A rare sighting of a seal in the waters off Burnham-On-Sea was one of the day’s highlights when 31 anglers took part in a Burnham Boat Owners competition on Sunday (February 4th).
A fortnight of poor catches for local anglers continued – with just nine fish being weighed in after seven hours of fishing from the 14 boats.
One of the best catches was an 11lb 9oz cod reeled in by Mike Shepherd, pictured right. John Dumbleton snagged an 1lb 7oz whiting to win the Ray Farthing Trophy. Third was Shaun Norris and fourth was Doug Petrie. Dominic Stroud, pictured below, caught a 3lb 12oz cod to win the junior section.
But it was a rare sighting of a large seal spotted swimming in the waters of Bridgwater Bay that was the talking point for Gary Heaton.
“We spotted it following a shoal of sprats not far from the green buoy at 4.30pm,” he said. “It’s the first seal I’ve seen here in four years of fishing at Burnham.”
The last recorded sighting of a seal was in November 2005 when a young injured pup was washed ashore at Brean after storms.
RELATED LINKS:
Biting winds don’t have the fish biting in Burnham!
Seal washed ashore in storms at Brean
Burnham Boat Owners Sea Angling Association Web site [External site]
