Topdealpier.uk
Deal Pier Fish-of-the-Month Competition 1992 to 2018
This community website is regularly updated so click to refresh the page to see the latest content
Although no confirmation has yet been forthcoming from Dover District Council, we are given to understand that:
- the monthly fish-of-the-month competition continues
- the council is donating two £11 day/night Pier fishing tickets to the angler catching the heaviest eligible fish (i.e. exceeding 1 kilo) caught in the fish-of-the-month competition
- the council's data protection rules preclude publication of the names of competition winners
If the council is unable or unwilling to authorise publication of details of the fish-of-the-month competition winners - name, town, county and weight - this webpage will close and Deal Pier's 154 year old tradition, which has existed in one form or another since 1864, will lapse.
Tony Thistleton tells me that the Deal Pier fish-of-the-month competition (in its current guise - see below) started prior to 1992 but records of the winners over the period 1992 to June 2009 are missing, as are the following later months:
- 2009 - June, August, September and November
- 2010 - January, February, April, June to November
- 2011 - January to June, October and November
- 2012 - February
If you have any of these details please email them to me at david@dealpier.uk and I will update the table.
Tony Thistelton also informs me that, in addition to the Deal Pier fish-of-the-month competition, Dover District Council also sponsored a Deal Pier fish-of-the-winter competition, the prizes then being a £25 tackle voucher for the fish-of-the-month competition and £200 for the fish-of-the-winter (October to March) competition. On 16th October 1992, when just 18 years old, Tony caught a bass weighing 12 lb ¼oz from the Pier's 3rd shelter which won the prize for the biggest fish-of-the-winter 1992/1993 competition. The prize was presented to Tony by Steve Allmark and Alan Yates took the photograph which was published in the April/May 1993 issue of Sea Angler.
Month Winner Home Species Weight (lb oz) Weight (kg) March 2009 (unknown) (unknown) Thornback Ray 5 lb 2.27 kg April 2009 (unknown) (unknown) Thornback Ray 4 lb 8 oz 2.04 kg May 2009 (unknown) (unknown) Thornback Ray 11 lb 3.8 kg October 2009 Scott Hubble Deal, Kent Cod 7 lb 15 oz 3.6 kg December 2009 Richard Jackson Sandwich, Kent Cod 11 lb 4 oz 5.102 kg March 2010 Ivan Rubins Deal, Kent Dogfish 2 lb 1½ oz 0.95 kg May 2010 Bruce Moys Herne Bay, Kent Smooth-hound 11 lb 14⅛ oz 5.39 kg December 2010 Shawn Manning Deal, Kent Cod 6 lb 4¾ oz 2.86 kg July 2011 Wayne Shorter Deal, Kent Smooth-hound 10 lb 12¾ oz 4.9 kg August 2011 Mark Elkin Sittingbourne, Kent Smooth-hound 8 lb 6 oz 3.8 kg September 2011 Aaron Donkin Sittingbourne, Kent Smooth-hound 4 lb 1¼ oz 1.85 kg December 2011 Martin Fouler Beltinge, Kent Codling 2 lb 3¼ oz 1 kg January 2012 Ivan Rubins Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 15 lb 4 oz 6.917 kg March 2012 Brian Smith Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 7 lb 8 oz 3.4 kg April 2012 Ben Hackett Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb 14½ oz 5.4 kg May 2012 Ben Hackett Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 15 lb 6.804 kg June 2012 Mark Cole Basildon, Essex Smooth-hound 8 lb 9½ oz 3.9 kg July 2012 Tim Jarrett Littlestone, Kent Bass 9 lb 11 oz 4.4 kg August 2012 Ken Withington Deal, Kent Smooth-hound 5 lb 10 oz 2.55 kg September 2012 Dean Heatlie Edgware, Middlesex Thornback Ray 8 lb 9½ oz 3.9 kg October 2012 Kaitlan Hopper Eastry, Kent Thornback Ray 7 lb 11 oz 3.48 kg November 2012 Adam Johnson Deal, Kent Cod 8 lb 11 oz 3.94 kg December 2012 Chris Waters Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 8 lb 2½ oz 3.7 kg January 2013 Carlyle London Stanmore, Middlesex Thornback Ray 5 lb 1 oz 2.31 kg February 2013 None notified ("Blank February" …) March 2013 Rod Flegg Dartford, Kent Codling 2 lb 12 oz 1.25 kg April 2013 John Yates Sittingbourne, Kent Thornback Ray 6 lb 2¾ oz 2.8 kg May 2013 Alex Stock Maidstone, Kent Thornback Ray 7 lb 5 oz 3.31 kg June 2013 Michael Crotty London Thornback Ray 13 lb 13½ oz 6.28 kg July 2013 Stuart Bush Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 8 lb 7¾ oz 3.85 kg August 2013 Jason Horton Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 6 lb 10½ oz 3.02 kg September 2013 Warren Hayes Ramsgate, Kent Bass 7 lb 2 oz 3.232 kg October 2013 Sean Craig Deal, Kent Smooth-hound 7 lb 11½ oz 3.5 kg November 2013 Craig Knowles Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 1⅓ oz 4.12 kg December 2013 Wayne Shorter Deal, Kent Codling 3 lb 10¼ oz 1.65 kg January 2014 Macauley Skirrow Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 8 lb 7¾ oz 3.85 kg February 2014 Warren Hayes Ramsgate, Kent Thornback Ray 14 lb 12⅓ oz 6.7 kg March 2014 Barry Wilmshurst Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 12 lb 13 oz 5.81 kg April 2014 Warren Hayes Ramsgate, Kent Thornback Ray 10 lb 8 oz 4.76 kg May 2014 Brian Smith Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 13 lb 3⅔ oz 6 kg June 2014 John Green Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 10½ oz 4.38 kg July 2014 Andrew Ilsley Rochester, Kent Bass 9 lb 4 oz 4.195 kg August 2014 Leah Alcock Canterbury, Kent Thornback Ray 7 lb 2¾ oz 3.255 kg September 2014 Nigel Woodcock Sellindge, Kent Thornback Ray 8 lb 13 oz 4 kg October 2014 Chris Leslie Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 14¾ oz 4.5 kg November 2014 Barry Wilmshurst Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 10 lb 9⅓ oz 4.8 kg December 2014 Paul Keating Dartford, Kent Codling 3 lb 6⅔ oz 1.55 kg January 2015 Alan Salton Tilbury, Essex Codling 4 lb 1⅗ oz 1.86 kg February 2015 John P. Smithson Margate, Kent Thornback Ray 4 lb 6½ oz 2 kg March 2015 Nigel Woodcock Sellindge, Kent Thornback Ray 6 lb 9¾ oz 3 kg April 2015 Martin Fouler Beltinge, Kent Thornback Ray 14 lb 1¾ oz 6.4 kg May 2015 Brian Smith Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb 10 oz 5.275 kg June 2015 Ivan Rubins Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 12 lb 7¾ oz 5.66 kg July 2015 Brian Smith Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb 4½ oz 5.12 kg August 2015 John Halpin Northbourne, Kent Bass 9 lb 2⅔ oz 4.15 kg September 2015 Alan Turner Margate, Kent Codling 3 lb 10¼ oz 1.65 kg October 2015 Paul Aldous Gravesend, Kent Thornback Ray 7 lb ⅞ oz 3.2 kg November 2015 Bryan Rolfe Ramsgate, Kent Codling 2 lb 15½ oz 1.35 kg December 2015 Mervyn Thorpe Odiham, Hook, Hampshire Codling 5 lb 8⅕ oz 2.5 kg January 2016 Aaron Hare Dover, Kent Thornback Ray 8 lb 0¾ oz 3.65 kg February 2016 Guy Langston Canterbury, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb 4 oz 5.1 kg March 2016 Warren Hayes Ramsgate, Kent Thornback Ray 13 lb 15⅝ oz 6.34 kg April 2016 Jason Horton Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 10 lb 9⅓ oz 4.8 kg May 2016 Patrick Green Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 2⅔ oz 4.157 kg June 2016 Darrel Love Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb ⅓ oz 5 kg July 2016 Michael Allen South Ockendon, Essex Thornback Ray 8 lb 6 oz 3.8 kg August 2016 Jamie Mathews Guston, Kent Thornback Ray 5 lb 6½ oz 2.45 kg September 2016 Isaac Pullen Bexhill, East Sussex Bass 9 lb 7 oz 4.3 kg October 2016 Jason Pullen Bexhill, East Sussex Bass 5 lb 11 oz 2.58 kg November 2016 Jason Horton Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 10 lb 5 oz 4.68 kg December 2016 Michael Kent Faversham, Kent Thornback Ray 5 lb 10 oz 2.55 kg January 2017 None notified February 2017 Moe Crooks Whitstable, Kent Thornback Ray 11 lb 14½ oz 5.4 kg March 2017 Warren Hayes Ramsgate, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 12 oz 4.42 kg April 2017 Ivan Rubins Deal, Kent Thornback Ray 13 lb 9 oz 6.15 kg May 2017 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 12 lb 9 oz 5.7 kg June 2017 Sam Price Dover, Kent Thornback Ray 12 lb 14⅓ oz 5.85 kg July 2017 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 12½ oz 4.44 kg August 2017 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 9 lb 13⅔ oz 4.47 kg September 2017 Jason Horton Deal, Kent Smooth-hound 8 lb 2½ oz 3.70 kg October 2017 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 5lb 11¾ oz 2.60 kg November 2017 None notified December 2017 None notified January 2018 None notified February 2018 None notified March 2018 None notified April 2018 Clive Rayner ?, Essex Thornback Ray 9 lb 14¾ oz 4.50 kg May 2018 John Fogg Purfleet, Essex Thornback Ray 10 lb 8 z 4.76 kg June 2018 None notified July 2018 None notified August 2018 None notified September 2018 Pier closed October 2018 Pier closed November 2018 Pier closed December 2018 Pier closed January 2019 None notified February 2019 J. Kennedy London Thornback Ray 9 lb 9½ oz 4.35 kg March 2019 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 13 lb 12½ oz 6.25 kg April 2019 None notified May 2019 Paul Davis Dartford, Kent Thornback Ray 10 lb 9⅓ oz 4.8 kg
Deal Pier Wall of Angling Fame (March 2009 to date) Species Heaviest Angler (date) Number Thornback Ray [1] 6.917 kg 15 lb 4 oz Ivan Rubins (January 2012) 57 Cod 5.102 kg 11 lb 4 oz Richard Jackson (December 2009) 12 Smooth-hound 5.39 kg 11 lb 14⅛ oz Bruce Moys (May 2010) 8 Bass 4.4 kg 9 lb 11 oz Tim Jarrett (July 2012) 6 Dogfish 0.95 kg 2 lb 1½ oz Ivan Rubins (March 2010) 1 Total 84 [1] This ray is also the heaviest fish recorded as having been caught from the Pier after March 2009.