Combe Martrin SAC member Ross Stanway sent me this report and pictures from his day aboard “Wild Frontier” off Ilfracombe. The anglers on board from all over Devon enjoyed success with conger, bull huss, spurdog, dogfish, whiting and smoothound. The boat new to Ilfracombe has plenty of deck space ensuring marks can be reached on all but the roughest of days. The best conger scaled 25lb, spurdog to 15lb and huss into double figures. Breakfast of bacon rolls helped sustain the anglers through the day afloat.
Its often good to cast a line from a different shore and this seemed extra relevant as 2019 gets underway bringing a renewed focus on club fishing events. There has been considerable interest among many sea anglers on fishing for squid using jigging tactics and myself and several members of Combe Martin SAC were keen to have a go. After a few discussions over a beer at the end of a 2018 club meeting a plan was put in place.
As is often the case when the day came several club members could not make it but five of us could and so on January 5th we set off on the journey to Torquay and Princess Pier. The location had been chosen after reading reports of squid being caught on a regular basis. The alternative venue was Weymouth which was a bit further but potentially more reliable. On this occasion being a our first squid foray we decided upon this closer to home venue as a training ground to gain experience.
We had also heard reports of a few mackerel being caught and this would be a welcome opportunity to stock up the bait freezer with both squid and mackerel. A visit to Ilfracombe’s High Street Tackle ensured that we had a few lures and Sabika feathers.
The trip down to Torquay proved uneventful and by 1.30pm the intrepid five were lined up on the front of Torquays Princess pier. The seaside town seemed quite vibrant and busy with plenty of tourists strolling along the prom on this cold calm winters day. Behind us in the inner harbour luxury boats rested on their moorings; a testament to the vast sums of money some people acquire. The seascape of the bay was a glassy calm across to Berry Head with the occasional fishing boat, pleasure boat and Jet ski disrupting the mirror like surface.
We had been advised that squid could be caught during daylight hours and as a result had arrived well before dark. This ensured we secured a good spot and gave more time to experiment. A clue to good spots to try for the squid were small stains of black where squid had been pulled ashore. we also chose a spot close to the lights that are known to attract baitfish and squid after darkness descends.
After a few casts with our squid jigs small fish could seen following and this prompted the switch to sets of small Sabika type feathers. Dan Welch was I think first to catch swinging a small mackerel ashore.
This was followed a short time later by a herring to Matt Jeffery a pleasing sight and Matt’s first of the species from the shore.
As the afternoon progressed we all started to enjoy success with herring with these shimmering silver fishes brought twisting and gyrating to hand to be stowed away as bait for predatory fish on the North Devon coast or to sit beneath a crimson topped float at some pike water inland.
(Above)Rob Scoines is delighted with a string of herring.Matt Jeffery joins in the fishy harvest.
(Above) Josh Jeffery enjoyed success with the herring shoals.
As the light fades the herring continue to smash into the strings of feathers and our bait bags are all well stacked with gleaming fishes. Its now time to focus fully on the main agenda squid!
The jigs are flicked and retrieved at various rates and varying between steady pulls and erratic twitches. As none of us have any prior experience we have to learn from scratch and it is this that is part of the fun. There is great excitement when we glimpse a squid chase young Josh’s lure until he runs out of water.
Encouraged we all focus on the squid mission with renewed belief and enthusiasm. It is Dan Welch who eventually brings success for team squid lifting a moderate sized squid to hand with its amazingly vibrant glowing colouration.
With mission squid partly accomplished parking tickets and fast food start to dominate the conversation and we decide to retire to KFC before heading back to North Devon with plenty of bait and some happy memories. An occasional trip to a seaside pier offers refreshingly easy fishing where friendly banter and fun takes priority. Catching mackerel in January seems a little unseasonal as the Christmas lights twinkle into memory. Mission squid was not exactly a great success but we did catch a squid. The pleasing bonus was string upon string of glittering herring.
Dan Spearman ended 2018 in style landing his first double figure brown trout on New Years Eve after many years trying and coming close on several occasions with browns to over 9lb. Fishing at Bulldog Fisherys catch and release specimen trout lake with his young son Rex they enjoyed qaulity fishing landing several trout including Dan’s double figure brown.
Bulldog s owner Nigel Early can be contacted on 447767492800 A catch and release ticket is £20.00.
Combe Martin SAC member Kevin Legge rounded off 2018 in style landing specimen bull huss of 11lb 6oz and 10lb 4oz.Kevin also landed a rockling of 1lb 8oz.
The 2018/19 Flounder season is proving to be the best for many years with good numbers of good sized flounder caught. There is the chance of flounder for a couple more weeks and it could be wortbn trying the lower estuary as the fish drop back towards the sea. It is tp be hoped that next season will be an even better one with survivors of this year class returning even bigger next autumn. Flounder fishing on the estuary tends to be cyclical with peak seasons followed by poor seasons with smaller fish.
Richard Chapple and James Griggy enjoyed New Years Day morning down on Taw estuary catching six flounder the biggest flounder caught by Richard Chapple weighing in at 2lb 1 1/2oz (second 2 pound flounder of season for Richard Chapple)
Happy New Year to all readers of North Devon Angling News many thanks to all who have provided me with new reports and images throughout the year. I was going to do a full review of 2018 but then news came in and I thought its all there on the site to see anyway. Looking back it was a good year if you were a flexible angler targeting the vast range of species available. I reported on big shark off Ilfracombe, big nets of silver fish, fifty pound plus carp and humble flounder. I intend to carry on doing the same next year. The weather will of course play its part each season so lets hope we get a fair mix in 2019. No beasts and no droughts but if we do then just make the best of whats on offer. A special thanks to my sponsors below:-
A big thank you to the 21 anglers who turned out to fish Wooda Lakes Annual Fur ‘n Feather Match, fished across their Mixed Match and Carp match lakes. With mild weather the fishing ought to have been excellent, but with an influx of cold water it made for tough fishing for most. With the carp holed up tight, the silver fish at least gave sport for some, while others just enjoyed the day out, the occasional drizzle and banter…. the John “I’m admitting to 10lb, but your carp are bigger” Lisle and Pete “I only have 10lb” Slade banter continued after the match!
Overall winner on the day was Neilsen Jeffrey, pegged on the wood side of the Carp Match lake, weighing in 53lb 2oz of carp caught mainly on the pole. Second was Kevin Shears, from the point on the Mixed match lake, with 40lb 4oz. Third was Lewis Jones with 37lb 12oz at the far end of the Carp Match lake.
Pools was paid out to:
Neilsen Jeffrey – overall winner 53lb 2oz
Kevin Shears – winner Mixed lake 40lb 4oz
Lewis Jones – winner Carp match lake 37lb 12oz
Martin Crouch – r/up Mixed lake 29lb 10oz
Rich Dennis – r/up Carp match lake 34lb 15oz
The blind pairs was a tight encounter with Kevin Shears and Rich Dennis on 75lb 3oz just beating Mat Sampson and Neilsen Jeffrey on 72lb 6oz. Kevin and Rich picking up a crate of beer each for their win.
The mystery weight (of 12lb 1oz) was won by Ian Croxton with 12lb 2oz, who picked up a bottle of bubbly.
All anglers also picked up a selection of prizes from 1st place down to the wooden spoon.
Full results:
Mixed match lake
Peg 1 – Mat Sampson 19lb 4oz
Peg 2 – Peter Horton 14lb 7oz
Peg 3 – Peter Seward 16lb 2oz
Peg 4 – Mick Seward 6lb 13oz
peg 5 – Stephen Craker 16lb 13oz
Peg 6 – Simon Allen 7lb 11oz
Peg 7 – Kevin Wilton 4lb 12oz
Peg 8 – Ian Croxton 12lb 2oz
Peg 9 – Martin Crouch 29lb 10oz
Peg 10 – Kevin Shears 40lb 4oz
Peg 11 – John Forster 10lb 4oz
Carp match lake
Peg 12 – Rich Dennis 34lb 15oz
Peg 13 – Keith Copeland 30lb 6oz
Peg 15 – Shaun Stenton 10lb 2oz
peg 16 – Tom Downing 18lb
Peg 17 – Martin Turner 21lb 3oz
Peg 18 – Neilsen Jeffrey 53lb 2oz
Peg 19 – Kev Grant 5lb 12oz
Peg 20 – Lewis Jones 37lb 12oz
Peg 21 – John Lisle 11lb 4oz
peg 22 – Pete Slade 9lb 14oz
Combe Martin SAC member Rob Scoines enjoyed a short session in the Taw estuary landing five flounder to 1lb 6oz. Whilst many stop fishing the estuary after Christmas I suspect that good sport can be enjoyed for a few weeks yet with every chance of a large specimen full of roe prior to spawning.
Eighteen club members took part in Combe Martin SAC’s Blow Away the Excess competition over four days with shore and boat an option. Ross Stanway secured first and second place taking home over £90 for a blonde ray of 14lb 1oz and a conger of 18lb 4oz. Dave Brooke was third with a bull huss of 8lb. Mark Jones landed a spurdog of 7lb 13oz.
Mark Jones – spurdog 7lb 13oz
Daniel Welch with plump codling caught off MineheadDaniel Welch with boat caught thornback of 8lb 2oz
