The Herne Bay Angling Association

2012 will see a number of changes to beach competitions. As a club we are investing a minimum of £1,200 in the form of subsidies for a whole range of beach events targeted at creating value for our anglers.

Just by joining us in 2012, you can now benefit from free entry into a number of beach competitions – including our main two day festival, worth a total of £25!

Please take time to read about the changes below, they apply only to beach events and supersede any printed in the tide table – and also look at our 2012 fixtures. PLEASE NOTE – WE HAVE MOVED OUR HYTHE OPEN TO 26^TH FEBRUARY (ORIGINALLY 12^TH FEB) TO AVOID A CLASH WITH THE FOUNTAIN OPEN. We now also have a dedicated phone line for all enquiries about beach fishing at the HBAA – going straight to a Beach Committee Member – 07757 669182.

1.     Entry Fees. Instead of £3.00 entry with £2.00 optional pools, we are increasing these to £5.00 entry with an additional £5.00 optional ‘super pools’ (£2 heaviest fish, £2 numbers, £1 heaviest flatfish). This will create bigger payouts (still 100%), while keeping overall entry at just £5.00.

2.  Junior members now enter free. The HBAA will pay the basic entry for any junior member wishing to fish any competition. Does not include Pools.

3.  Minimum Size changes. Changes as follows – Whiting reduced from 28cm to 27cm, Dabs reduced from 23cm to 20cm and unclassified from 20cm to 18cm.

4.     All competitions (including Cup events) now open to non-members (except for Patternoster Shield, Brian Hackney Trophy and where stated as ‘members only’).

5.  Competitions divided in to ‘home’ and ‘away’ matches. Overall Beach Champion still to be decided by best 9 results. Individual prize for the best 5 ‘away’ and best 5 ‘home’ results by a member.

6.  Championship Points. Now changed to ‘fixed’ system as follows – 1^st 100pts, 2^nd 90pts, 3^rd 80pts, 4^th 70pts, 5^th 60pts, 6^th 50pts, 7^th 45pts, 8^th 40pts, 9^th 35pts, 10^th 30pts, 11^th 25pts, 12^th 20pts,  13^th 15pts, 14^th and below 10pts. This has been decided to make the championship more even, where frequently in the Summer there is a big difference in weight between 1^st and 2^nd and one angler catching a Bass can make it futile for the rest of the field fishing for points (as the weight of a couple of eels would be small in comparison).

7.      Fish of The Month. Minimum qualifying % removed for the beach. From 1^st January, the best specimen fish wins. Regardless of whether this is a 25% specimen or a 125% specimen. In difficult months, the 70% minimum was sometimes too difficult to achieve. This also applies to junior fish of the month awards.

8.     Specimen Fish Sizes. Bass decreased from 6lbs to 5lbs. Lesser Spotted Dogfish increased from 1.5lbs to 2.25lbs. Smoothhound increased from 4lbs to 8lbs.

9.  Booking-in Times Changed. For all Herne Bay competitions, booking-in will now be from 1hour 20mins to 1hour before the start. All entrants to leave clubhouse together, no sooner than close of booking-in. Exceptions are the beach festival and beach classic, where individual times apply. Late entries to all competitions are now available by phoning 07757 669182 for club members only. Entrant must phone prior to start of competition and leave a message in event of no answer, stating intent to fish. Entry fee must then be paid at weigh-in, regardless of catch. Failure to do so, may result in membership being revoked. Late entrants may not take up a position on the beach until 30 minutes before the start. Entry for ‘away’ venues is from 1hr 20m to 45min before start as before. Weigh-in times unchanged.