Hooray for Henry
Having fished for England at Youth and Home International level, Norfolk angler Henry Randell now wins our prestigious shore match league
East Anglia has its first Penn Sea League Premier Division winner, thanks to 25-year-old Henry Randell, who scored a superb 92 points.
That score came from the maximum allowed 12 matches, with the England international angler, from Bodham, Norfolk, having gained his points at 14 matches, but having to drop his two lowest scores. He was also the only competitor to get points in the maximum allowable matches.
Winning the Premier Division was a second celebration for Henry, who became engaged in December to England Ladies angler Kimberley Lawn.
Away from match fishing, during the winter Henry works harvesting mussels, while in spring and summer he is a fishes commercially for crabs and lobsters.
Henry’s consistency really paid off in the final four months of the year when he moved into fifth place by October, but jumped to third in October and went top in November.
His top scores during 2019 were mainly from matches in North Norfolk. These included 10 points for third place at the Jock Goudie International Masters, 17 for fourth at the North Norfolk Air Ambulance open, and 16 for fifth at North Norfolk Bass Festival. His other two big scores were 11 for fourth at the River Tyne two-day open and, his personal favourite, 19 for second at the National Sea League final in Eastbourne.
“The best result for me has to be that National Sea League final, where I won the first day overall with 65 fish and finished third in my section on Day 2, giving me second overall and an important 19 Penn points,” he said.
Promoted from the 2012 Division One, he has remained in the Premier Division since 2013, where he gained fewer than 10pts in each of the 2015, 16, 17 seasons, but finished in 28th in 2018 with 30 points from 11 matches.
Having fished from the age of four, he gained his first England cap and a gold medal in the Youth team, fishing the Home International at Montrose. He continued to be part of the youth team for
a further three years, winning three golds and a silver. In 2017 he was picked for the Home International senior team and won a silver medal at the match fished in Wales. In 2019 he was picked for the Home International held in Ireland and won another gold medal.
Success has been honed over the many years since Henry started sea fishing when his grandad used to take the youngster to the beach. No doubt, we’ll be hearing more from Henry.
“I fished my first match at the age of six, joined Holt SAC and I’m still a member,” he said. “I never thought I would ever win the Penn League; I’m over the moon. Many thanks to Shimano for helping me for the last couple of years, to Sea Angler magazine for running the League, Penn for sponsoring it, and to the match organisers who run these matches all over the country.”
Second was Dover’s Nathan Elliott with 84 from nine events – his best results included a great start to 2019 with 20 points at Janaury’s Asso open, and he won the National Sea League final at Eastbourne, in November.
Finishing third for consecutive years was Jarrow’s Steve Williams with 80 from six matches, while fourth went to 2017 Premier Division winner Ged Stevens with 77 from 10. Other Penn tackle prize winners were Gareth Gardiner, of Sunderland, in fifth with 75 from 10, followed by Gateshead’s Neil Cutler on 72 from 11, Rob Tuck, of Holland-on-Sea, with 66 from 10 and in eighth Steve Adams, of Shotley, with 63 from seven.
Porthcawl, bag second place in the Gower Rockhoppers open on December 28 to secure five Penn points and jump to the head of the Division One. However, a day later, Matthew secured the same number of points in the Cloughton Festival open rover to win the league with 49 points, gained at three events, compared to 47 from seven for Chris.
Matthew, who is 34 and works as a crane driver at PD Teesport, started his 2019 well with 29 points for second at the Amble open in Northumberland, added 15 at Hornsea SAC’s Anyfish Anywhere open on the Holderness Coast, before grabbing those vital five points in the Cloughton open rover, also in Yorkshire.
The other prize winners in Division One were third place for Bridgend’s Andrew Withey with 44 from four events, while European Open Beach Championship winner Chris Fisher, of Aldbrough, was fourth with 40 points from two matches. Fifth went to Suffolk angler Lee Adams with 36 points from three events, with Toby Lee, of Hartlepool, sixth with 32 from three, followed by Rob Davisin, of Seaham, with 31 from two and Ian McLauhglin, of South Shields, with 30 points from one match.
Planning for the Penn Final for 2020, featuring the top 35 from the Premier Division and top five from Division One, is underway. Qualifiers will be contacted once details are completed.