51st Chesil Championship 2026

Forty-two seniors and two juniors signed on for the 51st Chesil Championship, held on 8 November after being postponed from 25 October due to stormy weather.

The day started cold but sunny, with the sea flat and clear. In the week leading up to the match, anglers had reported plenty of whiting and garfish, with the occasional smoothhound still showing, so conditions looked promising.

Competitors headed to their chosen marks after signing on. The boundary ran from the right-hand side of the car park at West Bexington to the Dragon’s Teeth at Abbotsbury. The match began at 11 a.m, and fish were being caught from the start. It was a measure-and-return match. The whiting and garfish did not disappoint, and there were also reports of a dolphin swimming nearby, taking advantage of a late run of mackerel. Sadly, mackerel did not count towards the match.

The match finished at 5 p.m., and competitors began returning to the event headquarters at the Beehive in Bridport.

The species caught were whiting, garfish, gurnard and dogfish. One angler also caught a plaice, but it was not signed off.

Malcolm Stote won the 51st Chesil Championship with an outstanding 57 fish for 1,496 points—609 points ahead of the second-place competitor. Well, done, Malcolm! Chelsea Pearce was the top junior and won two £25  Angling Centre vouchers, one donated by the Angling Centre West Bay.  Tony Havill took the prize for the highest-scoring round fish with a 68-point whiting.

Prizes were donated by The Angling Centre West Bay, Sakuma, Devon Baits, Gemini, Fenix Headlights, Breakaway Tackle, Dennets and Richard “Tiny” Daw. A big thank you to them all. We would also like to thank the Beehive for hosting the event.

The top fifteen on the day all got to pick a prize. They were:

1^st Malcolm Stote 1496pts £300 & £100 super pool
2^nd Bill Liddicoat 887pts £200 (did not enter super pool)
3^rd Brian Dawkins 844pts £100 & £60 super pool
4^th Colin Erscott 774pts £40 super pool and pick of the table

The following all got to pick a prize from the table.

^5th Dan Bristow 750pts
6^th Dave Lane 598pts
7^th Steve Conteh 560pts (on tie break)
8^th S Moore 560pts
9^th Alfie Tucker 521pts
10^th Chelsea Pearce 515pts Top junior
11^th Jason Brown 513pts
12^th Dean Hodder 350pts
13^th Dorian Harris 334pts
14^th Sam Bray 292pts
15^th Andy ? 272pts

1. Dorian Harris — 334 points
2. Sam Bray — 292 points Andy ? — 272 points

Highest-scoring round fish: Tony Havill, with a 68-point whiting.

Thank you to everyone who fished the match. We look forward to seeing you next year.