BRIDLINGTON 2005

 

Bigdavesfishing in conjunction with WSF and the mersey pirates descended in this years British Open Championships held along the east coast from bridlington in the north down to spurn point in the south.

The match was on saturday 6th and sunday 7th of march but BDF decided to go down on the friday morning to recce the shoreline.

The weather was fine when we got there with little winds and bright sunshine, we had a look at several marks along the coast (meeting kammy,bigh and leicester fish eagle along the way doing the same ), we soon discovered that half the battle will be to find somewhere to park and more importantly to be able to get down to the beach as there is just sheer cliff on many stretches of the beaches with no way down with out a parachute so before long we decided to retire to the pub for the first pint of the tour and some lunch.

this poster was on the wall of the pub, and seeing as kammy was with us we decided it was an omen and let him get the first round in.

After we booked in at skipsea caravan park..discovering that there was a leak in the central heating that caused it to have no water pressure(just needed topping up to 4 bar!!) and the telly not working we decided the only course of action was to head back to the bar.

day 1

We had a chat with Alan leicester fish eagle and he told us of some good catches coming off skipsea in a hole recently formed due to the bad weather, so after a hard night in the bar getting to bed after 4, we were back up and on the beach for 6.15 to ensure we got the mark.

It had snowed quite hard during the night and lots of it had stuck even to the wet ground, we were glad we got there early as lots pulled up looking to get the mark to see that team BDF and team Wacko had taken it it already, 2 other local lads were also there after sitting in their van all night to get the mark as was alan.

The morning started quite well with high expectations and chat of how we were going to spend our winnings, this soon turned when the weather took another turn for the worse and a blizzard started.

The rods tips sat still despite regular bait changes/distance's etc in freezing cold conditions that chilled you to the bone, lucky for lol he brought his beach buddy and they retired to it,

Its an old container that is sunk into the ground and it became LOL's home for the next few hours, so much so we have re-named him LOL of the dump, the highlight of the day was when alan's darling wife brought us hot coffee and chips that we were all very grateful for.

By 1.30 the tide had well and truly turned and we all knew that we were wasting our time fishing on , so teams united we decided the only sensible thing to do was to get back to the bar .Several teams had all had the same brilliant idea and it was busy with the WSF boys when we got in there.The inter team challenge was a roll over as no one had actually managed to catch a fish that we could weigh in, so it was all to play for. It was another good night in the club and in the caravan of doom later as el mag found out the next day with his new haircut

day 2

Day 2 started with a bit less enthusiasm than day 1,webbo unveiled his secret weapon to help him

after a couple of hours sleep we went round to wake the wacks up for a bacon butty, for any chance of cod you had to be on the spurn point (the road was closed so you were looking at a 3 mile walk or do as some of the locals did and get a boat out to it) so after a look at the sea and a quick team talk we decided to head north to sewersby steps to get out of the wind, into calmer waters and target flounder as no flatties had been weighed in on day 1.

The difference in the day was amazing instead of fishing in fleeces and floatation suits i was fishing in just a T-shirt for a good time today

There were a few little flatties getting caught

unfortunately the luck of the irish was stopping team BDF from getting on the score board, LOL even had his lucky bell on his rod

and it must of worked as he managed to catch this fish to get team BDF on the score board using his secret murder rig

unfortunately that was the last fish caught and again i blanked at brid, i was made to wear the bell of shame the rest of the day, we fished right to the end to no avail, so it was off back to the pub for some more festivities.

Millsy was presented with and helped into his nappy

and i actually managed to win 3 darts matches in a row and team defano were presented with their winnings after winning the inter team challenge with john the only other one of us who managed to get a fish in size

 

 

All that drinking is hard work and it gives you an appetite, sven was cooking slice sausage when we got to the caravan but he wasn't quick enough for paddy whack so he was eating it raw

mind you he paid for it the next day when we called round to their caravan the toilet wasn't a pretty sight lets hope he made it home without having to use his bucket as an emergency.

 

we wont be back again as will several other teams that we spoke to over the weekend, its just not worth the effort or expense for no chance of catching a fish, only in size 161 fish were caught by the 1300 anglers fishing the comp, very poor same as last year so we are on the lookout for a new comp to go to for a group weekend away.