The 15th RNLI Annual Fishing Open, organised by members from Pembroke & District Angling Club, Osprey Sea Angling Club and Neyland Sea Angling Club, was held on Sunday 11th February on Amroth beach in South Pembrokeshire.
It was another very successful and well-organised Open match day for the RNLI, with the event raising more than £1,000 in aid of the Angle and Tenby Lifeboats.
The match was attended by 60 anglers, including four ladies and one lady junior, with the weather once again very good for the time of year.
In what were very flat sea conditions, eight anglers weighed in with Flounder and Lesser Spotted Dogfish, now known to be Catsharks. There was also other undersized fish caught that didn't reach the minimum size for weigh-in, but all safely return to the water.
The winning angler on the day was Leigh Rogers from Milford Haven, who managed to land two nice Flounder with a total weight of 1.2kg, netting him the first prize of £200.
Second was Rob Collins from Saundersfoot, another regular for these competitions, who landed the biggest fish – a Catshark of 885g – and with it the runners-up prize of £100.
In third place was John O’Connor from Martletwy, with a lovely Flounder (865g), winning him £50.
The pairs win was bagged by Leigh and Dorian Harries.
Four ladies and one junior lady angler fished the match and, although none weighed in, it was decided to award these prizes as a way of encouragement and as they had been sponsored by Shane Tucker, another regular attendee and indeed usual helper with appointing Stewards on the beach.
Winter Protheroe was awarded the junior prize, with Kirsty Culley taking home the Ladies section prize after her name was pulled out in the draw.
However, the most important result on the day was that the event raised £1,019 for the local lifeboats.
In gratitude for this sterling effort the event organisers wanted to thank their sponsors. Firstly, Kirsty Culley and Peter Kraus for the huge amount of raffle prizes they managed to acquire.
Then, in no particular order: Oriel Johnson, Darren Jones, Sean Reynolds, Mike Rowe of J & M Tackle, Dimond St, Pembroke Dock, Shane Tucker, Andrew Skeels, Mike Mather, John O’Connor, Alison, Kristian & Joshua George, Leigh Rogers, Chris Wynn, Haydn Cole, together with Ian Wilkinson of the Temple Bar Inn, who put his premises and valued support at this event’s disposal.
The organisers also wanted to thank Jennie McIntosh and two of her fellow members of RNLI Saundersfoot Branch for helping with the raffle tickets, along with Robert Varns for taking the photographs.
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