THE 18th Poingdestre's Open Shore Competition staged between the Rolling Mills Jetty and Hamble proved to be something special with nearly 400 anglers lining the shoreline.

Fareham's Tony O'Grady was one of the last anglers to register for the event but he still carried off the £1,000 top prize.

O'Grady, a 42-year-old welder, drew the red zone and elected to fish virtually opposite the registration point near Weston car park where he landed three flounders on his first three casts. He followed these up with three more flatties later in the match with his catch tipping the scales down to 6lb 2oz to collect the huge top prize.

Tony used three large ragworm baits clipped down and cast to maximum range to tempt the match-winning haul. The big-hearted angler also won another £79 in pools which he donated to the club's charity on the day, the British Heart Foundation because their president, Mick Mundy, suddenly passed away two weeks ago.

Generally, the action was below par with just 57 competitors returning 90 flounders and a solitary mullet to the scales.

The runner-up, who collected £500 for his efforts, was Colin Carey, who had travelled down from Shoreham.

While most anglers were targeting flounders, Jerry Phillips, a 46-year-old lorry driver from Southampton opted to target thick-lipped mullet and was rewarded with a cracker which weighed 4lb 2oz. He took third place with Shirley club's David Neil fourth.

The top lady, who collected £100 for her efforts, was Tanya Shepherd from the Isle of Wight.

The junior section was won by 13-year-old Ashley Attard who attends Redbridge School. Runner-up was Kirsty Jenner, a member of the Shirley club.

Wessex Anglers figured prominently during the grand finals of the Suzuki National Boat Championships held out of Poole with James Parker collecting the keys of a brand new Vitara 4x4 for a year's free motoring along with a 70hp Suzuki outboard motor worth almost £6,000 from Richard Whitaker, the sales and marketing manger of Suzuki UK.

Because of adverse weather conditions the two boats, Random Harvest and True Blue, were restricted to marks within the harbour but it did not stop Parker, a 29-year old fish manager at Southern Aquatics and Poole Bay Small Boat Club member from landing a trio of bass along with a solitary pouting to win the coveted title.

Runner-up in the event, which was organised by Boat Fishing Monthly along with members from the National Federation of Sea Anglers, was Mike Wyatt from Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

The Clarence Sea Wall was the setting for the latest round of the Allan's Marine pegged Super League where some quality whiting put in an appearance along with a smattering of dogfish, silver eels, sole, pouting and pollack. John Williams from Southampton won the event with exactly 2lb.

Eighty-nine anglers raised £200 for the Mountbatten Hospice during an open competition held around the shores of the Isle of Wight which was organised by Christian Basham.

Steve Probert picked up the £125 top prize plus another £89 in pools for the heaviest fish. He finished with a catch weighing 38lb 10.75oz which included a 32lb 1oz conger.

AROUND THE CLUBS

ELMORE SAC. Flounders dominated during the latest shore competition with Simon Ayres needing four flatties weighing 6lb 1.5oz for victory.

Almost half the 15-strong field returned fish to the scales. The only fish other than a flounder was an 11.5oz ballan wrasse landed by Penny Bennett. Nik Price came second in the event with 4lb 3.5oz, followed by Mark Jakins with 3lb 14oz.

HAMBLE SAC. The club's latest large boat fixture was held off the Nab Tower on Predator where members apprehended a good variety of species. Rob Shattock won the event with seven pouting, 19 dogfish, three whiting and a 12lb 8oz cod together worth 74 points. Hot on his heals was Tony Spridgeon with 71 points, followed by Colin Searles 51, Keith Coleman 34, Eddie Fleat 30 and Des Rowe with 26 points.

SANDOWN & LAKE AC. A roving shore competition produced a win for Rob Bennett with an 8lb 1oz catch of flounders to nudge out Graham Wells and Mark Rowan with 5lb 3.5oz & 5lb 2oz respectively. The junior section was won by Keely Lewis with 2lb 11.5oz, followed by Karl Butcher with 1lb 14oz.

MACHINE SHOP BEACH FC. A superb 10lb 10oz small-eyed-ray bagged by Mark Knight was the highlight during a shore fixture. He also went on to win the event with a total bag weighing 22lb 5.5oz. An 8lb 9oz bag of pouting put Ainsley Bennett into second spot, closely followed by Kevin Jones with an 8lb 4oz catch of pouting.