that they are a member of cbvsac. Completed form to be sent back to Harbour Office along with a photocopy of club membership ( must be current for 2008 ) and a photocopy of boat insurance. Members living outside Conwy County will  have to pay a registration fee, currently £20, but this will be detailed on the form, members  living in Conwy County receive this free of charge. Once registered the boat is also registered within Gwynedd and Denbighshire as they have a reciprocal agreement. Boat launch permit then permits boat owners to launch at any slipway in Conwy County free of charge ( a list of slipways is given with the application form), for launching in either Gwynedd or Denbighshire the boat owner will still have to pay the appropriate fee but will not have to register.
Address for forms: The Harbour Master's Office, Conwy Quay, Conwy. Tel 01492 596253.