PENN FINAL PREVIEW
All about the big annual event.
Every year match anglers up and down the British Isles fish open shore competitions in the hope of winning points in the Sea Angler Penn Sea League, with the ultimate aim of reaching the prestigious annual final. There are two league divisions and at the end of each calendar year the top 35 anglers from the Premier Division and top five from Division One qualify for the Penn Final. It’s a who’s who of match fishing, with arguably the best anglers in the country battling to win the final.
This is a pegged competition held once a year on various venues around the United Kingdom and is seen as a very prestigious event featuring some of the best match anglers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
This year the Penn Final takes place on Saturday, May 12 at Bossington in Somerset. Situated alongside the ancient port of Porlock Weir, Bossington is on the edge of Exmoor National Park, a beautiful location surrounded by some splendid views and rugged coastline. Strategically placed, this is where the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel meet, a melting pot of estuarine and marine waters that boasts almost every type of fish found in the Bristol Channel.
Fishing at Bossington takes place on a steep shingle ridge, which starts below the Hurlstone Point and runs along the whole stretch of the beach, making it a perfect location for any pegged fishing competition.
INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
A key factor to successful fishing is local knowledge and, as soon as Bossington was the confirmed venue for the Penn Final, I got in contact with one of our local experts here in the West Country – Steve Liddle, owner of West Coast Tackle in Minehead and Watchet, who has enjoyed many years of successful fishing on the beach at Bossington.
Steve and I recently met up at Bossington for a session, and this gave me the opportunity to tap into his expertise on the venue. First and foremost, you must assess the conditions on the beach. Weather and tide have a massive part to play in the fishing, as both will dictate water clarity or lack or it.
There is no doubt that Bossington fishes best when the water is coloured. The majority of species that anglers will target when match fishing prefer the perpetual darkness found in the muddier estuarine waters, especially
dogfish. On the bigger spring tides, muddy water gets dragged from right to left into Porlock Bay and through Bossington. Strong winds can also help the fishing by stirring mud and sediment off the seabed, giving fish more confidence to feed.
Some stiff northerly winds leading up to the Penn Final would be the best scenario. Coming off the back of some stormy weather, Steve and I fished our session on a falling spring tide. The water was coloured and the sea flattened by an easterly wind coming over the back of our right shoulders. We enjoyed bites from the start, mainly dogfish, with the occasional codling, rockling and pouting.
MAIN SPECIES
Dogfish should be your main target when match fishing at Bossington. There will need to be some colour in the sea to activate feeding but, once active, dogfish can be caught in really good numbers.
Steve thinks there is a good chance that anglers may see the arrival of some early smoothhounds in time for the final. This would be great news because hounds will feed in all conditions, including crystal-clear water.
The arrival of hounds could make this a great Penn final, especially if the conditions aren’t suitable for dogfish. Again, if conditions are right, Bossington can produce large numbers of conger eels – already this year we have seen club matches recording more than 20 sizable eels. We may even see a big blonde or smalleyed ray caught, as the bigger females come inshore to spawn at this time of year. A few thornback and spotted rays can be caught from this area of the Bristol Channel.
This final has the potential of being an incredible fishing competition, but there are no guarantees in fishing.
It’s worth noting that if the fishing is hard, you may need to just scratch out a few smaller fish like pollack, rockling and pouting in order to compete.
“This final has the potential of being an incredible fishing competition”
TIDE AND TERRAIN
One thing you can guarantee at Bossington is some fierce tidal currents, particularly on the flood, and then about an hour into the ebb. The stronger tidal currents generally pull from left to right along the beach, even on the ebb, once currents have deflected off Porlock Weir.
The seabed is a mix of boulders and sand, which can be very snaggy in areas, and particularly on the left-hand side of the beach where the boulders are much bigger.
The deepest point of the beach is at the Hurlstone Point end, where you will see a much steeper gradient on the beach as the shingle goes down into the water. Casting up to around 80 yards on the far right-hand side of Bossington should prevent heavy tackle losses. Try up to about 100 yards from the cliffs because there is a reef going along the beach from Hurlstone Point. Increased casting distances can work as you go further left along the beach.
TACKLE REQUIREMENTS
Anglers fishing here should bring rottenbottom attachments and a good selection of grip lead weights. You may opt for a variety of different reels, but use mainlines between 0.35mm and 0.40mm diameter to give you some much-needed pulling power over the rougher ground.
Choose a beachcaster with a bit of grunt, again, it will be a useful tool when fishing in the rougher areas of the beach.
Rigs will be mainly multiple hook clip-down styles and pulley variations. Hook sizes will vary, but anything from a size 6 to a 5/0 may be used, depending on the fish you target.
Beach Buddy-style shelters are ideal at Bossington, and it is recommended to wear Wellington boots or waders.
BAIT SELECTION
Peeler crabs will catch you just about everything in May at Bossington. A variety of different fish baits could work well, especially sandeels, mackerel and squid. Worm baits aren’t a necessity, but it may be worth having some ragworms and lugworms just in case.
PEGGING , ZONES & POOLS
The entire beach at Bossington will be used for the Penn Final, with the competitors split into two zones. They will be fishing from 2pm-7pm, which is three hours of the flood and two of the ebb.
The end peg will be placed next to the cliff at Hurlstone Point and peg 1 by the bunker on the far left-hand side of the beach.
Fished measure and release, all fish over 18cm will count. the two zones.