15 Sep 2024

Salmon caught from Taw and Torridge

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A rise in river levels following recent rainfall has encouraged anglers onto the regions rivers in the hope of salmon. James Lewis fished a middle Torridge beat and tempted a fine salmon estimated at 9lb. Another salmon estimated at 13lb was tempted from a middle Taw beat. Several other salmon have been seen migrating up river so there is hope that a few more will be tempted during the last two weeks of the season

I attended the West Country Rivers Trust CSI Volunteer Conference at High Bickington on Saturday September 14th. The event was well attended with enthusiastic volunteers from across the region. It is very encouraging to meet with a wide range of people with a passion for rivers. It is clear that there is a need for more coordination of effort between the many different groups that use the rivers a topic that was explored with future plans explained by speakers at the event. https://wrt.org.uk

Many at the event were not anglers and talking with several at the event my view that we need to work together for the good of the rivers was reinforced. Anglers, Canoeists, Wild Swimmers and conservationists all want clean water so we need to focus on our common goals and put our differences aside.

12 Sep 2024

Catching Late Season Beauty

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As Autumn descends and seasons start to transition a trip to the river brings mixed emotions. Recent heavy rain has brought a tinge of colour to the river and there is hope of salmon and sea trout. The lower Taw and Torridge are both coloured and unfishable and so I have headed to a stretch of fishing on a tributary of the Taw.

I have thrown a heavy rod into the back of the car just in case I see a salmon but it’s the wild browns that I am seeking today with my ultra-light Snowbee Classic, a 4 wt thistledown line and a weighted nymph set up.

            It is a delight to travel light to river and wander the bank flicking the nymphs into likely runs, pots and pools.

            A cool North West Wind is sweeping clouds across the blue sky. Swallows and martins are swooping low over the grass undoubtedly feeding hard in preparation for their incredible migration to warmer climes. Large numbers of pheasants are strutting their stuff in the riverside fields oblivious to the rituals that await in October when the shooting season commences.

            I work my way slowly up river and fail to connect over the first section. I change to a smaller nymph and shorten my leader slightly as the heavy nymph is catching the bottom too frequently.

            I extend the line casting up and watching the bright orange section of my furled leader. I detect a twitch lift the rod and feel the vibrant life of a small brownie on the line. It comes off after a few seconds but my confidence is boosted and I fish on with renewed positivity.

            A few casts later and a spirited trout of perhaps 6” is brought to hand and briefly admired.

            Time is ebbing away as I reach my favourite pool and I work my way up working the nymph through the familiar waters. Connection comes as expected as a fine wild brown of perhaps 10” is brought to the net. I extract a further two beautiful wild browns of similar size but each is very different. Their flanks a sublime blend of rich colours, olives, golds, bronze and crimson. Their colours blending with the autumn hues to create a palette to please the most discerning artists eye.

            I leave the river determined to return again before the season ends in a couple of weeks. Trouble is there are bass, mullet, tope and maybe a salmon calling from elsewhere. But still that constant beauty of the wild brown trout remains always there a reassuring presence for the past fifty odd years.

11 Sep 2024

The State of the South-West’s Seas Report

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The below report gives a fasicnating insight into the complex marine eco=systems that surround us. Well worth a look through.

The State of the South-West’s Seas Report

‘It was an astounding year for marine life in south-west England – but not everywhere.’

Every year brings exciting and interesting observations of marine life and environmental conditions that help us to understand how the marine environment ‘works’, how it is changing and whether management of human activities and impacts is making a difference to the health of our seas. Capturing and interpreting those observations and activities is what the group of specialists reporting in the ‘South-West Marine Ecosystems in 2023’ do. Their report on 2023 has just been published.

During 2023, we have seen a species new to science being identified in south-west waters, an unprecedented bloom of string-like gelatinous plankton accompanied by dinner-plate sized jellyfish popping-up in late August and proof that ‘common’ (Mediterranean) octopus are breeding in our waters. Seawater temperatures during 2023 were warmer but there were no spectacular impacts – just some range extensions of southern species already here. Whilst there were no additional non-native species found in 2023, some of the ones that are already here increased in abundance and extended their distribution. There are increased sightings of whales and dolphins and some unusual fish species have been caught or sighted. 2023 saw the most turtles recorded in the south-west area for nine years. 2023 saw continued increases in burrow-nesting seabirds and auks: both continuing to benefit from rat eradication on Scilly and Lundy.

Changes that occurred or started some years ago persist – examples are the recovery of spiny lobsters after local extermination in the 1960s and 1970s, and the return of bluefin tuna to south-west waters.

Numbers of seals are ‘steady’ but more seals were recorded dead across Cornwall in 2023 than born and entanglement in litter and disturbance by human activity remains a concern.

There are ‘old friends’ that the interested public may think are signs of warming or changing seas but which have in fact been known from our waters for more than 200 years – such as the tropical-looking grey trigger fish and slipper lobsters.

Meanwhile, some seabed marine life is not looking as vibrant as in previous years. One example is a cold-water species, the spectacular and colourful plumose anemones – abundance seems to have reduced dramatically in inshore areas of the mainland coast but so also, it seems likely, have many other sea anemone species.  Also, a group of hydroids (relatives of sea anemones) collectively known as ‘flower-head hydroids’ seem to be much less abundant in enclosed waters at least. Marine life at Lundy continues to be in poor condition compared to the mid-1980s and there is no clear sign (yet) of recovery of populations of the nationally rare sunset cup coral around the island.

The report is the ninth report in the series. It includes detailed chapters on oceanography and storms, plankton, the seashore and seabed, fish and turtles, coastal birds, seals, whales, dolphins and porpoises. Management chapters include fisheries, marine planning, marine protected areas, water pollution and plastics pollution. Webinars on these topics for 2023 can be viewed on this YouTube channel

The report, published by the Plymouth-based Marine Biological Association, reflects the work of both hundreds of volunteer citizen scientists and professionals working in the south-west. This summary of conclusions below is from the report.

Oceanography. The year started with relatively warm conditions throughout the water column with temperatures around 9.5 °C off Plymouth.  This cooled to the minimum recorded temperature (for 2023) in mid-March of 9.3 °C.  June 2023 was noteworthy in that sea surface temperatures were 2 – 3 °C above the long-term (1991-2020) mean in the Celtic Sea and 1 – 2 °C above the long-term mean in the western English Channel. By late June off Plymouth, surface waters were around 17.8°C and, at depths below 30 m, around 13.9 °C; both associated with a sustained meteorological (and marine) heat wave.  Contact: Tim Smyth [email protected]

 Storms.  The patterns of storms in the spring of 2023 were unremarkable but were more normal in the autumn of 2023 and in the winter of 2023 to 2024. There were very few named storms in the January – April period of 2023. The impact on natural systems, species and habitats was on the unremarkable side of normal, but seal pups and juveniles were seriously affected by the autumn storms in 2023. Contact: [email protected]

Plankton. There were unusual reports in terms of numbers and geographic extent of both salps (colonial seasquirts) and hydrozoan ‘Crystal Jellyfish’ Aequorea sp(p) in late summer in the English Channel.  Whilst blooms of both have previously been recorded, they have not been concurrently reported at so many different locations. Sightings of true jellyfish in 2023 revealed similar patterns to those seen in previous years with barrel jellyfish making a return, having been only rarely reported in 2022.  Contact: Angus Atkinson (for general plankton): [email protected] and Jeanette Sanders (f­or observations of jellyfish): [email protected] ;  South Devon Jellyfish Survey

Seashore and seabed marine life.  There were no increases in extent or abundance of warm water species that might suggest significant climate change effects although a record of eggs of a Common (‘Mediterranean’) Octopus suggests that they are breeding in our waters. There were declines in the occurrence and abundance of some species including, conspicuously for divers, of cold-water Plumose Anemones in inshore areas. Contact: Keith Hiscock [email protected]

Fish.   Sharks. On 1st May, a c. 293 cm subadult female Smalltooth Sand Tiger Shark was found floating dead off Lyme Regis. The observation followed one found stranded in Hampshire and about 320 km north of any previous record.  Bony fish. The recent pattern of changes continues with several less familiar species becoming more established around south-west England: these include variable blennies, combers and axillary sea breams.  Contacts: Douglas Herdson [email protected]  and  Simon Thomas (sharks and rays) [email protected]

Reptiles. 2023 saw the most turtles recorded in the south-west area for nine years. The majority of the reports were of juvenile Loggerhead or Kemp’s Ridley turtles most of which were ‘cold shocked’.  Contact: Douglas Herdson [email protected].

Marine. and coastal birds.  2023 saw continued increases in burrow-nesting seabirds and auks: both continuing to benefit from rat eradication on Scilly and Lundy. HPAI (‘bird flu’) badly affected terns and black-headed gulls in Dorset, but there was good news for sea-watchers with thousands of southern-breeding shearwaters flooding into the south-west in late summer. This included an estimated 16,000 Cory’s shearwaters in one day off Scilly.  Contact: Alex Banks [email protected]

Seals.  More seals were recorded dead across Cornwall in 2023 than born (half the dead seals were less than a year old) The largest seal disturbance on record and caused directly by people, saw 250 seals stampede off two adjacent SSSI beaches resulting in an enforcement letter from Natural England. Contact: Sue Sayer – [email protected]

Whales, dolphins & porpoises. There continued to be high numbers of cetaceans inshore in 2023. Since 2015 there have been marked increases in many cetacean species in inshore waters. There is limited ongoing research investigating this shift and cetacean research in the UK continues to be poorly funded. Contact: Duncan Jones [email protected] (toothed whales and dolphins) and Dan Jarvis (Baleen Whales) – [email protected]

Fisheries. In 2023, the landings of many traditional fisheries such as brown crab and mackerel continued to decline, whilst landings for other species such as crawfish and spurdog increased as a result of stock recovery. Analysis undertaken by the MMO showed an overall reduction in the quantities of fish and shellfish landed in the south-west since 2016. It is likely that climate change will continue to benefit some species, such as black seabream, red mullet and anchovy and to result in declines of some other species, such as lemon sole, Atlantic cod, haddock and megrim. Contact: [email protected]

Marine protected areas. Currently 81% of MPAs within the IFCA Devon and Severn area are closed to bottom-towed gear, compared to 75% in the Isles of Scilly and 40% in Cornwall. The MMO is responsible for introducing fisheries management measures to all offshore MPAs by the end of 2024. There is an increasing recognition of the need to adopt a whole site approach to MPA management for effective marine nature recovery. Contact: Carli Cocciardi  [email protected]

Water quality.  The year 2023 was the sixth wettest on record contributing to a higher percentage of sewage overflow spills. One hundred percent of storm overflows have now, however, been fitted with event duration monitoring devices which will allow complete coverage, real-time data and targeted improvements. Contact: [email protected]

Marine planning.  ‘The Marine Planning Monitoring Surveys 2023 Two-Page Summary Report revealed that, overall, the MMO South West Marine Plan remains widely utilized by a diverse array of stakeholders for decision-making and supporting development proposals. Policies related to biodiversity and heritage are among the most frequently applied. The development of floating offshore wind turbines represents a significant technological advancement and demonstration projects are anticipated to be operational within the next few years, with further commercial deployments in the pipeline. Contact: Mae van Loef [email protected] and Ellie Hoad [email protected].’

Marine plastics.   Excellent volunteer work continues in the southwest to remove plastics from the marine environment. Analysis of debris from coastal cleans in 2023 by the Clean Ocean Sailing (COS) organisation also highlighted high density polyethylene (HDPE), plastic bottles and nets and ropes to be the most commonly removed debris.   Contact:  Dan Wilson [email protected]; and Delia Webb [email protected]

For information on SWME contact

Bob Earll – [email protected]

Keith Hiscock [email protected]

Ruth Williams  [email protected] 

Neri Campbell at the Marine Biological Association [email protected]

Kelly Marie-Davidson at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory  [email protected]

 Some key points:

  • This is the tenth report in this series
  • The South-West is the only English region currently to produce such a report
  • The State of the South-West Seas report has been prepared by a group of specialists working within the umbrella of the South-West Marine Ecosystems (SWME) programme. The SWME programme brings the marine and coastal community together annually to consider and communicate the changes that are taking place in our local seas.
  • It includes detailed chapters on oceanography and storms, plankton, the seashore and seabed, fish and turtles, coastal birds, seals, whales, dolphins and porpoises. Management chapters include fisheries, marine planning, marine protected areas, water pollution and plastics pollution.
  • Webinars on these topics for 2023 can be viewed on this YouTube channel
  • The report reflects the work of both hundreds of volunteer citizen scientists and professionals working in the south-west.

 

10 Sep 2024

Shore Caught – Specimen Ray

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Combe Martin SAC Member Shane Hookway enjoyed a successful ray fishing session beaching several small eyed ray and spotted ray topped by a specimen small eyed ray of 11lb 4oz.

As Autumn descends we are entering what is often the best time to target big fish from North Devons varied coastline. I look forward to featuring a few catches on North Devon Angling News.

10 Sep 2024

Bideford and District Angling Club Coarse Section Monthly Competition

by | posted in: Match Fishing, Sidebar | 0
September
Results:
1st Darren Polden 58lb 7oz
2nd Kevin Shears 41lb 8oz
3rd Craig Lamey  34lb 2oz
4th Richard Jefferies 29lb 14oz
5th Keith Copland 29lb 2oz
6th Ian Croxton 27lb 9oz
18 fished.
With 3 matches remaining in our year-long league the table has had a good shake up !
The match was fished in heavy drizzle ,
Darren our winner on peg 6 has caught fairly steadily , on meat on the short pole then worm down the edge later.
Kevin on the consistent peg 14, has put together a great net on hard 6mm pellet for second place.
Craig now leads the league by 25 points, his third place on peg 22 was taken on various baits on the long pole.
Richard was fourth on peg 10 fishing with paste on the pole.
10 Sep 2024

TREVOR TELLING MEMORIAL

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Since Mark Underhill and his family have been managing Wimbleball Trout Fishery it has gained a reputation as one of the West Countrys best venues. Its hard fighting trout and spectacular scenery bring anglers back time after time. Trevor Telling was a very well-liked and respected member of the Wimbleball Fishery team giving valuable advice to visiting anglers inspiring them with his positive and friendly demeanour. Trevor has undoubtedly played a significant role in building Wimbleball’s reputation. Trevor loved Wimbleball and it’s anglers and was remembered at a Memorial Competition at the reservoir on September 8th, 2024. The competition was organised by Alan Cross a close friend of Trevor. Below is Alan’s full report.

 

The competition was opened by Karen Telling (Trevor’s wife) who thanked everyone for their turning out in weather that only fishermen could appreciate. 

Total money raised on the day from fishing entries, raffle and donations  was £305. 
That is all going to the South West Fishing for Life charity. Trevor was a fishing instructor with them, helping ladies who are going thru cancer treatment. 

Sale of Trevor’s fishing tackle and donations previously total of £1,565 went to Exeter Hospice Care who looked after Trevor in his final week’s and supported Karen and Charlotte. 

A Total of 3 bank fishermen and 22 boat fishermen took part in the competition. 
The winners were 
Martin Williams with 8 fish total and a biggest fish of 6 lbs 9oz’s for boat fishing and Andrew Hill with 2 fish and his biggest fish was 4 1/2 lb’s. 
Both fishermen were presented with a memorial shield by Jeff Pearce from Wimbleball Fishery. 


A total of 56 fish with a combined weight of 119 lb’s 6 oz. 
Winners of the raffle prizes of boxes of flies from Trevor’s own selection were 
Wayne Middleton 
Andrew Hull 
Neil Jones. 
Three ladies and their instructors from the South West fishing for Life charity turned out to fish as well, they didn’t want to enter the competition but enjoyed their fishing catching a further 4 fish. 
Karen closed the competition by drawing the raffle and congratulating everyone on their catches and again thanking them for turning out to remember Trevor. This will be an annual match to celebrate Trevor and of course allow us fishermen to talk about how big the one that got away was. 

I shared a boat with Snowbee Ambassador and Wimbleball team member Jeff Pearce and as always enjoyed a great day of fishing and fishing talk. The fishing proved to be challenging but with the combination of determination, trial error and experience we managed to catch five superb hard fighting trout. It rained pretty well all day but this failed to dampen our enthusiasm as the misty vistas still gave a certain dramatic back drop to proceedings.

 

http://www.snowbee.co.uk

Jeff Pearce with a typical Wimbleball rainbow

The warm and convivial atmosphere at the start of the day and conclusion were a fitting tribute to Trevor whose spirit lives on at this jewel in the crown of Exmoor Fly Fishing.

5 Sep 2024

A Long Drift of Expectation

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The calm waters merged into the misty grey of the morning light. Archie cut Reel Deals engines and readied the shark rods as we began a long drift of expectation.

         The five of us sent down jigs and feathers to catch fresh bait. Archie baited the circle hooks that were suspended beneath brightly coloured drinks bottles that would bob optimistically upon the ocean.

         Mackerel, scad and pollock were swung on board as we drifted. We drew numbers, Peter Robinson drawing number one, Bruce Elston, number 2, Kieran (from Wales) number 3, I was number four so knew from the off that I would only do battle if we had a good day with the sharks. Toby was number five cementing the fact that it was not his day! A broken rod, lost sunglasses sealing that old comes in three saying! Fortunately Toby is a resilient sole who carries an infectious smile throughout.

Archie Porter was Skipper for the day as Reel Deal founder and owner Dan Hawkins was down South chasing tuna, skippering with Happy Days Adventure Fishing.

         Archie has gained valuable experience working with Dan on Reel Deal and skippering Predator 2 before it was bought by Daniel Welch who is now embarking on his own journey with the boat.

         With the rubby-dubby sending out a stream of particles and scent it was now time for a brew and to drift with wind and tide.

         We were drifting over rocky reefs and we all used various jigs and lures to tempt hard fighting pollock from the clear water. Scad and the occasional jumbo sized mackerel were added to the bait stash with fresh baits added to the shark set ups from time to time.

         I love the expectation of shark fishing the mystery of what lies beneath and what could be? Banter and chat flowed freely with tales of fish and the wider world. Topics from toxic politics, music, life and recipes.

         Whilst the sea was mirror calm a rolling swell lifted the boat gently as the immense power of the Atlantic ocean stirred. As the mist lifted we glimpsed white water as the swells crashed into the wild and rugged North Cornish Coast.

         Somewhere on the cliffs Hawkers Hut nestles high up overlooking this treacherous coastline.  Robert Stephen Hawker was an eccentric clergyman who lived between 1803 and 1875. Hawker is said to have spent many hours in the hut writing poems and smoking opium. He is perhaps best remembered for his compassionate desire to provide Christian burials to shipwrecked seamen washed up on the shores. He also wrote the famous Cornish song, The Song of the Western Men” with its chorus line “ And Shall Trelawny die? / Here’s twenty thousand Cornish men / will know the reason why!’.  A song that is sung by Cornish Male voice choirs with great passion. The hut is now preserved by the National Trust and is well worth a visit.

         The day drifted past and after tempting several pollock I decided to change tactics. I baited two size 4 Sakuma Chinu hooks with slivers of fresh mackerel. Down into the clear water to be bounced along the rocky sea bed.

         The rods sensitive tip jagged sharply and a small black bream was  briefly admired before being released. Toby Bassett always keen to chase different species followed suit and soon caught three handsome bream two of which were keepers.

         There was a moment of drama when a shark float bobbed and disappeared a large swirl preceding close by. The gulls and fulmars that had been bobbing in the rubby-dubby slick took off. Peter grabbed the rod apprehensively but nothing happened! Was it a wary shark, a tope or cuttle fish? The bait was damaged but the evidence inconclusive.

         As the day drifted into afternoon a breeze came from the North West. We relished the blue sky and warm sunshine, the shark floats spread out perfectly in the slick and expectations grew, conditions were perfect.

         Something large intercepted my tiny mackerel baits and put a serious bend in the rod before biting through the trace.

At the bow of the boat Bruce hooked a powerful tope as he bounced a large scad bait just off the seabed. A good tope of over thirty pounds appeared in the clear water and came off as Archie grabbed the leader.

         A few minutes later Bruce was in action again this time bringing the tope to the boat where it was expertly netted by Archie. At 38lb it was a new personal best for Bruce.

Bruce Elston with his PB tope of 38lb

         In the mean time I hooked two more tope on my small hooks and inevitably suffered bite offs. I couldn’t resist the chance of a tope and tied on a short leader, a 150lb b.s trace a 6/0 Sakuma Kong hook and sent down a side of mackerel. A few minutes later I was locked in battle the spinning rod taking on an impressive battle curve. I piled on the pressure determined to get the tope to the boat without severing the hook-length or wrapping in the mainline. A tope of over twenty pounds was soon secured safely and its image secured.

         The action packed flurry of tope sport brought the day to an end all too soon. Reel Deal bounced comfortably over the lively sea past Hartland, Baggy and Morte Point the wild cliffs and coast as always pleasing to the eye. The occasional gannet was circling searching for fish.

Homeward Bound

         We pondered on the lack of porbeagle, earlier in the year there had been some good days with multiple catches of shark. September is often a prime month and it is likely that they will show in numbers later in the month if of course the bait fish are there. Last year tuna arrived off the coast in late September will they arrive again? The only way of answering these questions is of course to drift in expectation.