Reece Woolgar has won Combe Martin SAC’s club members annual Lure fishing league for the second consecutive year with a five bass total of 334.5cm. Reece was presented with £100 tackle voucher by Danny Watson at High Street Tackle. The club hopes to run the event to the same format next year. It is hoped that more lure anglers will join the club and take part in this event that is free to club members.
I asked Reece about his go to lures and two of his top three are pictured below.
The megabass Dark sleeper and Megabass AYU 5″ Spindleworms certainly deserve a place in any keen lure fishers lure box.
Lure fishing is certainly a fascinating branch of angling with many thousands of lures available. Danny stocks an impressive range of lures to cover every aspect and species within the UK and beyond.
The biggest bass caught during the league was this fine bass of 75cm to the rod of Wayne Thomas using a megabits AYU 5″ Spindleworm
Runner up in the lure competition was Wayne Thomas with five bass for 310 cm, Ross Stanway with five for 293cm and Dan Welch with five for 270cm.
Ross Stanway with a boat caught bass.Dan Welch with a fine shore caught bass
I have been contacted by a representative from North Devon Council regarding parking at Castle Quay. Please note below. Whilst I personally appreciate that anglers have historically parked at this location rules are rules and any infringement by anglers can bring access into question.
“The Castle Quay car park in Barnstaple is reserved for permit holders only and cannot be used by anyone without a valid permit. There is pay & display parking close by; Commercial Road car park, Cattle Market car park, North Walk car park and Civic Centre car park (this one is managed by DCC).
Parking on the Castle Quay slipway is prohibited at all times – this includes the muddy areas to the side of it.
If the Civil Enforcement Officers approach it would be appreciated if customers would remain polite and co-operative, they are carrying out duties required of them as part of their job role.”
Any enquiries regarding this should made to :- Car Parks Manager, North Devon Council, Place, Property and Regeneration.
Grayling known as the ladies of the stream are not abundant in the rivers of the South West. A long established population thrives in the River Exe and some of its tributary’s and I enjoyed a day fishing one of Dulverton Angling Associations beats below Dulverton. The river was running low and clear and I was confident of success as I searched the river. After four hours of searching I failed to stimulate any interest from the elusive grayling and left the river as rain started to fall.
As always time at the water’s edge is never wasted and I was privileged to catch sight of a kingfisher as it perched upon an overhanging branch. An egret also flew past looking quite surreal in the stark winter landscape. Dippers, wrens and ducks also graced the river and its banks. The glorious colours of late Autumn decorated the banks as the river flowed relentlessly to the sea.
Bideford and District Angling Club held their AGM at Bideford Con Club on Friday November 15th, the event was very well attended. The club is North Devon’s largest angling club with a membership of over 500 that includes over fifty Junior members many undoubtedly attracted by the clubs two well maintained fishing lakes. Tarka Swims consists of Georges Lake and Karen’s Lake that between them provide excellent pleasure, match and carp fishing. The lakes manager Steve Bailey resigned from the post after many years of sterling service and was presented with gifts from the club in appreciation. The new lake manager is Mike Jones.
Club Secretary – Mervyn Beal says :- Farewell Steve. At last nights AGM the club said farewell to our outgoing Tarka Swims manager. Over the past 20yrs Steve has been the backbone of our club, his grit determination, hard work and commitment has made Tarka Swims what it is today. On behalf of the committee and club members we would like to say a massive thank you Steve and to Lorraine for giving up so much family time over the years. Hopefully you can now enjoy more family time and get some well earned fishing in. Thank you.
The clubs holds well attended coarse fishing Matchs each month and a summer series of events for Junior anglers. The club also hosts regular sea angling competitions and game fishing events.
Bideford and District Angling Club Match Secretary’s Report 2024
The Senior matches on George’s Lake, Tarka Swims have once again, been very well supported. With an average of 20 members regularly competing.
Our Junior Section has also been extremely well supported with 35 different youngsters enjoying the 3-hour Saturday events held throughout the summer. The 5-match series was won by Ethan Broom on 46 points, close second Lewis Hathaway on 45 points.
The 10 match, Summer Evening Series attracted 22 different anglers, we were blessed with some great weather for the 3-hour contests. Runaway winner was Nathan Underwood on 130 points with Kevin Shears 2nd on 92 points. The 3-hour pairs event was won by Rhys Elyes and Darren Polden with a remarkable total of 96lb 12oz.
Richard’s ‘Rod and Reel Only’ Competitions have been fully attended; organiser Richard Jefferies currently leads the league with 2 matches remaining.
At present, in the monthly Sunday Matches, Craig Lamey has an unassailable lead with Nathan in 2nd place.
Our 2-leg team match against Plymouth resulted in a resounding victory for us 713lb to 219lb. I hope to set up a more challenging contest against Bude Canal anglers.
This club offers a fantastic variation of disciplines; from the game beat on the Torridge to boat trips, shore fishing contests and, of course, the Tarka events. The lakes provide a host of opportunities to get involved; as members we need to be mindful that the membership is diverse and each of us find pleasure and fulfilment in our chosen pastime whether helping with the working parties, camping out overnight after the ‘Big One’ or witnessing the joy of watching the juniors catching their first fish.
Openness and understanding are essential if the club is to prosper; division is not healthy. As a club we must be respectful of members choices.
Regular matches, I believe, provide a very useful indicator as to the condition of the water and its inhabitants. Recorded results provide accurate information and trends can be monitored.
Once again, I must thank those people who have supported events but especially those who have ensured that they run smoothly. Mervyn for his support scrutinising and publishing results. Steve and his team for providing us with a well maintained and safe environment to enjoy our chosen discipline.
Finally, I must comment on the shock of the closure of the institution that was Summerland’s Tackle; we wish the family well and thank them for all their support over many years.
Martin Turner stands for another term as club match secretary.
The first of the series result was as below : – Attracted forty anglers with Stefan Jones taking the top prize with a flounder of 1lb 81/4oz. Runner up was David Jenkins with a flounder of 1lb 67/8oz and third Taz Wotton with a flounder of 1lb 63/4oz.
Plenty of rain and cooler air temperatures meant that the lakes continued to fill, with levels now between 80 and 90% capacity at the rainbow fisheries; while there have been a few hatches of midges and sedges, the fish have generally tended to stay and feed in deeper water. The Trust’s brown trout waters are now closed for the season, but the rainbow fisheries will stay open and stocked until the end of the year.
Fishing:
Kennick – The lake continued to fish well over the month, with rod averages of 3.3 fish per visit. Fish have been well spread around the lake, with Clampitts Bay, Oak Tree Point, Poplar Bay and the East Bank fishing particularly well, while boat anglers caught well fishing the deeper water in the middle of the lake. Generally, a slow or medium retrieve worked well, with flies fished at depths of three feet down to the bottom. Successful patterns included Damsels, Boobies, Nomads, Blobs, Tadpoles and Montanas. Barry Taylor (from Totnes) and his boat partner caught ten rainbows to 2lb 4oz, and while there were a few fish showing on the surface, all of their fish were caught on Montanas fished at depth. David Hocking caught his best rainbow ever from Kennick (as well as the best fish caught at Kennick this season) – a beautiful fish of 4lb 8oz as part of a bag of eight fish, while fishing from a boat at the entrance to The Narrows using a home-tied Blood Red Shimmy Worm on a floating line at a depth of around ten feet. On a subsequent visit he caught a bag of ten rainbows, mostly at depth on Hot Orange patterns.
Siblyback – The fish at Siblyback tended to stay and feed nearer the surface, with a few taking Foam Daddies (orange) and Hoppers, and anglers continued to use floating or intermediate lines, even when fishing sunk patterns (either nymphs such as Montanas, Damsels, Buzzers, or lures such as Baby Dolls, Fry patterns and Orange Fritz). Two Meadows, Stocky Bay and Crylla proved to be the most popular locations, with anglers averaging around a fish per visit. Ron Wilday (from Liskeard) caught three rainbows to 2lb, using Black and Peacock droppers and a Gold Fritz on the point, fishing at Crylla Bay and Two Meadows.
Burrator – Back Bay, Longstone, Pigs Trough and Bennett’s proved to be the best banks to fish over the month, with anglers averaging 2.6 rainbows per visit. The fish tended to move to deeper water as the month progressed, with more anglers catching on sinking or intermediate lines in the latter weeks. A variety of retrieval methods all caught fish – sometimes a slow figure-of-eight, other times a fast stripped retrieve. Foam Daddies and Black Sparkle Hoppers caught most of the rising fish, while subsurface feeders took Black Buzzers, Hares Ears, Damsels and Orange Hothead nymphs, as well as Orange Fritz and Dancer patterns (Hothead Yellow and White, or plain Yellow). Allan Lawson (from Plymouth) caught three “pristine rainbows that all went airborne before coming to the net” at Bennett’s, while Gordon McLeod (from Tavistock) caught ten fish to just over 3lb in one session.
Stithians – Water levels are still only at 58% capacity, but continue to rise. The fishing became more challenging as the month progressed, with weekly returns falling from one fish per visit to just under one fish per two visits. Floating lines continued to be the method of choice, with Goonlaze, Chapel Bay, Pipe Bay and Sluice Bank the most popular locations. Rising fish could be taken on Parachute Hares Ears, Black Gnats, Brown Sedges and Black Hoppers, while sub-surface feeders took Montanas, Black Buzzers, Gold Nomads and small orange lure patterns.
Please see the Trust’s website (www.swlakestrust.org.uk/trout-fishing) for more information on buying tickets, boat availability, booking, and end of season dates.
Barnstaple & District Angling Clubs AGM was held at the Ebberley Arms in Barnstaple with a very good proportion of the membership in attendance. The clubs committee are undoubtedly a hard-working and dedicated team full of optimism despite difficult times on the river.
The club has purchased a new stretch of fishing on the Middle Taw that was for many years owned by John Saunders affectionately known to local anglers as ‘Gandy’. Sadly no salmon were landed from the beat this year. Fortunately the wild brown trout fishing was superb with plenty of stunning fish over 1lb caught.
Alan Jump works tirelessly working to enhance South Aller Lake the clubs sole remaining coarse fishing lake. The lake offers excellent fishing for tench, crucian carp, roach, perch, eels and carp to mid doubles. The secluded lake set in an old quarry surrounded by mature trees is a wildlife haven far removed from some of today’s commercial lakes with their platforms and gravel paths.
Don Hearn gave a passionate and detailed report on the clubs fishing at Newbridge. Three salmon were caught from the beat this year one of the worst in living memory. There were positive reports of roach and dace being caught from the club water which is an encouraging sign as the river was once a thriving coarse fishery renowned across the country for producing huge roach many of them over 2lb.
The numbers of shad entering the river is of great interest to scientists and the presence of these fish is likely to offer conservation funding and protection for this iconic North Devon river.
The official proceedings were followed by fascinating talks from Lucy Robinson and Mike McNally both from the Devon and Cornwall Police Wildlife Team. Mike and Lucy explained how important all information is and how it can be used to piece together the complex and intricate jigsaw puzzle of crime detection.
The illegal netting of elvers was a fascinating part of the talk with the massive value of these fascinating fish fuelling a vast criminal network that exports to the Far-East.
Sadly the Wildlife Crime department is underfunded as is the Environment Agency and other regulatory bodies that try to protect our natural world.
In this day and age poachers have sophisticated technology at their disposal such as thermal imaging that can target a deer at over mile distance.
Reporting of incidents is 100% anonymous and can be reported via Crime Stoppers 0800 555111 Crimestoppers-uk.org
To report pollution incidents call the EA on 0800 807060
Club Members at the Gandys Beat
DON HEARNS – Report
A difficult year for all game rivers it seems and no exception on the Taw.
Opening day at Newbridge
We started the season with a first day meet and BBQ at the new club hut in a hail shower! A good number attended though, including Gary Herbert who drove all the way from Guildford for it. Good effort and despite the weather a brilliant social occasion enjoyed by all who came. Hopefully we can repeat this event next year. Game fishing can be a solitary affair and sharing tall tales of days gone by with like-minded people is always worthwhile as it keeps us all in contact with each other and is one of the reasons our club life is so appreciated.
We start the season full of hope, as ever, but had little reward after the spring.
A few Salmon and sea trout were caught/lost early on but little showed after June. The summer of course was low water and plagued with algae blooms as ever. We did see fish moving up in the last week of September in the spate and assume they went straight upriver. As in previous years the rain came too late for us and that seems to be the pattern these days. There is much discussion as to why so few fish are seen and the more we discuss the more complex it becomes. I had a report from the Tamar, which is a monitored river, that the return of fish was very low. It’s assumed something is happening at sea. Not sure if that is the case but it seems the west country is suffering more than the East coast. Super trawlers, climate change to gulf stream, dirty rivers or maybe a combination of everything. We haven’t had any late season sea trout reported either. I and others spent many nights on several Taw beats without a sign of one, so it wasn’t down to of lack of effort. The only thing for sure is that there is always a chance of a fish and nobody ever caught one watching the T.V.!
It has been noted that the Brownies seem to be doing ok with several fish in the 2lb to 3lb range being reported and many members have scaled down to enjoy good sport with them. More brownies have been reported than ever before in recent times and often save a blank which is welcome. The Shad showed again early in the season and are of great interest as it’s another important protected species and reports of any captures are welcomed as it helps in the fight for our water quality. The recent industrial farming introduced into the Lower Taw valley is putting a lot of pressure on an already troubled river and hopefully there is a way to make it more acceptable. The EA farm inspectorate are investigating this process and we can but hope it can make a difference.
The Southwest rivers trust have asked us for permission to install water monitoring equipment on our waters and of course we welcome it and will assist them all we can. We are not sure where it will be at the moment, but we’ll keep you all posted. If you do find telemetry in the river, please know we are aware and avoid disturbing it. If you haven’t sent in your catch report, please do so even if it’s nil. Please include all species, also an indication of AGM attendance would be helpful.
As most of you know our AGM will be held in the Ebberly Arms, Bear Street, Barnstaple on Tuesday 12th November at 7.30pm. There is free evening parking in the car park at the rear. This is always a friendly social evening, and we are expecting a good attendance as in previous years.
For those struggling with downtime, a reminder that Bass, Mullet and Pike on the fly are always an option and we are lucky enough to have good access locally. We hope you enjoyed your time on the water and wish you tight lines for next season.
Don Hearn
and all at B.D.A.A.
Colin Ashby presenting Dave Winter with the Salmon Trophy
The evening concluded with an auction of fishing books donated by the late John ‘Gandy’ Saunders widow. An amazing £205 was raised has been donated to Devon Air Ambulance.
Several awards were presented including the best salmon of 13lb to Dave Winter.
Steve Maddox was awarded the Claude Pugsley roach cup and Jim Simpkins the bass trophy for a fly caught bass of 5lb. The sea trout trophy was won by Matt Cooper.
After the meeting members enjoyed reflecting upon past glory’s and future aspirations.
I joined with Adrian Bryant and the National Trust at Combe Martin Community Centre to show the acclaimed film Riverwoods to close to fifty attendees. The film was followed by a short presentation by myself on the dramatic decline of salmon in the West Country. National Trust Wetlands Ranger James Thomas lifted sprits with an inspiring presentation on work being undertaken across North Devon to improve wetland habitat and reduce flooding.
The Community Centre was previously the Primary School that I attended as a child back in the late 1960’s. Less than fifty yards from this building the River Umber flows on its journey through the village to the sea. It sad that in those fifty years, (a very short time in the grand scale of nature) the wild brown trout have dwindled dramatically and sea trout are perhaps no longer present. The eels that thrived in the river have also declined alarmingly as they have across the whole of the UK. It is tragic that our generation have overseen this trashing of the natural world.
This was the tenth showing of the Riverwoods Film to audiences across North Devon with over 300 watching the film at various venues. It is to be hoped that our efforts have helped put the health of local rivers higher on the public and political agenda. Keep up to date on North Devon Angling News for future events
Novembers weather so far has been exceptionally benign and settled with high pressure, light winds and mild temperatures.
I Arrived at Bulldog Fishery to join fellow members of Wistlandpound Club for the first heat of their Winter challenge series and was encouraged to see anglers already there enjoying sport with rods bending as good sized rainbow trout were undoubtedly feeding.
It was good to catch up with fishery owner Nigel Early who was as always bubbling with enthusiasm as he chatted about the fishery and future plans.
The enlarged trout lake can comfortably fish up to a dozen anglers and has easy access with several fishing platforms that have had overhanging trees pruned to make casting easier. Nigel is keen to encourage visiting groups to make use of this excellent venue that has a comfortable fishing lodge overlooking the lake. I was fascinated to study the cast of a rainbow trout weighing 25lb 3oz that was supplied by Bulldog and held the Welsh Record.
I caught up with fellow club members as we tackled up before heading out to the calm waters.
I had set up with a floating line in conjunction with a relatively long leader of 8lb b.s fluorocarbon to the end of which I had tied my trusted gold headed damsel nymph. I have great faith in this pattern that sinks slowly its marabou tail adding life as it is retrieved.
I headed to the riverside bank and started to search the water allowing the lure to sink before starting a slow erratic retrieve watching the tip of the fly line intently.
After twenty minutes or so I felt a gentle tug transmitted through the line and watched as a trout followed the lure nipping the tail but failing to nail it. Encouraged I recast and after pulling a yard of line felt that satisfying connection as a good sized rainbow devoured the lure.
A spirited tussle was successfully concluded and the trout despatched. It’s always good to get the first fish and remove the dreaded blank from the agenda.
As I fished on I tried to take in the surroundings. A kingfisher darted across the lake its electric blue a stark contrast to the mellow colours of Autumn. Fallen leaves and bare branches reflected the season as I enjoyed the act of casting and searching the water.
The occasional trout showed breaking the mirror calm surface and slurping down a fly or emerging nymph. I put my offering close to a rise and was rewarded as the feeding fish converged on my fly. The full tailed rainbow gave a good account spending a good part of the battle air-borne.
With just one trout left to complete my three fish limit I changed over to a foam daddy pattern as I had a hunch this would work. After ten minutes without success I reverted back to the tried and trusted damsel.
I put the fly adjacent to a large swirl and began a quick retrieve. A bow wave materialized behind the fly and I saw a white mouth open followed by a delectable tightening of the line. A handsome brown trout of close to 4lb completed my three fish bag.
I took the opportunity to have a walk around the lake and capture action and images of the day.
Andrew Facey had enjoyed a good morning banking three good rainbows to 6lb along with a stunning brown trout of over 4lb.
Whilst we chatted Andrews friend Chris Dunn tempted a fine rainbow of 5lb 8oz. The successful fly a slow sinking daddy long legs pattern.
Close to the lakes inlet Graham Snowdon and Grant Jefferson were enjoying good sport completing their limit bags by midday.
Andre Muxworthy and Grant JeffersonAndre Muxworthy with a 5lb 5oz rainbow
My fellow Wistlandpound Club members were all enjoying good sport with some hard fighting brown and rainbow trout. It seemed as is often the case that a wide variety of fly’s and lures had tempted the lakes trout. Black and green Vivas, cats Whiskers, and damsel nymphs amongst the successful offerings.
The competition weigh in was as follows : –
Dave Mock – 3 trout – 11lb 10oz Best a brown trout of 6lb 3oz
Andre Muxworthy – 3 trout – 11lb 10oz Best trout – Rainbow Trout 5lb 5oz
Wayne Thomas – 3 Trout – 9lb
Colin Combe – 3 Trout – 7lb 15oz
Dave Mock with a 6lb 3oz brown troutColin Combe was delighted with this fine brown trout and dedicated its capture to his much loved dog Winston that died a week before.
A welcome facility at the lake is a sink, running water and cutting board permitting anglers to gut and clean their catch before returning home.
