Three days of competitive sea fishing are scheduled for this weekend around the Forth Estuary and around 50 anglers are expected to contest Day One of the Iain Reid Memorial Match at Kirkcaldy Beach on Saturday (November 4) and Leven Beach on Sunday (November 5), weather permitting.
The other match is the second leg of the Edinburgh Winter Shore League at Newhaven in Edinburgh on Friday, fishing 7pm to 10pm, registration at Western Harbour Way EH6 6PG from 6pm to 6.15pm and names are being taken now to Ian Campbell via the Scottish Shore Angling Match Group page on Facebook.
Alan Combe, one of the organisers of the two-day Fife event, confirmed that the entire Scottish gold medal team from the Home Internationals in Wales earlier this year would be there along with two well-known anglers from Tyneside, Neil Cutler and Steve Potts.
It was Potts who made the long journey north last week to win the first round of the Edinburgh Winter Shore Angling League at Portobello on Friday landing 16 fish. Cutler was seventh.
Kevin Lewis from Broughty Ferry, manager of the Scotland Ladies Sea Angling squad, is also in the field for the memorial match along with David Neil from Ayrshire, a leading Scottish bait provider.
Combe, who was in the gold medal Tartan team along with Kirkcaldy anglers Mike Horn, president of the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers, and his son Chris, who also come from Kirkcaldy, plus David Cargill from Inchture near Dundee, are all members of the East Fife Sea Angling Club and they are all listed.
Two members of the Scotland Ladies Sea Angling Squad, Gill Coutts from Largs and Buffy McAvoy (Edinburgh) are also scheduled to be there and
Meanwhile, congratulations have been pouring in on social media for McAvoy, who won the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers Ayrshire Open held at Ardrossan South Beach also on Saturday.
The 49-year-old landed 15 coley, rockling, whiting and flounders for 196 points, well clear of the field. She blanked for 3hr 30min of the five-hour match on an end peg but, once darkness fell and the tide turned, her luck changed.
Mike Horn said that there have been women’s sections in matches but he believes it is the first time a lady has won a mix event North of the Border.
McAvoy, a financial controller, said: “I knew what guys near me were catching but I had no idea what was happening elsewhere on the beach and it was a big surprise when I heard the final results.”
Second was Paul Oliver (Glasgow) with seven fish for 102 points and third was East Fife Shore Angling Club member Combe third with six fish for 155 points.
Jimmy Connell (Glasgow) with a 39cm coley and David Cargill from Inchture, who is also a member of the East Fife Shore Fishing Club, with a 39cm mackerel, won the longest fish prize.
Buffy added: “I needed the points as I did not do too well in the first two matches of the season and this is a real boost for me, especially after blanking in the first Edinburgh Winter Shore Angling League at Portobello on Friday.”
Registration for both days in the memorial match is from 8am to 9pm at the end car park at Kirkcaldy Promenade (near Morrisons) and it is a measure and return competition with a total of 50 pegs available.
Fishing on Day One at Kirkcaldy, where pegs will stretch along the beach towards the harbour, is from 10am to 2pm and fishing on Day Two at Leven is from 11am to 3pm.
Combe said: “An easterly wind is expected until Thursday when it is forecast to die down. We’re certainly looking for better weather this year than we had last when we had to move the match at Kirkcaldy at the last minute.”
PICTURE: The beach at Portobello during the first leg of the Edinburgh Winter Shore League series. Picture by Nigel Duncan
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