Martyn Hunton fished from North Devon’s rocky shoreline to tempt these fine specimen bull huss weighing 10lb 12oz and 10lb 15oz.Both fish were tempted on frozen mackerel from Braunton Bait Box.
A fish to restore the faith
Eleven years ago on November 6th I was with Kevin Legge when he landed his then British Record tope of 66lb 8oz a fish that broke his own record tope coincidentally landed on November 6th, 2006. Interestingly in November 1979 Combe Martin SAC member Barry Hill landed a British Record coalfish scaling 18lb. These historic captures were in our minds as Kevin and I set out for a shore fishing session on the anniversary of the capture of that record tope.
Confidence is a vital ingredient in all forms of fishing and whilst the fishing has been difficult recently with catches poor it only takes one fish to lift the spirits and restore the faith.
We arrived at our chosen mark in daylight and were all set up with baits in the water well before high water. It was good to be at the shoreline watching the rods and taking in the ever flowing waters of The Bristol Channel. Bites came from the off with the rod tips rattling as we targeted rockling or pouting to use as bait for larger predators. A succession of rockling and small tackle twisting conger were swung onto the rocks. An hour before high water as darkness descended we both cast out fresh rockling baits and set the rods on a shared tripod.
We continued to catch small conger and rockling leaving the rockling baits anchored out in the tide.High tide came and went and the tide ebbed away. On the welsh coast fireworks lit up the sky at Port Talbot and Swansea. Two hours after high water Kev’s rockling rod nodded slightly raising hope. We intended to fish until 8:30pm and packed away one rod each at 8:00pm concentrating on the rockling baits that had been out for close to two and a half hours.
At 8:15pm there came a rasping call from my reel as the rod tip pulled over positively. We both thought tope and I picked up the rod with a degree of trepidation. For a moment the run stopped and at that same moment my headlight decided to falter! Kev passed a spare and I held the rod until another strong pull came. I engaged the reel, wound down and lifted the rod. I felt life on the end of the line then for a moment all was solid as I leant back hard expecting a strong run. There came a sickening moment as something gave way then once again I felt a decent weight as whatever I had hooked swam free from a potential snag. Kev scrambled down the rock with net in hand as a silver flank appeared in the searching beam of the headlights. As the fish came closer its head looked huge as it gills flared.
Safely in the net we admired a fine bass that pulled the scales to 7lb 5oz. After weighing and a quick photo I slipped the bass back and watched it swim strongly away. Not quite a specimen but a reasonable fish and a pleasing catch to restore the faith and renew the drive to get out again.
Kev wound in his rockling to find that a small conger had been hooked.
CYRIL PETHERICK OPEN FLOUNDER COMPETITION
North Devons top shore mark?
Ilfracombe Pier is often overlooked as a great shore fishing venue but on its day when conditions are right it can produce the goods. Over the years it has probably produced more species and specimens than any other North Devon mark. Whilst this is in part due to it being easily accessible and heavily fished its is also a good mark offering deep water and mixed ground. Ilfracombe angler Toby Bassett is a frequent visitor and catches a wide range of species from the mark with tactics ranging from LRF to standard shore tactics.
“Well what an afternoon that was, rocked up to the pier mid day, and normally i just put small baits out for the mini stuff but changed it up today and put a big octopus bait out as far as i could first fish out a lovely little huss, next chuck my biggest bass to date a cracking silver bar knocking the scale between 9 and half 10.. To top it off i caught 3 lobsters as well”
The veterans amongst us remember the days of the old pier when it provided a safe stable fishing platform at all States of the tide.
Quay Sports fishing Tackle & bait Store have purchased North Devon Tackle.
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Quay Sports fishing Tackle & bait Store have recently purchased North Devon Tackle.
An agreement was reached last week and the North Devon Tackle store will be closed as from Monday,November 1st.
All of the popular products and brands that were previously stocked in North Devon Tackle will be available very soon in the Quay Sports store.
A Quay Sports team member said, “We aim to offer the same great service and choice of products that North Devon Tackle have over the past 6 years and would like to wish Jamie all the best for the future.”
The move comes at a time when the High Street continues to contract with larger stores on the edge of town offering free parking and a wider range of products in larger premises. As angling’s popularity continues to grow it is great that a shop front style shop is available for Barnstaple’s anglers.
North Devon Angling News wish Jamie all the best for the future. The advice he gave freely to local anglers was very much appreciated.
Stay Safe at Sea
As we enter late autumn it seems a good time to reiterate a few words on safety on the shoreline.
The rugged North Devon coast needs to be treated with great respect sensible precautions should be taken to minimise risk. Always check the tide times and weather conditions before setting out and consider how this will impact upon the mark you choose to fish. Magic sea weed and the Met office are good sites. Wear suitable warm, weatherproof clothing and footwear with a good grip. Always carry a mobile phone and ensure that you have a spare light if fishing after dark. Consider wearing a buoyancy aid and let someone know where you are intending to fish and the approximate time you expect to return home.
https://rnli.org/safety/respect-the-water
BOAT FISHING – ILFRACOMBE WINTER SEASON
North Devons boat anglers have the opportunity to enjoy winter fishing off Ilfracombe this winter.
FORTY SIX POUNDS TWELVES OUNCES FROM PARADISE
KRACKING PB SMASHES PREVIOUS PB BY 23LBS!!
Massive Congratulations to Sam Whapshot who caught a personal best 46lb 12oz Mirror known as Parrot beating his previous PB by 23lbs!!!
With little previous experience in carp angling Sam didn’t expect too much action on the notoriously difficult Kracking Carp Lake on the Complex, but he had brother in law Tommy Flower there to guide him.
Sam and Tommy delicately placed their solid bags with minimal disturbance which where filled with K.S.C Pellet with a Banoffee Wafter hookbait.
Well as they say the rest was history….Sam went and totally obliterated his PB of 23lb with this monstrous mirror at 46lb 12oz!
BEAVERS ON THE WAY TO NORTH DEVON?
I have followed the debate surrounding the re-introduction of beavers with interest over recent years. Re-wilding is in vogue at present with a drive to bring back a wide range of species including white tailed eagles, beavers, storks and even lynx and wolves.
On the face of it resurrecting many of the species that once roamed the lands of the UK is commendable. Let’s face it we have done an awful amount of damage over the past 400 to 500 years. Taking a look around Waterstones bookstore the shelves are packed with commendable books on the joys of nature, re-wilding and climate change. Perhaps COVID has refocused many minds onto the more important aspects of life that anglers have been appreciating for hundreds of years? It’s as if the greater majority have suddenly woken up to the damage we have inflicted on nature and the planet and want to rush to put it all back as it was without considering that we have lost many pieces of the jigsaw. I am no scientist so my views are that of an observer who enjoys the countryside. I know that eco-systems are extremely complex and the creatures that live within are often inter dependant on other species and the vast range of flora and fauna that grows within.
The re-introduction of species is perhaps different to invasive species imported from foreign lands. Grey squirrels, mink, signal cray-fish, Himalayan balsam are a few that spring to mind.
It was with this cautious view that I attended the Beaver talk at Bishops Tawton Village Hall. As an angler one concern I have is that beavers might impair upstream migration. Chris Jones delivered a fascinating presentation about the reintroduction of beavers and I left the meeting erring on the side of reintroducing these huge rodents. The benefits they could bring seemed to outweigh the potential negatives. Beavers apparently live in harmony with salmon in Norway on some of that countries prime salmon rivers. They are now also widespread in Scotland on the River Tay where Miss G.W.Ballantine landed the British Record salmon of 64lb in 1922. Surely if beavers have been introduced there then far wiser persons than I believe that they are beneficial?
Many thanks to Don Hearn who also attended the meeting for allowing me to publish the report (Below) that he wrote for members of the Barnstaple & District Angling Club. I hope to learn more about the project in the coming years when perhaps I will catch a glimpse as a beaver swims past whilst I cast a fly for salmon on the Taw or Torridge.
I attended the meeting in Bishops Tawton regarding Beaver introduction in Devon.
Chris Jones is a founder member of the Beaver trust and has successfully introduced beavers on his farm near Truro. They have managed to alleviate flooding in his area and The figures and flow charts produced by Exeter university are impressive. The proposal is to introduce Beaver into the Caen catchment above Braunton to help with the Caen flooding problem. Our interest lay in the fact that they do populate other areas in time ,and without predators can do well, as they have in Scotland. They may even come up the Taw in future and i understand one has been caught in a camera trap much higher up. There is no suggestion they could populate the lower Taw but would have to be upriver and probably in tributaries. This could all be many years away and would have no effect on the Taw in the foreseeable future. I canvassed the E.A. on their opinion but the consultation has been led by DEFRA. I understand there will be a decision in 3 months with a licencing and long-term management plan to follow. The meeting was titled “Beavers in Bishops Tawton” and was well attended but there was no question of that happening. Wayne Thomas asked about dams impeding migratory fish and was assured they can still get through and haven’t been affected in other rivers. More info about this is available if you google “final report of the beaver salmonid working group” . Clearly A lot of research still needed . Chris Jones has invited us to view his land and beavers near Truro and this can be arranged via ” The Beaver trust” site. I hope to visit it myself in the near future with other interested members.
Regards
Don
THE CHALLENGE OF WIMBLEBALL
Late October and I am excited to be heading across Exmoor on a mild murky morning to target the hard fighting trout of Wimbleball. I am meeting with Snowbee Ambassador Jeff Pearce.
The news reports from the lake indicate that catches have been good in recent weeks with the lower Autumn temperatures encouraging the trout to go on the feed. Jeff had fished a match the previous day when some competitors had registered catches into the lower teens.
We were greeted at the boat pontoon by the ever helpful and enthusiastic Trevor who chatted about the day to day complexities of running the fishery and where we might find a few trout.
As we chugged out onto the lake it was soon apparent that the wind was going to be a bit challenging. A force 4 to 6 South Westerly was whipping up white horses on the water. We set up a drogue to slow the drift but even with this in place progress was brisk.
We commenced drifting the narrows casting our offerings close to the shoreline. Jeff was into a hard fighting rainbow first drift. Whilst I managed a couple of tugs. A repeat drift brought a second rainbow for Jeff and yet more pulls and tugs for myself.
On the third drift a savage pull resulted in connection to a pristine rainbow to my rod estimated at well over four pounds.
At this stage it looked like we were heading for a bumper day. But as the wind increased we decided to try our luck elsewhere on the lake. The wind was blasting into the shallows of Bessom’s and Rugg’s where we tried a couple of drifts before deciding to head up to the Upton Arm where we could enjoy more sheltered waters.
The wooded slopes of the Upton Arm were showing the distinctly Autumnal shades of golden browns. We drifted close to the shore where we tempted several beautiful wild browns each admired in the net before being released.
After a couple of hours without a rainbow we decided to head back into the wind. A drift across Cow Moor resulted in me hooking two good sized rainbows that came adrift after a lengthy and enjoyable scrap.
With the day ebbing away fast we headed back to the Narrows. A good sized rainbow teased as it followed the lure to the side of the boat before turning away at the last moment. This was repeated by a blue trout as we contemplated our last casts of the day.
Once again we had enjoyed a fantastic day with plenty of chances not converted into fish in the net. The strong wind had made everything hard work with difficult drifts, tangled lines and hard to find trout.
The joy of fishing these large waters is that they feel like truly wild lakes. The fish fight hard with their full tails and jewelled flanks. I hope to squeeze at least a couple more trips before the seasons end savouring the challenge of Wimbleball.
