Photo L to R.                                    Ray Ashby, Robin Lane, Ed Taylor, John Bellamy, Martin Bobbett, Cliff Newbold and Rod Giles, seated Chris Rodgers.

      On Friday 22nd August the club held a reception organised by Robin Lane for the winners - mostly from our club - of the recent Home Nations team event.  The evening was attended by nearly thirty members with the Angling Trust represented by Rod Giles and Ray Ashby from the Wessex Division Committee.

      Cliff Newbold started the evening off with a very informative talk on techniques for fishing for plaice.  His method of targeting them has been heavily influenced by the methods used by Scandinavian anglers.  A generous buffet, supplied by Janet Littlefair, was followed by the draw.

      John Bellamy, the team's manger, closed the evening by thanking the club for laying on the event and stressing how, for a small club, we punched well above our weight.  Over the years the standard of boat fishing had increased enormously, he said.  He finished by paying tribute to the late Vernon Everitt, who had laid the foundations for the Match Boat League and to Robin Lane for continuing to organise the running of it since.

Christchurch Angling Centre is owned by Tom Bagnall who sponsors some of the boat and shore competitions.  Tom participates in many club activities, is also a very good angler and on some occasions makes a very good cup of tea.     www.christchurchanglingcentre.co.uk 

Angling Trust is where you can get the latest news on all aspects of angling and the latest news about covid-19 regarding angling. www.anglingtrust.net

Lymington Harbour Commissioners a good site for local tides and weather reports.    www.lymingtonharbour.co.uk

 Loni's a good friendly shop and Garry is very helpful.  www.loni's.co.uk

These are species-based boat competitions with no size limits Please contact Richard Day 0798 9282 245.

Vernon Everett Match Boat League Presentation Report sent in by Ed Taylor.

Well, what a year 2025 has been for the Vernon Everett match boat angling competition anglers with twenty-one competitors fishing seven matches on a bait supplied basis, fishing between three ports, Lymington, Poole and Weymouth.  The bait supplied competition packs contained ten ounces of squid, three mackerel and 8 ounces of ragworm.  A big thank you to Christchurch Angling Centre for their sponsorship on the frozen bait packs for this year.  We couldn't do this without you.      A total of 4502 fish were recorded from seven matches, with 29 different species being caught, including trigger fish, red bream, 3 bearded rockling, plaice, pollack, cuckoo and rock cook wrasse.  Separate to the main competition, we also run two optional pools, one for the most species over the series for an individual angler a three-man team that is seeded to encourage the development of the match group, enhancing everyone's skills.  Top species angler for 2025 was John Bellamy with 24 species.  In second place three anglers tied with Mike Fox with 23 species, Garry Young, George Fox and Steve Batchelor.  As for the three-man team event Paul Hollyoake, Garry Young and Russell Latimer took first place with a total of 1256% over second placed George Fox, Martin Bobbett and Karl Bates with 1179% followed up in third place by Richard Day, Steve Batchelor and Gareth Smith achieving third position with a percentage of 1140%

This year's series winner with 557.31% was Paul Hollyoake, beating Martin Bobbett by 2.54% with a score of 554.77% into second place.  Chris Ellis took third place with 554.28% only 0.49% behind Martin.  A close final match in Weymouth determined the final three positions for this years top three anglers.  Well done all.  We have introduced two extra trophies which are competed for at the final match day in Weymouth.  Each boat is seeded relative to the previous six results fished.  The final winner from the series is won on boat one, then the boats two and three trophies are competed for on that final day.  This year winners were Steve Batchelor on Boat two and Andy Richmond on boat three.  Well done gentlemen.  Paul Hollyoake also donated a £25 tackle voucher for the best improved angler in 2025, a huge well-done Mark Boldick for all his efforts this year.  I would also like the opportunity to thank Robin Lane for his hard work and commitment over the last 13 years as Match Boat Co-Ordinator, and recreational boat trip organiser.  Robin will be standing down this year to reap the benefits of his legacy over the years. 

A big thank you to Martin Bobbett and Richard Day for their presentations on how to build glued rigs and how to tie the FG knot.  Not to forget the two gentlemen behind the bar, Brian and Terry for their continued support in running the bar.  The camaraderie and banter throughout the year throughout the match group has been second to none.  As a club we are very fortunate to have such an especially strong competitive group of match anglers, all willing to help and learn.  A big well done to every one of who fished this series, roll-on 2026.  We are still looking for anyone of who would like to fish the series or even volunteer to be scorer.  If you are at all interested, please do not hesitate to contact Ed Taylor telephone: 0771 1378 984

Vernon Everitt Match Boats League Results fished on Saturday 25th October.  Results sent in by Alison Day.

"Snapper" 1st Steve Batchelor 409 pts, 2nd John Bellamy 326 pts, 3rd Russell Latimer 283 pts and 193 fish, 4th Mark Boldick 283 pts and 173 fish, 5th Robin Lane 248 pts, 6th Mike fox 239 pts.  "Al's Spirit" 1st Andy Richmond 262 pts, 2nd Andrew Southwick 235 pts, 3rd Dave Wood 206 pts, 4th Glynn Barker 185 pts and Marc Duncan 185 pts and both had 105 fish each, 6th Gareth Smith 175 pts, 7th Karl Bates 95 pts.  "Meerkat" 1st Martin Bobbett 300 pts, 2nd Chris Ellis 295 pts, 3rd George Fox 272 pts, 4th Ed Taylor 257 pts, 5th Garry Yound 251 pts, 6th Chris Rogers 248 pts and Paul Hollyoake 248 pts each and both had 158 fish each.