Last updated 19:41, Thursday, 12 June 2008

Seventy-four competitors - 60 seniors and 14 juniors - fished in Maryport & District SAC’s annual Spring Open Competition.

The match was fished on Sunday on the beaches between Maryport and Workington from low water to one hour before high water.

Due to the recent warm and calm weather competitors were hopeful of good numbers of plaice being landed.

Plaice were caught but not quite in the quantities hoped for. They were one of eight species.

In all, 30 anglers weighed in 89 fish for a combined weight of 79lb 6¼oz.

It was two anglers who dominated the senior section - Whitehaven's Steve Smith and Wigton's Steve Litt.

In the heaviest fish competition it was Litt, with his nice bass of 4lb 9¾oz, first and Smith, with a bass of 2lb 10oz, second.

But in the heaviest catch, Smith had a reversal of positions with his catch of two flounder, two plaice, two dab and a bass edging Litt's catch of four flounder, an eel and a bass by just 1¾oz.

In the junior section, host club member Ricky Holt continued his good run of form two win the heaviest catch, with his haul of two dogfish and a plaice.

This a full pound ahead of his closest rival, Jamie Johnson, of Distington, who weighed in three plaice including the heaviest fish in the junior section at 1lb 11oz.

Results - Senior section - Heaviest fish: 1, Steve Litt (Wigton), bass, 4lb 9¾oz; 2, Steve Smith (Whitehaven), bass, 2lb 10oz.

Heaviest catch: 1, Steve Smith (Whitehaven), seven fish, 8lb 2oz; 2, Steve Litt (Wigton), six, 8lb ¾oz; 3, Ged Stevens (Barrow), six, 5lb 10½oz; 4, Gareth Griffiths (Barrow), five, 5lb 4¼oz; 5, Colin Bell (Newcastle), six, 4lb 5½oz; 6, Chris Stringer (Whitley Bay), six, 4lb ½oz; 7, Robert Holm (Maryport), five, 3lb 15oz; 8, Tony Lewthwaite (Cockermouth), four, 3lb 8¼oz; 9, Jim Dobie (Peterlee), four, 3lb 2¾oz; 10, Gary Foster (Workington), four, 3lb ½oz; 11, Ken Nixon (Maryport), two, 2lb 12½oz; 12, Les Nicholson (Maryport), three, 2lb 6¾oz; 13, Mike Laycock (Workington), three, 2lb 2¼oz; 14, Steve Harkness (Workington), two, 2lb 1¾oz; 15, Paul Vaughan (Maryport), two, 1lb 11oz; 16, Ryan Ismay (Maryport), two, 1lb 8oz; 17, Mike Stuart (Maryport), one, 1lb 7oz; 18, Tom George (Whitehaven), two, 1lb 3½oz; 19, Peter Taylor (Workington), two, 1lb 3oz; 20, Stephen Barlow (Workington), one, 1lb 2½oz.

Junior section - Heaviest fish: 1, Jamie Johnson (Distington), plaice, 1lb 11oz.

Heaviest catch: 1, Ricky Holt (Maryport), three, 4lb; 2, Jamie Johnson (Workington), three, 3lb; 3, Aaron Holt (Maryport), one, 10oz.