Sea Fishing Sports Section Annual Reports  2005
2006 2007 2008 2009 Out January 2010  2008 top
Sea Angling Sports Section
By DC Dave Stainton
This year has been a quiet year for the Sea Angling Section. The abysmal summer weather led to a number of trips being either cancelled or postponed.
Following last years disappointment at the PSUK Boat Fishing Championships in Weymouth, it was decided not to send a team to this years event, which was to be held at the same venue and undoubtedly favoured those with local knowledge . It is hoped to field a team in next years event
Members did however enjoy some memorable trips to, Portpatrick, Blythe, Whitby and Fleetwood..
Fishing out of Portpatrick in September, Section Secretary Dave Stainton achieved a personal best with a Tope of over 50lbs and even managed to get his ugly mug in the October’s edition of Sea Angler magazine.
Tagged and put back.
http://www.slateman.co.uk/lcssc/off-duty/lcssc-offduty5-seafish.jpg
Caption: Dave pictured here with fellow anglers Dave Eaves and Jack Halsall with his 50lb Tope
The Sea Angling Section is always pleased to welcome new members including 50lb Tope’s!
2007 Report pending... 2006 By Secretary DC Dave Stainton 2006 saw Lancashire’s first foray into the Police Sport UK National Boat Fishing Championships. This years event was hosted by the Northern Constabulary and held in Orkney over the August Bank Holiday weekend . 34 four man teams travelled the length and breadth of the country to get to this remote location in Northern Scotland. Team Lancashire travelled 450miles from Preston to get to the ferry port of Scrabster just outside Thurso and then onward to Stromness the base for the championships. 
 
The clear waters around Orkney are a popular destination with recreational divers and Stromness is home to a large fleet of converted trawlers purposely kitted out as live aboard dive-boats. It was a mixed fleet of angling boats and these dive-boats that took the anglers out on the waters around Orkney. Fishing close to shore in the shadow of the cliffs anglers were able to enjoy some spectacular scenery including the famous ‘Old Man of Hoy’ a towering pillar cut from the cliffs through erosion.  
Some of the veterans of this competition had sent advanced parties up to the venue some days before, both to dig local bait and to fish the venue on the day prior to the competition, hoping to gain the competitive edge by identifying those tactics most likely to work. It became obvious to us that were we were competing against some very serious and experienced competition anglers. The weather was kind to us on the day of the competition with a mixture of sunshine and light showers, but more importantly very light winds. In the interests of conservation, the competition was run on a catch and release basis, with points being scored for each fish landed instead of a more traditional weigh in. Species caught included cod, pollack, mackerel .wrasse, ling, dab coalfish pouting and whiting. 
 
In boat angling, the anglers are heavily reliant on the local knowledge of the boat’s skipper to put them where the fish are. In order to minimise any disparity in skippers ability on the results of the team , no two anglers from the same team fish on the same boat, so it’s not until the boats dock that the team is able to assess how well it’s done. Given the team’s lack of experience in PSUK competitions, Lancashire finished in a creditable 20th position from 34 teams. The event was won a very experienced Northumbria team. Highest individual placing went to Dave Eaves in 49th place in a field of 134 anglers. Hopefully this experience will enable Lancashire to fare better in this year’s competition, to be held in Weymouth in October 2007. Lancashire didn’t enter a team in this year’s PSUK Shore Championships which were held in Stranraer in November, however we expect to field a team in the 2007 event later in the year. Articles in the Force “Off Duty” magazine have generated more interest in the Sea Angling Section and this year it’s hoped to run some sectional events as well as compete in PSUK events, which should generate even more interest. Lastly a big thanks on behalf of the Section to the Sports and Social Club Secretary, without whose help and guidance attendance at the Championship Events would not have been possible. ‘Tight Lines’ Dave Stainton By Secretary DC Dave Stainton Lancashire’s newly formed Sea Angling Section made a foray into PSUK competitions with a last minute entry into the PSUK National Shore Fishing Championship. This was hosted by Hampshire Police and fished over 2 very, very cold days in early November. The first round was an evening event fished off the beach at Southsea . The second round was fished the following afternoon at Hayling Island. There were approximately 160 anglers in the competition from all over the UK including competitors from the Northern Constabulary who’d travelled over 700miles to the venue and a team from PSNI. The event was dominated by the 4-man team from Kent, who won both the team competition and the individual prize. Hats off too them as the fishing was pretty poor all round. Alas, Team Lancashire didn’t fare very well, with a nil return on both days. As ours was only a 2 man team, we were heartened by the fact that a number of more experienced four man teams had also failed to catch. This perhaps meant that we were twice as good as them. We were encouraged by the reception and welcome we were given by other competitors, some remarking how good it was to see Lancashire back in the competition after a notable absence. We’ve learned quite a lot about the organisation and have made some useful contacts. This year the section hopes to field teams in the PSUK Boat fishing Championships to be fished at Orkney in August and also to field an improved team into the PSUK Shore Fishing championships in Southwest Scotland later in the year.. Here is a picture of Team Lancashire members Dave Stainton and Paul Harvey fishing in the pitch dark and freezing cold conditions encountered at Southsea.   
| 
