The 2nd Williams challenge went ahead on a
glorious weekend in Mudeford and fulfilled all expectations for this fledgling
annual event in only its second year. A
late start on the Saturday night saw the competitors depart for the traditional
rule making meetings in the local bars of Southampton. Confident local man and
competition virgin Adam Gibbs acted as guide for the evening, escorted by his
personal fishing mascot Marie.
A fistful of beers and some debate later it was agreed the
Cup completion should be decided by the absent organiser and occupational law
maker Sam. A phone call found him lounging in a Scottish lodge overlooking a
fine loch. The Law man graciously approved the formula of Quantity x Species for the cup competition and also passed snippets
of fishing wisdom to the messenger which were immediately forgotten thanks to
the pint count at 1145pm (hence not shared with the whole group!!). Various side bets and were subsequently
proposed by Judd as he realised his options to maximise his winnings were
heavily impacted by this non-traditional surprise format. Only the fresher (Adam) and the young (Chris)
took him up on his offer of biggest fish for a fiver, the rest being wise to
his tactics. A late curry in a house
evidently accustomed to drunks and strays, saw off the evening.
Jake, the reigning champion of the Williams Cup, was
relieved to return from the night with the aforementioned cup still in his
grasp, as earlier whilst exclaiming how difficult it would be to prise from
him, it was snatched from his hands with some ease by the elder statesman of
this year’s event, Judd (the only competitor over 40!).
An early start on the Sunday morning saw breakfast skipped
by most as we whisked through the empty roads of the new forest on what was
already a blistering hot day. Fuelled only by midnight Curry and fresh morning
coffee, it was a ‘Windows down’ journey for more than one reason (especially
for those in the car with John!).
Arriving in good time and after picking up supplies there
were a few tense moments while John conversed with an automated parking ticket
service but otherwise all were fit. We
met Andy and Jamie, the Skippers of our boat, ‘The Offshore Rebel’ and were
ferried out to the competition fishing grounds just north of the Needles. After
distribution of score cards, the first Lines were dropped in and the 2nd
Annual Williams Challenge Cup. (AWCC) was underway.
The onboard ‘Fish finder’ radar and an experienced skipper
ensured we all started strongly and very quickly the Mackerel were flopping
onto the deck in twos and threes.
Positioned on the Starboard side, Jake and Luke had the run of the
shoals and started to stretch away from the rest hitting 20 fish before the
stern (Adam and Judd) had reached a tally worth bothering the score card
for. Chris and John on the port side
were middle runners at this stage.
Jake landed the first fish and quickly another, becoming the
first competition leader, telling signs of his fierce intent for the day. Up to 20 fish Jake had stayed ahead of the
rest but shortly after Luke started pulling in 3’s and 4’s at a time and opened
up a 3 fish gap from Jake, becoming the second competition leader by the time
we moved off to go for something bigger.
During the short transit to another spot, the Skipper
sparked a stewards enquiry into the current rankings by pointing out that
Luke’s line was rigged with 5 feathers where as all the others were using only
3. Hollers and shouts of unfair advantage and dirty tactics fell on deaf ears
as Luke proclaimed his innocence and unawareness of the disparity. When the skipper suggested a 5% point’s
penalty, it was met with cheers of agreement especially from the back runners
in the field! The issue was parked, but was
sure to be resurrected if the final rankings were within the ludicrous 5%
bracket!
Before baiting began for the big fish (rag worm, mackerel
and squid were available) a couple of notable things happened. Firstly, Jake to the annoyance of most
appointed himself the onboard commentator. Using a pencil for a microphone he
embarked on a rambling broadcast style update. Most of the competitors noticed
the pencil mic was particularly sharp and could have been put to a much better
use as far as Jake was concerned!
Secondly, given our previous nights exploits the onboard WC had been a
welcome site for most, unfortunately this was short lived as the first occupant
(anon.) rendered it a hazardous no go area due to toxic fumes.
The second spell of fishing had begun and like the seagulls
above us the competitors swooped on the bait table and dropped our lines into
the very heavy current sweeping past. A
quite patch spent admiring the great views and basking in the sunshine on a
dead calm sea was only interrupted by a truly awful joke relayed by the senior
Skipper Andy. Everyone politely chuckled at the punch line and wondered if this
was the way he entertained the punters when nothing was biting. Thankfully before the next cracker! The wait
was broken by Chris hooking our first Bream of the day, doubling his species
count and notching up the 3rd Competition leader change of the day.
It was clear the winner could come from any quarter at this stage. Despite the
relief and brief excitement no one was able to follow up Chris’s catch so a
vote proposed, seconded and agreed essentially by Judd in a one man
conversation, resulted in a change of location.
In retrospect the new site proved to be as useful as the
first as far as catching fish was concerned but never-the-less it broke the dry
patch and gave Jake another opportunity to get out his pencil and try some more
amateur commentary, no doubt attempting to psyche out the competition as he
threw all he had at the task in hand.
Worth noting at this point that some of the competitors were only a
single fish or species away from the lead, while others languishing at the back
had already started focusing on the side bets.
It was a change in the tide and subsequent
weakening of the current that finally broke quiet spell. The Bream were partial to the Rag worm and
after Chris had shown the way, most competitors had braved this particularly
aggressive bait and it started to reap rewards.
Adam sitting on a low twenties Mackerel score pulled in the second bream
of the day doubling his total and edging in front of Chris whom while holding 2
species already, only had a high teens mackerel haul pushing him into
second. It was John’s turn to secure the
lead when at first he teased the group with a caught but not landed juvenile bream, which was disqualified, then followed
up with a second, caught and netted. We
were three quarters through the challenge, 6 competitors and 5 different
leaders so far. Was Judd about to complete the set and steal a last gasp
victory?? ....Apparently Not.
No sooner had John scooped the lead when Adam snatched it
back with another bite on the line. Anything other than a Mackerel or Bream
would treble his score putting him potentially in an unassailable lead. Even
one of the aforementioned would still give him the lead but only by a cat’s
whisker!! As the catch was scooped into
the net the collective group held their breath......It was a Bream. Game on.
With only half an hour remaining the mood changed to one of
intense concentration. Clearly the fish were there for the taking and the
thought of any of the Williams boys relinquishing the Challenge Cup to the new
comer was a galling one. Throwing everything into the ring, Judd repeatedly raised
hopes by fighting various fish only to bring nothing back to the boat. Chris, in a tactical move to edge back into
the lead, switched his line back to feathers to try and boost his score. 3
Mackerel would have earned him 6 more points giving a 2 point lead but alas the
move was in vain as he returned to the baited line after only a single
catch. Both Luke and Jake also tried the
mackerel lines in the short time left but nothing bit. Luke’s spell on the
feathers was a frustrating one as the junior skipper (Jamie) having hopped on
to Luke’s baited line, proved there might actually be some skill required here
by pulling in a Bream of his own!
With only 10 minutes of fishing left, Adam’s vision of
victory was dashed as the reigning champion of the AWCC showed what it takes by
catching a new comer to the Species chart, a fine Dog Fish. It was only a second species for Jake but
enough to leap frog him into a commanding lead. Only a 3rd species
from Adam, John or Chris or 2nd from Luke would be enough to snatch
back the Victory. For the second time
Adam had heart’s pumping when he pulled in his 3rd Bream of the day
but it was not enough.
“Time Gentlemen please” from the Skipper ended the
Competition and sent Jake into a victory dance around the boat with a rendition
of ‘we are the Champions’ being played out in his ear via Adams phone. An Epic battle on a glorious summer’s day had
resulted in a worthy (and mildly smug) 2012 AWCC champion.
Returning to shore the post competition lunch was a hearty one
as local restaurant ‘the Jetty’ kindly cooked up a tray of our Mackerel haul as
an appetiser. Not wanting to award the Cup to himself Jake received it from
Luke and the Traditional names in a hat for next year’s challenge organiser
were drawn. John will take the honour
for 2013.
After a cooling dip in the Sea the competitors bade farewell
and went on their way.
.......till next year.
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