Clawford Fisheries
1st Pair Paul Ware and John Lisle 3points
2nd Christopher Morris and Paul Elworthy 5pts
3rd Martin Turner and John Forster 5pts
4th Ian ‘Cosmic’ Croxton and Neilsen Jeffery 7pts
Individual winner Paul Ware 129lb 6oz 2nd Christopher Morris 66lb 7oz 3rd Martin Turner 61lb 11oz
WINNER ANNOUNCED!!!!!
Congratulations to Seb Buckland who had an unforgettable session at local venue Furzebray carp lakes landin this fine mirror carp of 37lb 8oz. Well done Seb congratulations on the new personal best .
October comp now open!!!
More stunning carp from Stafford Moor.
Mark Stacey and son Kyle Stacey with there new personal bests from Lodge lake dam wall this weekend using mainline cell .( Below)
Ian Collins ( Below) who had many out from the inlet swim on Beatties using sticky baits Manilla boilies below with his 23lb 3oz.
Andy Stapleton with his 18lb catch from lodge lake using banoffee high biz pop ups. (Below)
Nathan Bridle with his 29lb 4oz catch from Beatties lake using mainline cell boilies .(below)
North Devon Tackle Club Pairs match at Wooda Lakes.
1st was Pete Seaward with 41lb 8oz and Nick Ford with 31lb 10oz giving a combine weight of 73lb 2oz
2nd was Kevin Wilton with 29lb 2oz and Norman Martin with 17lb 9oz giving a combine weight of 46lb 11oz
Tarrant Wotton and Lee Watts with their winning flounder
The flounder season is certainly underway now with Taz Wotton taking top spot in Bidefords monthly rover landing a flounder of 1lb 83/4oz. Lee Watts secured second and third with flounder of 1lb 81/4oz and 1lb 7oz.
The club also held the Des Clements Memorial Competition that raised £25 for charity and was won by Taz Wotton with his flounder.
Jazza John secured the top three places in Appledore Shipbuilders Match weighing in flounder of 1lb 151/4oz, 1lb 11oz and 1lb 9oz. Jack Pike took the junior prize with a wrasse of 2lb 21/4oz.
The annual Lyn Fish open competition attracted twenty local anglers competing for cash prizes and an impressive prize table from sponsors Sakuma Tackle and Braunton Baits. The event is a catch and release specimen match with fishing from boat and shore.
Anglers fished a wide variety of marks between the boundaries Minehead Harbour wall and Clovelly Harbour. Most of the winning fish coming from marks in the Lynmouth to Ilfracombe area.
Day one was blighted by a strong westerly wind that made boat fishing impossible and shore fishing a bit of a trial. Grey mullet were a popular target species with several competitors and it was these hard fighting fish that were being targeted by Daniel Welch on Saturday night when he hooked a hard fighting fish that took off on several long runs before eventually being netted. The fish turned out to be fine conditioned bass of 7lb 13oz tempted on bread-flake and size 8 hook!
On the Saturday evening tide James Fradgely- Gubb and Rob Scoines fished a rock mark buffeted by the strong wind. A couple of good fish were lost but James eventually managed to land a specimen bull huss of 10lb 1oz.
In the early hours of Sunday morning Kevin Legge and Dave Brooke fished a rough ground mark where Kevin landed a couple of huss the best scaling 9lb 6oz. Kevin also landed a blonde ray of around 7lb that was a surprise on the rough ground they were fishing.
John Avery and myself targeted grey mullet and at 6.00am on the Sunday morning I cast out a two hook rig baited with bread flake. Seconds later I noticed the rod tip rattle and grabbed the rod as the butt lifted from the ground. A powerful fish surged away and battle commenced. A few minutes later John expertly wielded the net and a very pleasing mullet was secured. At 5lb 2oz it was a great start to the day! 
After a couple of quiet hours fishing we moved to another mark and found the mullet in a feeding frenzy landing half a dozen with John and Callum Gove landing the majority with Johns best scaling 2lb 9oz.
Louis Rooke and John Shapland paid a visit to the estuary in search of grey mullet and flounder. Louis managed the only weigh-able fish of note a plump flounder of 1lb 6oz.
The calm weather on Sunday enabled the boats to get afloat and Rob Scoines boated the best boat caught specimen of the day a small eyed ray of 9lb 13oz. Ross Stanway boated the biggest fish of the weekend; a tope of 30lb.
The weigh in and prize giving was held at the Rising Sun Lynmouth where platefuls of scrumptious sandwiches and hot chips were provided for the hungry anglers who had fished hard over the two days. Raffle tickets were sold for an array of impressive prizes donated by local businesses with the proceeds going to West Exmoor Federation.
The raffle and fishing competition helped to raise £400 for the West Exmoor Federation of schools.
Full Results:-
1st – Wayne Thomas – Grey Mullet – Shore – 5lb 2oz – 128%
2nd – James Gugg-Fradgely – bull huss – Shore – 10lb 1oz – 101%
3rd – Rob Scoines – Boat – small eyed ray – 9lb 13oz – 98%
4th– Daniel Welch – Shore – bass – 7lb 13oz – 97%
5th – Kevin Legge –Shore – bull huss – 9lb 6oz– 93%
6th – Ross Stanway – Boat- tope – 30lb -75%
7th – Louise Rooke –Shore – Flounder – 1lb 6oz – 68%
8th – John Avery – Shore – Grey Mullet – 2lb 9oz – 64%
Combe Martin SAC give special thanks to all who participated and supported the event, to Sakuma and Braunton Baits for donating some excellent prizes. Thanks also to Tony Vickery and all at the Rising Sun for providing delicious food and making all welcome.
John Piper and Gavin Colwill fished Blakewell Fishery to land a fine brace of double figure rainbows both topping 14lb to best a fine specimen of 14lb 12oz to the rod of John Piper.
The Rising Sun at Umberleigh played host to a gathering of anglers and their partners at an end of season dinner. A late flurry of action on the river allowed a few accounts of battles over good food and ale as the log burner emitted a welcome warmth. Len Francis hooked a fine 17lb salmon its flanks reflecting the autumnal hues of the season. The fish was tempted from the Weir Marsh and Brightly Beats controlled by Ivan Huxtable. Nathan Judd also enjoyed success on the beat with an end of season grilse. Nick Briant also landed a fine hen fish estimated at 18lb that was tempted on a small copper tube fly. The last month of the season proved a little disappointing with those fish caught all stale fish that had undoubtedly been in the river for a while. Sport has generally been very sporadic throughout 2016 with river levels generally low and fish coming as expected on the few spates that we have had. The most disappointing aspect has been the poor numbers of sea trout.
It seems such a short time since I joined an excited gathering of anglers in the Rising Sun at the start of the season and I feel sure that in six months time enthusiasm will be recharged after the long winter break. Every season is different dependent on both the weather and the success of spawning on the redds in the five years preceding the season. As the leaves start to fall and the swallows have departed those spring days with daffodil lined banks seem so far away yet as live races past they will soon be here once again. In the mean time there is no need to pack away the rods with stillwater trout fishery’s at their best.
The River Torridge fishers have a fortnight extension to enjoy with special permits available from Charles Innis 0n 01409 231237. Fishing is strictly catch and release with single barbless hooks only. A few salmon have been tempted in the last week of September as river levels fluctuate as a result of some heavy bursts of rain. John Graham and Garry Duggan both landed grilse of around 6lb from mid river beats. When conditions allow there is every chance of a good fish from the Torridge with plenty of water to encourage a run of late fish. Charles Inniss informed me that he had a momentary contact with a large fish whilst fishing the upper river.
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club held their Beeny Trophy competition at Wimbleball Reservoir on September 25th.
Colin Combe won with 6 fish for 8 lb 12 oz and Danny had 6 fish for 8 lb 10 oz and was runner up. 8 people fished and all by boat.
Heavy rain showers punctuated the day.
Please find the weekly catch report for Wimbleball from Danny Ford. We have been seeing some great sport in front of the bridge on dry flies, claret and black hoppers being the most productive, with foam daddies also taking their fair share of surface feeding trout. Rod average is 2.6 with the boats showing a return of 2.8. Water temp continues to drop and is showing 16.5°C
Regular anglers Tom and Bob (season tickets) had a bumper day from the boat on Friday with both anglers achieving a full bag fishing hoppers on a southerly wind in front of the bridge. Fish were showing everywhere during the spells of cloud cover and Tom commented that is was one of the best days he has had this season, well done both!
From October 1st, our boat availability will be from 9am-5pm 7 days a week. We may start to bring a few off the water so please book to avoid disappointment. October is one of my favourite times to fish on the reservoir, with many of the larger fish starting to show. Last year Steart bay was producing good bags, one to try!
Danny Ford
Wimbleball Countryside Warden
