There were a few matches over the Christmas and New Year break that I really ought to catch up on. Holt SAC fished several matches over the holidays with generally good results.

Paul Thorburn won the Rocket House open at Salthouse on the December 27 with 37 fish for a total length of 920cm. Richard Ellis was second with 740cm and Craig Buy third with 712cm. The catches were mainly dabs with a sprinkling of whiting. The Mathews cup was contested at Cley on the December 30 where Tony Thomas won with a healthy 7lb 9oz of dabs and whiting, Pete Loke was second with 5lb 11oz and John Neave third with 5lb 2oz. The New Year's Open was fished at Kelling which produced in some decent conditions. Martin Waters won it with 9lb 12oz, Mark Gooch was second with 9lb 8oz and Alan Lewis third with 8lb 15oz, again catches were dominated by dabs with a few whiting and pouts for good measure. Finally to bring you up-to-date, Bill Beeton won the first leg of the Winter accumulator at Cley with 5lb 2oz, Henry Randell was second with 4lb 1oz and Dene Conway third with a level 3lb.

The rest of the region hasn't quite been as consistent as the shingle bank though there seem to be decent sized dabs about in good numbers on lots of the regions beaches this year. The deep water beats in the deep south have been disappointing, there are pockets of fish off Corton that some of the boats and kayakers can get among but the beaches are quiet bar the dabs and whiting. There's still chance of codling and I note that there has been a sudden good run of fish off the Yorkshire coast, the same could happen down here, in the meantime it looks like we will have to settle for the dab fishing whilst we hope for the cod. The week ahead has the temperatures dropping into the weekend with wintry weather on the way, the wind is across all four compass points this week and the best results will be for those lucky enough to time their trip with conditions fining down after a blow.