3rd All England Squid Championships - Brighton Marina

[fishyrob]

3rd All England Squid Championships



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Its that time of year again, where frustration of lack of decent fishing has led me to badger TRONIX and THE TACKLE BOX into sponsoring the 3rd All England Squid championships.



With lessons learnt from last year this years event will be hosted on a set of neaps, with an evening flood and a couple of hours of ebb. With everything seeming to be running a little late, and April full of big tides on the weekends, May 8th, 17:00 till 22:00 looks to be the best date to fulfill the criteria.



No trophy this year owing to global recession (Matt - your trophy from last year will be at the event!!) but tackle prizes from both TRONIX and THE TACKLE BOX to warrant your £5 entrance fee. All entrance fees will be walked into the RNLI charity shop on the marina first thing Sunday, and a receipt issued and publsihed. No cash prizes. There will be a day ticket to be paid on top, but I hope to negotiate a discount.



Assembling at the BREAKWATER CAFE on the East arm ofr Brighton Marina from 16:00, walk off at 16:30.



Mostly about fun and the RNLI!! Last year conditions were terrible for squidding, with the seas rarely clear enough for any length of time. Fingers crossed for better conditions this year!!



Last years winner with the only Cephalod caught..........

[SmattyB]

Looking forward to it, let's hope for better conditions this year.



M.

[ru 12 mug]

1...wtf is RNLI??????

2...thats a nice cuttle fish

mug

[fishyrob]

[quote name='ru 12 mug' post='18017' date='Mar 28 2010, 12:23 PM']1...wtf is RNLI??????

2...thats a nice cuttle fish

mug[/quote]



Come on man!!! Dont you have something similar in Oz? Being part of the commonwealth and all. Here in the UK, this small island, founded on a proud tradition of seamanship, worshipping the seas for the riches they have bought us blah blah blah rely upon a CHARITY ORGANISATION called the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. If you ever find yourself being plucked from the seas around our Island it will be largely thanks to little old ladies, and people like me, shaking cans and organising events that has saved your life. It sucks. Every other country in the world uses state funded organisations to safeguard the lives at sea. Not in the UK!!! HOwever, it is an excellent service, and I for one wouldnt put out to sea without knowing those guys were there to bail me out if I mess up. It has even been said that the reason it is an excellent service, is BECAUSE it is free of the restraints of government funding!!



I wish the squid comp was this weekend coming. They turned up today!!

[ru 12 mug]

here we call it VMR.. volunteer marine rescue and coast guard....you pay your membership fees each year and if you find yourself in the shyt you call them up and they will tow you back in .

works well here and if your not a member the costs for being towed back to shore can be quite hefty as they charge about $80.00 per hour from when they reach you.

mug

[fishyrob]

With five days to go until the big day, we have the first five day forecast, and I have to say I am very pleased that it suggests water clarity will be EXCELLENT, with stiff N winds all week. This means, much to George and the Trophy engravers relief (cos there is a trophy after all, as TRONIX MD George is a big softy, and thought it wouldnt be right without one) that the competition is highly likely to be a goer!!!!



Rules will be mostly made up on the day. The only rules I can think of that are important, is ONE ROD (Max 3 jigs, but TBH one jig will be just as effective) for squid. If you want to fish another rod for other species, up to you, but if you do, please be mindful that it doesnt prevent fellow float jiggers from running through.



Squid and cuttles will be measured on mantle length. Longest length wins. This is because squid are very difficult to empty of water properly, so no weighing will be 100% accurate.



Please bring a cool bag with ice packs if possible, to get the very best out of your squid on return to the kitchen.



Any unwanted cuttles I am happy to accomodate for you...... <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Please remember once again its all about fun. Dont be terroritorial about your swim. IF someone bumbles in, let em. You'll get chatting and you might have yourself a new fishing buddy. It is likely to be quite busy out there, although the strong wind should put off a lot of daytrippers.



IT WILL BE COLD. Last year some turned up expecting a Carribean Climate. Brighton is on the English channel, and with the strong Northerly wind and predicted temperature, normal winter beachwear will be appropriate.



The venue with the wind predicted will be the East arm. The float fishing will be quite difficult with a northerly wind. The squid are fairly evenly distributed along the arm with the tide and fishing times as they are. Every swim you stand a good chance at some point, as the squid move along.



The assembly point will be the Breakwater Cafe at 16:00. Walking off at 16:30 for a 17:00 start.



I still havent found how much we will be charged for the ticket, but will be pushing for £2. This will be in addition to the £5 entrance. All £5 entrance monies will be given directly to the RNLI charity shop situated in the marina, either during the competition, or at the earliest possible time after



Carp rod and sliding float tackle, with floats in the 1.5 oz range will be required. Bass rods etc will also do it no worries, but carp rods are lighter, so easier to hold all day.



Still need someone to rescue Toby,(Chichester area) or he will have to face the indignity of a long ride on the X700. Not pleasant........



Look forward to seeing you all there.

[fishyrob]

More prizes appearing, which is awesome, as it shows that people appreciate the RNLI enough to get involved.



Premiere Brighton restaurant FISHY FISHY has offered a meal for two at their awesome fish restuarant in Brighton, You can drool over the menu here.....

[url="http://www.fishyfishy.co.uk/menu.html"]http://www.fishyfishy.co.uk/menu.html[/url]



MightyBright will also be contributing some of their latest tip tapes to the prize pool. Cheers Hugh, we know we can count on you to support local gigs...!!



On top of this there is the Sonik SK3 beach rod, Tronix goodie bags, other rods and reels, a tackle pack from downham Angling. We might re-jiggle the order of prizes for 1st 2nd 3rd etc as it would seem that there is still stuff finding its way to this event. We might well see a reporter from the Argus wandering around, so everyone should dress smart..............:nonono:

[fishyrob]

Latest from my rooftop (about 300 feet above the marina (altitude)) 6-10 MPH NNW. Fingers crossed it stays like that all day. Temperature is 9 degrees, already two degrees above the maximum forecast. Cloud cover is 100% but light cloud not threatening any rain at the moment. In fact, pretty much perferct squidding conditions. Lets see if the weather holds until 22:00 tonight!!!



I've also repaired the links to my diary report for the first all england squid championships in 2008, which you can see here:-



[url="http://www.fishyrob.co.uk/newdiary/Diary_2008/10052008.htm"]http://www.fishyrob.co.uk/newdiary/Diary_2008/10052008.htm[/url]

[fishyrob]

Results still being sorted, but something like 50 people entered the competition, for 21 squid recorded.

In advance of the results, I would just like to say a huge thankyou to each and everyone of you for turning up and having a go. Despite the weather being a bit dirizzly, conditions were good, winds remained light and NNW all the time, and the may weed was not nearly as bad as it has been. Quite a few squid cherries were popped, and there were a lot of smiling faces, as well as something in the region of £250 raised for the RNLI.