This year, the weather, though blowy and unseasonably warm, at least was dry for the two legs of the Europoean Federation of Sea Anglers (EFSA) Wales Shore Championships fished on Saturday December 18, 2021 at Dale beach in Pembrokeshire and at the Mumbles on January 2, 2022.

The entry was not high, for various reasons; but most of the usual regulars turned out. It seems that no time of the year is ideal to get maximum attendance at these events, a shame really or, like most other outdoor pursuits is interest waning, especially among the younger brethren for whom indoor computer activities can sometimes seem the order of the day. However, participants were fewer in number than the Covid restrictions imposed by Welsh government before the second leg, and with risk assessments in place it was ‘full steam ahead’ for the comp.

The first day, at Dale, into the dark, fishing 2 up, 2 down over high water saw most anglers catch, numbers ranging from 0 to 9 of fish over the 20cm minimum size being measured and released. They were mainly Whiting, Lesser Spotted Dogfish, or Cat Sharks to give them their new official name, Pouting with most being undersize, plus a couple of Pollack and one Conger Eel of 47cm, caught by Chief pegger Shane Tucker (Milford Haven), virtually guaranteeing him the longest round fish pool considering the venue to be used for the second leg. No flatfish were caught, however, leaving that pool wide open. The leader after this first day was Haydn (Last cast) Cole (Stackpole) with 9 sizeable fish. This gave him a good lead over the rest who struggled to get two or three, there being one point per centimetre of length and five points per fish.

The second leg at Mumbles, also in the dark fishing 2 up, 2 down over high water, again saw huge numbers of fish, Whiting, Lesser Spotted Dogfish, Pouting and flatfish in the form of Dabs and in abundance enough to alter both the first two places and those further down. So, at the final whistle, Andy Young caught 30 fish that night winning him the coveted Gold pin from Steve (Smiler) Lewis who had 21 fish on the night who took the Silver, relegating Haydn to third place giving him the Bronze pin. As expected Shane picked up the longest round fish pool with his Conger of 65cm and the flatfish pool this time on his own outright went to Matthew Lustig with the longest flat a Dab of 30cm.