A short session on the rocks produced plenty of dogfish for Rob Scoines and myself. Conditions seemed perfect with the seas having settled nicely following the weekend storms. A pleasant surprise was this near specimen rockling of 1lb 9oz that fell to Rob along with pollock of a couple of pounds. There a bound to be a few spurdog and bull huss about but getting through the dogfish and small conger is as always a challenge.
Lee Parkhouse landed seven carp up to 23lb 14oz this weekend from swim 3 on the dam wall of Stafford Moor’s Lodge lake using Sticky Baits Manilla Boilies fabulous fishing especially this time of year.
Many thanks to Martin Turner for his weekly reports.
Final monthly Coarse section competition results Sundays final match was also our Christmas comp, we fished at the club lake ,Tarka swims, .Competitors were met with challenging conditions, and one fish caught in the last minute of the comp proved to be enough to clinch victory, for Martin Turner the mirror carp of 8lb took popped up bread on the straight lead on peg J, this fish didn’t prove to be significant in the overall points table , John Lisle wins the championship with 118pts 2nd Martin Turner 115 3rd Steve Baily on 87 4th Colin Gorman 79 The league has been well supported with 26 competitors over the last 16 months, our league begins again on Jan 8th on Harepie.
Top picture – Chris Waddham 7lb and lower picture and cod competition leader with a total length of cod 1.39m Paul Chidgy 15lb12oz
Daniel Hawkins reports from up Channel that fishing has been mixed with cod hard to find at times. Big shoals of herrings are bringing the spurdog close inshore where they are being tempted along with ray, conger, huss and good numbers of whiting.
(Above) 30lb conger Dan Cook
(Above) spurdog to the rod of Pete Richards
Work is progressing well on Reel Deal 2 that will be taking anglers out of Ilfracombe next summer when shark will once again be on the agenda.
See pictures below
Thirty five anglers braved hostile conditions to compete for an array of fine prizes in Bideford and District Angling Clubs Christmas Open.
Eighteen flounder were brought to the scales.
Winner of the competition was Ian Hooper with a fine Torridge Estuary flounder scaling 1lb 73/4oz. In runner up spot Terry Dymond with a flounder of 1lb 13/4oz and third J. Andrew with a flounder of 1lb 11/2oz. In fourth was Paul Burslem with a flounder of 1lb 1/8oz and fifth P. Allin with a flounder of 1lb 3/4oz.
Tommy Taylor took the top two places in the Junior section with two flounder of just under 1lb.
The first spurdog of the winter season have been caught from rock marks along the coast. These toothy predators should be around for the next couple of months at least and have become the go to species since the decline of cod in North Devon waters. Chay Boggis landed this 5lb fish during a twelve hour session at a deep water rock mark.
Looks like we could be getting some stormy conditions early tomorrow which will hopefully stir up the coastal waters and ensure some good fishing during the coming week. I would expect to see a few decent conger, huss and spurdog caught along with the chance of a big blonde or small eyed ray. Probably wise to use a wire trace to present that big chunk of fish or squid always the chance of a tope plus those spurdog have some sharp teeth.
Weather Warning from Met office (Below)
A spell of strong winds is expected affect the far south of England and Wales on Sunday morning and early afternoon with the highest winds expected in Bristol Channel coastal areas. Some short term loss of power and other services is possible, as well as some delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges. It is likely that some coastal routes, sea front and coastal communities affected by spray and/or large waves.
Just some of the prizes up for grabs in the Bideford Angling Club Christmas Fishing competition. Many thanks to Summerlands, Anglers Haven, Ian Hooper, Mark Watts & Sons, Griggs of Eastleigh and DS Electrical for their generous donations. There will also be some meat dinners up for grabs too. Sign in at the Reds Rowing Club from 7 til 8 fishing 8 til 3 and weigh-in at the reds at 4.30. All entries £5 with optional pool of £1.
Opportunities to fish for pike are limited in North Devon with only around half a dozen venues holding the species. If you fancy a try at pike fishing Anglers Paradise has a good stock of these toothy critters available to target with lures. See report from Zenia at AP below.
PIKE ALERT
Ashley Bunning used his day off work to have a couple of hours on Valhalla. Ashley caught 3 Pike in total with this being the biggest and used a Ecogear Ikajaco Lure to catch them.
Remember our Predator Lake Valhalla is now open for all to fish until February, time to get some Winter Lure Fishing in!
Call 01409 221559 to book.
